I disagree with all who say resoundingly and vehemently that you should 'DEFINITELY NOT go to film school'. Usually these people have not been to film school themselves, and are sometimes quite jaded by the industry as a whole.
Actually there's a lot of people who went to film school but regret it and don't think they should have went. There's a lot of people who dropped out of film school because they did not like it.
Today you can get a new DSLR camera or prosumer camcorder for around $1,000-$5,000 that will give you a high quality picture.
What's the point if you don't know how to use it?
What do you mean what's the point if you don't know how to use it? A camcorder is pretty easy to use! There's the owners manual which comes with the camera. There's books and instructional DVD's you can buy for cheap that teach you about camera operations, the lens types and so on. You can easily browse the internet and learn. You learn though making films. Picking up a camera and going out and shooting something is how you learn!
A lot of these film schools even the top schools like NYU and USC use prosumer camcorders that are around this price range and these cameras are beat up because they have been used by a lot of students.
Perhaps in first year, but I've seen a whole bunch of USC grad stuff shot on 35mm, Red Epic, Red Scarlet etc. I know USC own a whole bunch of F3s, and are looking into purchasing some Red Epics. They also have some S16mm cameras, though film is being phased out there.
These student films you have seen that were shot on 35mm, Red Epic and Red Scarlett are you sure the student didn't get the camera loaned to them from someone or possibly rented the camera from a equipment rental store?
I've talked to people who went to USC over the last few years and they said the cameras used are prosumer cameras that are affordable.
IF YOU GO ON USC'S FILM SCHOOL WEBSITE AND LOOK AT THE PICTURES YOU WILL SEE THAT STUDENTS ARE USING PROSUMER CAMCORDERS! WATCH THE VIDEOS ON THE WEBSITE THE STUDENTS ARE USING PROSUMER CAMCORDERS IN THE VIDEOS!
On USC School of Cinematic Arts webpage they have a list of equipment that's available for student check out. Here's a list of the cameras they have:
(2) Sony F900H/3 (HD Cameras)
(17) Sony DSR-PD170 DVCAM camcorders
(50) Sony DSR-PD150 DVCam camcorders
(100) Sony DSR-PD100 DVCam camcorders
(30) Sony DSR-PDX10 DVCam camcorders
(11) Sony TRV-900 DV camcorders
(9) Sony VX-1000 DV camcorders
(8) Sony DSR-500 DVCam cameras
(5) Sony Betacam BVW-D600 cameras
The two Sony F900H and F3's at the top of the list are expensive cameras. All the other models are affordable prosumer cameras and I think there all really old cameras because I looked up the cameras on the internet and I could not find any that were selling for brand new I could only find them used which most likely means they have been discontinued, there not in production anymore so there pretty old cameras.
You could get Final Cut Pro X editing software for $300.
And learn to use software that will do you no use in the industry as professionals as a whole moved off it to Adobe or Avid.
The OP wants to be a director not an editor! If he wants he can buy Adobe Premiere editing software for $1,000. He can buy Avid Media Composer for $2,500! It's better than paying $60,000 a year to go to film school to use it! I'm simply telling him Final Cut Pro would be very good to make indie films that would later be submitted to major film festivals to show your talent and hopefully get noticed and break into the industry!
Most of these film schools use Final Cut Pro X.
No. USC for one uses full copies of Avid Media Composer.
I could go on Avid's website and buy Avid Media Composer for $2,500 instead of paying $60,000 a year to go to a film school to use it! Now your probably going to say "but if you don't go to film school you won't learn how to use it!" Well there's books and instructional DVD's that teach you how to use Avid!
James Cameron never went to film school he taught himself and he's pretty awesome. He has a lot of technical skills for someone who did not go to film school!
Today you can make a low budget feature length film for less than the cost of one semester at a university film program! Your making a low budget feature on a Red ONE camera for $7,000-$10,000
Or you could make a whole lot of short films at film school with real cameras, real lighting, real sound equipment, real editing equipment, and real crew, and end up with a finished product that's better than anything you could produce as a 'low budget feature' from a bunch of kids, or alternately you can be the DP yourself, rather than having to hire someone in because you have no idea how to make an image look good.
SHUT THE HECK UP NOW! I've seen a lot of short films made by USC film students and also NYU and UCLA film students and to tell you the truth I've seen tons of short films made for really cheap by people who did not go to film school that looked as good as these film school shorts some even better! I've seen low budget indie features made for less than the cost of a semester of film school that look as good as a film school short!
I graduated high school last June and decided to skip film school. Immediately after I graduated I got a full time job working for a landscaping company. I make $8 an hour and work 40 hours a week. When I graduated high school a little over a year ago I had really no money saved up and now I have $12,000 saved! I'm about to buy the basic equipment I need to make films. I'll go buy Avid Media Composer for $2,500 off Avid's website.
SO IS THIS NOT REAL EDITING EQUIPMENT? I'll buy a Lowell lighting kit for $1,500 like what's used at USC.
SO IS THIS NOT REAL LIGHTING EQUIPMENT? For $2,000 I'll get a high quality boom mic and recorder.
IS THIS NOT REAL SOUND EQUIPMENT? I'll spend up to $5,000 on a prosumer camcorder and the camera will be the same quality of prosumer camcorders available for check out to students at these top film schools!
NOT REAL EQUIPMENT? HAHA I'll make short films that are the same quality of the short films being made at USC and NYU except I'm making mine for a lot cheaper! These students are spending $60,000 a year when I spent around $10,000 for the basic equipment I need and this equipment I'll have will be the same quality of equipment being used at these top film schools!
Christopher Nolan didn't go to film school. His first feature film was an indie called Following. He made it for $6,000 and it did well at film festivals and then an independent producer financed Nolan's next film called Memento which did really well and he went to Hollywood!
Robert Rodriguez barely went to film school he dropped out and at 23 years old he made his first feature for $7,000 which was an indie called El Mariachi and it did well at film festivals got his talent noticed and he went to Hollywood!
Kevin Smith dropped out of Vancouver Film School after spending a very short time there. At 23 years old he made his first feature for $25,000 that was an indie called Clerks and it did well at film festivals got him noticed and he went to Hollywood!
Oren Peli did not go to film school and he made Paranormal Activity for $15,000 and it did very well at film festivals and he went to Hollywood!
So go talk some more smack about low budget films and no real equipment!
The truth is most film school grads do not end up with there dream job. Most film school students are unemployed after they graduate
You mean most people in general, and it does not matter whether they went to college or not.
Well what I'm trying to say is that the film industry is risky! Going to film school is a big risk because there's a good chance you won't get into the film industry at a above the line job or a good paying below the line job. So what happens when you end up not getting in the industry and have $100,000 or more in student loan debt and a Bachelor's degree in film production which does not have much value? Your really going to struggle a lot!
The smart thing people should be doing is getting a Bachelors degree in a real major and do filmmaking on the side and then if they don't get a good job in the film industry then they have a good backup they at least will have a degree in something that can actually take them some place!
Some end up unemployed for years!
As do many high school grads
Your missing the point! Would you rather be an unemployed filmmaker with $100,000 or more in student loan debt or be an unemployed filmmaker with no student loan debt? I don't know about you but I rather be an unemployed filmmaker with no student loan debt!
With a high school diploma you could get a job as a production assistant and build great connections thru the job!
Just as you could out of film school, and in fact possibly while you're still in film school. Except then you'd have connection with your teachers, lecturers, industry professionals and your fellow classmates. I constantly get calls from my old classmates and even my old professors asking me to work on this or that project that they're shooting or directing
Again your missing the point! The point is you can get a job as a Production Assistant and other jobs in the industry without going to film school and having $100,000 or more in student loan debt! I rather be a PA who did not go to film school and has no debt than be a PA who went to film school and has $100,000 or more in loan debt! The main point is you can get a low paying entry level job in the industry that will help you build connections without having to go to film school and build up a lot of student loan debt!
There's a lot of top Hollywood directors who did not attend film school
And here are a list of noteable Hollywood professionals who did attend film school, either in an undergraduate or postgraduate type course:
Judd Apatow
Ron Howard
Doug Liman
George Lucas
Bryan Singer
Lee Unkrich
Robert Zemeckis
Darren Aronofsky
David Lynch
Terrence Malick
Francis Ford Coppola
Alexander Payne
Jeff Cronenweth
William Fraker
Conrad Hall
Janusz Kaminski
Wally Pfister
Gore Verbinski
etc etc etc.
Well the BEST directors of all time did not attend film school like Stanley Kubrick, Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford! Out of the top 10 directors of all time less than half went to film school.
There are arguments for both sides of the coin, but film school does more for you than just have you make a film. Which is why I disagree with the arguments that say 'but just make your own on a DSLR and it'll be just like film school but better!' (paraphrasing a little ) because that's completely untrue.
For what film school does for $60,000 a year I'll definitely pass!
