Is this film school course worth taking?

H

harmonica44

I am not exactly a newbie here, but I wasn't sure where else to post this, when it comes to discussing film school. I was thinking of taking this course:

http://www.rais.ca/Motion Picture Arts

It's almost 12K and I was wondering if it was worth the money, or if they do not really teach enough...? Other people who I have talked to that went to different film schools, say that it was a waste of money and time, cause what they learnt was obsolete, and didn't help them in the filmmaking world of the current day. So I was wonderng what you thought of this course from the looks of it. I took a tour of the school, and it seemed... okay, but not sure, since it was just a tour, and I cannot get a full impression from it.

I talked to one student who is currently going there so far, and she says it's good, but that is just one person's opinion so far, where as other's from other film schools says it ended up being a waste of money in the end, when they could have put that money to better use. So what do you think?
 
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You can still do some interviews. Do one of the person who hired you and find out what his vision was for the new construction and what would be accomplished with it. Did it turn out as expected? Interview the construction foreman and find what he tried to do and what he was most proud of or not quite happy with. How do the people feel in the new location. Just a few things you can blend into it.
 
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What Morris says.
If you ask the right questions you can use it as voice-over.

BTW, next time try to shot inside and outside in a way that doesn't mean changing filters after every shot. Why working with the shutter? ISO and aperture go a long way as well.
 
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The reason why I worked with the shutter, is because even with the ISO turned down to the 100, and with the aperture closed at f16, the sun was still too bright a lot, so I had to then turn up the shutter speed, cause the ISO and aperture were not enough.

Plus if I have the shutter around f22, you can get aperture diffraction, so I didn't want to close it more than f16 to avoid possible diffraction. I guess the higher aperture is not too bad, it just gives the footage a look you would see in a movie like Saving Private Ryan or something. I did however, only have time to get as much camera footage as possible. If the boss wants sound effects though, that will be the toughest, part cause I have to create sounds of all these construction machines working and wonder how much I can stretch, since I couldn't find all the specific sounds online. So we'll see.

I might be able to interview the boss of the company and will ask him next week. I don't think he will have the construction guy come back though, but I can ask him.
 
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If you've got the money, and you're serious about being a filmmaker and doing the hard work - do the course.

If you can't even commit to 'try' and finish a film (seriously, don't you remember Yoda's advice?) then maybe you're not serious at all and should spend your money elsewhere.

Filmmaking's not for everyone. If you can do something else, you should. IMO, you should only chase the dream if you're so passionate about it you couldn't imagine doing anything else.
 
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Okay thanks. I want to chase the dream, I was just worried the course may be a waste of money and I may not learn anything or get anything useful out of it maybe.

As for getting the name of the construction guy myself, how would I do that? The boss likely has the guy's name in his computer, and it's probably password protected I am guessing.
 
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I had a brainstorm for h44.

Why don't you get into documentaries? You can still tell a story it just happens to be a real one. You can work by yourself and with very limited crew and NO ACTORS! :D

It came to me when I was watching this short film (yes it is still called a short film), which I found for non-entertainment purposes, and for the information it conveyed:

https://vimeo.com/76337606

I think docs could be for you. Is there a story in your town you can tell?
 
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I could do that. I was told before not too, and that I should just stick to doing fictional narratives, since documentaries would not teach me what I need to know about fictional narrative filmmaking, which is what I wanted to get into. But I guess documentary experience is better than no experience. Not sure if there is anything in my small city to do a documentary on, I will have to look into that.

I am still considering whether or not I should go to the film school though. It's only a six month course, and other filmmakers who have more experience than me, told me it's a waste of time and no one in the industry will take a six month course school seriously at all.
 
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Well after talking to the people at the school it is 9500 USD about... What I want to do... I feel like I should do what they said the school has to offer which is they help you make four short film projects, that you can put on your portfolio and they have resources to make them that i dont' have such as crew and outsourcing people for post production, which they do for you too. Or so they said.
 
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harmonica44 said:
no one in the industry will take a six month course school seriously at all.
Click to expand...

No-one in the 'industry' gives two hoots about what school you went to, how long you were there for, or what the course was.

What they care about is what you know and what you can do. If you can come out of a six month course with four short films - well that's four more than you would have done in six months hanging around here, no?
 
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True. But I was also told I m ight as well just make them on my own and save the money for school. However, the school does teach things about lighting and other things I don't know. I guess you can learn that from tutorials and books, like people say though. As long as it's worth it. I thought maybe it would be cause with the school, the cast and crew are guaranteed to participate.
 
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harmonica44 said:
no one in the industry will take a six month course school seriously at all.
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Let me echo jax_rox and what many have told you here already. You get out of it what you put in! Don't go into it to impress others with a degree or how long you've gone, period! You have to look at it similar to a vocational school where you learn auto mechanics etc. You are learning a trade and perhaps can network, but don't expect anything else. Don't expect to get a doctorate in film and step onto set as a high paid director!
 
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Oh no, I don't expect that! It's just before others were saying that I can learn all this stuff on my own, and school is not worth the money... so I hope I don't come out of it thinking, well that was nice, but I probably could have learned all that without school, or come thinking I already knew most of it from what I have already read and studied.
 
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You get out what you put in. I went. There were cameras. I grabbed them and used them. There were editing bays. I booked them. There were screening rooms. I used them. I even used teachers as actors. Make the best of it.
 
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indietalk said:
You get out what you put in. I went. There were cameras. I grabbed them and used them. There were editing bays. I booked them. There were screening rooms. I used them. I even used teachers as actors. Make the best of it.
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This!
I went. I worked my ass off and sometimes I slacked. In the end I only regretted the slacking moments.

harmonica44 said:
........It's just before others were saying that I can learn all this stuff on my own, and school is not worth the money... so I hope I don't come out of it thinking, well that was nice, but I probably could have learned all that without school, or come thinking I already knew most of it from what I have already read and studied.
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4 Shorts in 6 months.
That is more than 1 short in 6 years.
In the end you might think you didn't or did learn much new theory. But theory means nothing if you can't put it into practice. You might even discover that the theory you think you know works a bit differently in reality.
 
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Okay thanks. I did some more research. I will not be directing all four shorts, and will only be the crew. Only one of the shorts, I will be directing myself in the course. So for the remaining three, I get crew credits, for my portfolio. Is that worth going to the school for though, if you only get one directorial credit to present in your portfolio after?
 
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It's film school not directing school. You swap roles and learn filmmaking. If you want to make a film on your own not part of the program, you have instant crew (students) and cast (students, teachers, etc.) and free equip.

We can't decide for you.
 
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