I'm sorry for the backlash. But I really don't need people to tell me how I'm spoiled, lazy, unmotivated, and don't give a damn about filmmaking when they don't even know me.
You're right - we don't know you. All we have to go by is the words you write here. When you dismiss out of hand the possibility that there could be anything worth learning at a community college, and that the only possible value of attending would be in finding crew, it comes off as either arrogant, naive, or both. Given your age I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt and lean towards it being naiveté rather than arrogance - maybe that seems condescending, but you may want to consider the possibility that it's also truth based on the perspective of having already lived through the kinds of scenarios you're only imagining at this point...
My mom isn't in the best health. I have a sister. And I don't have the money to move away and live on my own JUST for a community college. The reason I'm considering a community college in the first place is because I want to keep a tight budget. Moving away and paying for a living space seems to defeat the purpose.
My mom wasn't in good health either (and has since passed due to her illness). I also have a sister, half brother, and dad that I had to leave to pursue my passion. I lived at home and attended a local community college full time while working overtime (at wal-mart) - and learned quite a bit while there despite the fact that it had no film program, by taking advantage of their photography and theater classes. When I'd exhausted the resources there I literally talked my way into a film program at a university despite my application having been rejected three times - and when I got there I found I was way ahead of most of my fellow students in terms of things like composition, lighting, exposure, etc because of the photography classes I'd taken at the community college. I got a (completely non-film related) job at the university which gave me free on-campus housing & food so I could afford to live away from home, and I got a second job on the campus AV crew so I could earn money while getting access to and experience with equipment. I also (encouraged by an instructor at the CC) took out a ridiculous loan in order to get myself a computer, because the university's program was still primarily film-based, and taught myself non-linear editing, compositing, and 3D animation while finishing my degree.
The simple fact that I don't have any "festival wins or major credits" (as Alcove Audio put it) means nothing. I'm a junior in high school. I'm curious how many other individuals on this forum had major credits or festival wins at that age?
You're right - I didn't have any festival wins or major credits by the end of my junior year. I did have two 30+ minute shorts completed by then though - both absolutely terrible, of course. Both were made with my fellow HS students, most of whom had no particular interest in filmmaking. The first was a project assignment for a class - but the second was completely my own project. You know how I got my fellow students to work on it? I wrote the full script, then approached my english teacher, gave him the script and talked him into letting me produce the film instead of doing the final paper for the class. I also convinced him to give the other people involved credit for it as well, so when I went to them and said "Hey - would you rather work on my film or write an english paper?" they became quite enthusiastic about the project, despite their lack of interest in filmmaking. In my senior year of high school I then went on to produce numerous (terrible) shorts, as well as recording three (terrible) full-length albums with my band, and shoot/develop/print hundreds of still photos.
All of those projects were done without the advantage of easy access to the inexpensive and powerful digital tools that are available now. I would have given my left arm for something like an iMac, or even an iPhone. Back then we had to walk to school, barefoot, in three feet of snow, uphill both ways, etc... you damn kids have it so easy today. Get off my lawn!
But I really don't need people to tell me how I'm spoiled, lazy, unmotivated, and don't give a damn about filmmaking when they don't even know me.
None of what I've written is to say that you're spoiled, lazy, etc. It's to try and explain based on my own experience that you have the opportunity, ability, and resources to pursue your interest in film if you really want to - you just have to take the initiative to make the things you want happen. Everything you need is out there, but it's not always obvious or neatly presented as what you're looking for, you have to be creative and aggressive about turning anything you can get your hands on to your advantage in your pursuit.
And there's one last lesson I've got based on my experience - you might do all of this and find out that what you thought you wanted all along isn't what you really want anymore. After all of that work my career at this point isn't in any way related to filmmaking or the film/entertainment industry. That was conscious choice I made after spending a summer interning in hollywood and realizing that just because I loved making films didn't mean I wanted a career in the industry. But I don't regret a single thing I did in pursuit of that passion - it all was valuable in the end. The things I do now didn't even exist back then, but a single class I took at the community college probably changed the trajectory of my entire career - it just wasn't possible for me to see that, or understand the importance it would have, until over a decade later. And in the meantime the world changed, so that it's been possible for me to pursue my interest in filmmaking without having to make a career out of it.
So there's really two lessons there. One, you've got to be open to the possibilities of things (like community college classes) that may not seem to be entirely relevant to your immediate interests - you never know when something new or unexpected will turn out to be something important to you in the long run. And two - even if you aren't absolutely sure that film, or whatever you choose to pursue, is what you want to do, you shouldn't spend too much time pondering whether you should pursue it or not. If you think it might be what you want to do now, then run with it and start doing it right now, whatever it takes - because the experiences and effort you put into it will always be valuable. The only time wasted is the time you spend sitting around not actually doing anything.
I definitely don't want to spend any money learning theory
