New York Film Acadamey?

Anyone go to this school/or who has went there? How good is it really? I want to go to a film school that really lets' you hands on and make some films!
 
I have heard mixed reviews on NYFA. I myself have visited and plan to attend a differecnt 13 month film school. It is an acredited college, Full Sail in WInter Park, FL. Check it out, the have an awesome facility and the program from what I saw was outstanding! Good luck!
 
Interesting

I've been curious about the Film Academy as well. I actually like the sound of teaching yourself things and not getting caught up in the theory of filmmaking. I've always heard film school was crap because it doesn't tell you how to produce or write well, so I never ventured to do it.

I personally got that very experience by going to mandy.com to get low/no pay starter jobs and produced friend's feature films so when it came time to make mine-- I did with few hold-ups. However, that's not easy nor the best way to do it, just my way.

Let us know how it goes.
 
danger danger Will Robinson

"It is an acredited college, Full Sail in WInter Park, FL"

I have worked with people who were former teachers at Full Sail several years ago, and they said that the program looks really good and highly polished, but many of the teachers are fresh out of film school themselves and really don't have much practical knowledge. This was at least 3 years ago and thing could be dramatically different, but I've heard very mixed and not particularly good reviews from former teachers and graduates.
 
film school

check out Valencia CC in Orlando or FSU in Tallahassee, both have very good reputations and their students actually get jobs in filmmaking.
 
I went to NYFA

I attended the course at the new york film academy and I'll give you the low down. No the teachers don't go into the courses in great detail, however, since the classes are small, and they genuinly want to help you (Most of them) You can go grab a slice of pizza or whatever and talk about what you need to know. If you have questions your not lost in the crowd, they'll ansewer them. As for making films, I thought that them throwing you off the cliff to see if you can fly was invaluable. It teaches you if you have what it takes, how inventive and resourcful are you? Can you pull it off? Most of the people I've talked with who didn't like the school was because they let you off on your own in the greatest city in the world to go and make a short EVERY WEEKEND STARTING THE FIRST WEEK. Why are you complaining. You love making films, they're letting you. They give you the basics, then test you on them, then do practice drills with them letting YOU touch the cameras the FIRST DAY. in the eight week course alone you accomplish what takes years in NYU. People may argue that NYU gives you a better all around education, but in my experience the only thing NYU churns out are film geeks, not film makers. It's not where you go to school, no one cares about that, it's what you can do that matters. I reccomend NYFA to anyone, if you don't like being thrown into action almost as soon as you get there, maybe you shoulden't be a film maker. In all the time I've spent on sets, all the friends I've made and continue to make, I've never asked anyone, and no one ever asked me where I attended school, if you know what your doing and passionate about it, you'll fit right in.
 
Crestfallen_Films thanks

:D

I am about to start a five week crash course in digital filmmaking at the New York Film Academy. I am relieved that the prior post was positive. It also gave me a roadmap as far as my perspective entering the school goes. I am going to film my rump off. I am studying theory now from visualization techniques to post production as I muse about how to harness all the technical aspects with creative unction. Thanks for the breath of fresh air.

RClay
 
im currently taking the NYFA 6 week High School filmmaking course at the Dalton School uptown. Honestly i love it. Starting the third day of class we went out with the cameras and kits and stuff and started shooting. The program is really intense but is also laid back. There are no tests or rankings. Everyone gets the same amount of attention, the same equipment, and the same opportunities to make great films. I have a friend who is currently going for his BA at the School of Visual Arts, and the NYFA course is much more hands on, and their equipment is better and they pay for almost everything. At SVU you have to pay for your own film stock, and they supply you with Bolex cameras only capable of shooting 30 seconds at a time. At NYFA we get to use Arri. S cameras and all of our film/developing is already paid for. Now I dont know if this is for all of the courses or only the high school course, but I definitely suggest looking into it no matter what course you're interested in taking.
 
film schools

My friend josh robbinson went to an incredible film school in detroit michigan and when i first started my ventures in filmmaking i asked josh for advise and he said to just hang around him and i could learn everything i needed to know about filmmaking in 3 weeks that he had to learn in 2 years.
He was right, hes tought me everything and its great .
However im still concidering taking the NY Digital filmmaking course just for the experiance..Im gong to take the course in london england just for the experiance..
Ive always wanted to visit and shoot a film in london so this way i will have the opportunity and best of all i will be able to get away from my annoying girlfriend for a few weeks (5) and play it off like its an important opportunity to venture further into filmmaking and schooling.After all i hear english babes are smokin hot, lol :wink:
If anyone else is looking to go to the london school let me know, i live in michigan and i think it would be cool to go with a fellow american.
By the way i think full sail is a rip off. 20G for the program.according to filmmakers ive talked to to attend the school.
 
vidio gal do you run the toronto filmmakers group on msn?
 
New York Film Academy is located near where I live (New York City) and I have a few friends currently taking some of their courses. They're pretty satisfied with what they're learning over there but I decided to do some intensive due diligence before making the commitment to NYFA. Just found a student review about the New York Film Academy and I have officially made my decision...

About ten years ago I arrived in New York City as a twenty to year old boy from Vienna, Austria, and entered the classroom of the 4 weeks intensive acting workshop at the New York Film Academy, where in the first session, without even having been introduced to my peers, I was asked to pick a song, and perform it in conjunction with a repetitive physical action in front of the entire class. Speaking of being thrown into the cold water. This experience set the tone for the twelve months to come, and it is what makes the New York Film Academy’s approach to learning the craft so different from other teaching philosophies. Hands on, full immersion. This is the key principle to when your desire is to actively work in the industry. Imagine going to the zoo and watching a lion in a cage. You could come very close and would still be protected in your comfort zone. You could get away with many things. Now cross the bridge from the zoo out into the African Savannah, the open battleground where it is up to your skills whether you make it or not. No bars, no protection. This is exactly what happens when you first step on set of your feature film directorial debut; you are used to the cage but suddenly it is not there anymore and you have to face the lion with determination, bravery, wit and a solid dose of self-belief and confidence. If you don’t bring these along, you’ll be eaten alive. Self-confidence comes from uniting your talents with experience. But what if there is no previous experience on the battlefield of a feature film set? Well, then you have to do your best to replicate the real world scenarios in a protected environment, where mistakes are allowed and encouraged. Try whatever you want, have your teachers and classmates critique you, and don’t let your egos get in the way. The job of a good film school curriculum and its teaching staff is to prepare you for the real world, and this can only be done if the real world is meticulously replicated. Nothing will come close to the experience of calling your first action in front of major cast, having to accept that you are the boss, the commander in chief, however being the one with the very least experience of all your cast and crew members on set. Still, you will not even be able to speak the commanding words if you have drowned yourself in theory and not in practice. Theory is vital for understanding, but it doesn’t necessarily have to come before practice. Both theory and practice can flow in parallel rhythm, side by side, complementing each other. This is the NYFA philosophy, and this is what I believe is highly beneficial to any aspiring filmmaker. I completed the one-year directing studies under the guidance and mentorship of Paul Warner, a man I have high respects for as he lives and breathes filmmaking like no other. His passion for the craft, and his demand for precision and detail execution is a level of teaching every student could only hope for. My first feature ‘The Tomb’, starring Wes Bentley, Michael Madsen and Eric Roberts, from the writer and producer of ‘The Crow’, premiered in Cannes 2009 distributed by Arclight Films internationally, and Lightning Media in partnership with Fangoria Frightfest and Blockbuster in the US. I had a Dennis Quaid helmed action thriller in the pipeline, which fell victim to the world financial crisis, and am now co-developing several projects, looking to line up an innovative film finance scheme.

---Michael Staininger, 2012
 
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