<p>Ok, how would you compare the production program at USC, Chapman, NYU, FSU.
I've been "studying " their website, but i would like to hear from you guys.</p>
<p>What is yout opinion about Northwestern university radio film and tv program?</p>
<p>HELP HELP HELP HELP PLEASE!!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>You might want to read these threads:</p>
<p>That should keep you busy for awhile. :-) Let us know if you have more questions!</p>
<p>Just another note....it will be hard for anyone here to compare two film programs. We might know what we've heard about what is good or bad about a particular school, but very few people have first-hand knowledge of more than one school.</p>
<p>I could tell you that my S toured Univ. of Texas film school and Chapman's film school. He says UT's facilities looked liked somebody's junky garage compared to Chapman's super-modern and high tech facilities. But what does that tell you really? Maybe UT has the best faculty ever.</p>
<p>So, you really have to just learn a lot about the schools you are interested in, then try to make a decision based on that.</p>
<p>Very good links.Thank you so much.</p>
<p>Here is my list so far</p>
<p>reach:
USC,NYU,FSU</p>
<p>Match,lowreach:
Northwester, Emmerson</p>
<p>Safety</p>
<p>Northwestern is not a match/low reach if FSU is your reach. I actually thought Northwestern film is at least as good as FSU film but regardless I think you made a mistake by equating admission difficulty to program rank. When you are applying to Northwestern, it's the undergrad admission that is looking at your file, not the film department. The people who get in while indicting film is their intended major have just about the same academic credentials as those that get into other majors. The communication school had average SAT of 1398 (enrolled; higher for admitted), not much below the University average of 1422 and higher than NYC and USC overall average.</p>
<p>Just want to add that NU will take film-related ECs into consideration and I've seen people with relatively low scores getting into the communications school but obviously they are minority. If you have high GPA and scores along with great ECs, then NYU/USC is definitely harder to get in; but if you don't have high GPA/scores but you got great ECs, NU may end up being a bit more difficult than others.</p>
<p>My portofolio isnt impressive at all. I dont have much film experience.Im my home country our high schools dont offer theater or film related subjects,so you couldnt get as involved as i would liked to. I heard that USC take that into consideration.I dont remember where i read it, but it said that they understand that some students dont have the acces to film as american student suring high school.*n the city where i was born we dont have any film school.
How is NYU policies regarding portofolio. Do they consider students with little film experience.</p>
<p>As for my stats:3.9 gpa in a private college here in the usa..26 on act~
I~m an international student from south america</p>
<p>I still would like some info about the differences btw production program at USC and the one at Northwestern.</p>
<p>if you are transferring from another college, i think northwestern is going to weigh you college GPA much more heavily than the ACT score. so you have a shot then.</p>
<p>i am not familiar with nitty gritty differences among different film programs. i just know that the film program at northwestern also emphasizes liberal arts education. 18 of your 45 courses have to be outside of the film department.</p>
<p>I still cant understand what do they mean by indie film...I read in one of the threads that NYU is more of a Indie film...
what are NYU policies for transfer students as far as grades..do they look more at GPA or ACT]SAT.</p>
<p>'Indie' is, broadly speaking, a genre of films characterized by relatively modest budgets, emphasis on acting and storytelling over action or special effects, produced outside of a major studio. There is a sense that indie films will favor art over commerce, but the divide is not so great as it once was, with more independently produced films finding substantial distribution. </p>
<p>NYU has a reputation for being an agreeable place if you fancy yourself an artist, while someplace like USC seems to appeal to people who want to make films with broad appeal. They probably have more in common than people think, but living in New York will be a very different experience from living in Los Angeles. </p>
<p>I don't know what USC or NYU require, but UCLA will accept a wholly written portfolio.</p>
<p>Thank you guys so much..some really good info...keep them coming...</p>
<p>SCA (School of Cinematic Arts) at USC is definitely more "Hollywood" than NYU, focusing on genres and stories with broader appeal. However, they aren't entirely limited to just commercial successes.</p>
<p>I can speak to the application for both USC and NYU screenwriting majors:
-for USC I did approx. 40 pages of writing, most of which was very structured (responding to script parameters, essay prompts), with 20 pages of creative supplement strictly from you
-for NYU the Dramatic Writing required 25 pages of creative supplement, basically anything you wanted to submit</p>
<p>Also, I read somewhere that the admit rate for screenwriters is about 25% and I don't want to give anyone false hope - for USC, I know this year it was 6% for us and NYU I don't know. The screenwriting major at USC is a B.F.A., meaning our film classes start freshman year and the program is much more intensive than the B.A.'s. </p>
<p>Having been accepted to both programs (and I'm now committed to USC), I'd be happy to answer any further questions.</p>
<p>P.S. Etcheverry, I had no prior film experience either and I know USC will not accept film projects as the sole basis for an application (for all three cinema majors, including production) because they don't want to exclude prospective students who haven't had the chance to get behind the camera.</p>
<p>Tor-dazzle...
Do you think the admission committee (for either school) prefers to see a resume that is strongly committed to one style, or one that is more diverse?
Do you know anything about transfer admission?
What kinds of extracurriculars did you have in high school and what was your gpa?
Could you possibly pm me a small sample of your writing, just so I know the general caliber of admits? If you don't feel comfortable with that, don't worry about it at all! </p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>Thanks for an interesting post, tor-dazzle. I did not apply to NYU as moving to NY is not an option for me. I didn't apply to USC either as I didn't think I would be a good fit there, but it is still very interesting to hear what it's like -- they require a much more extensive written portfolio than UCLA -- I think only 10 pages. It was very hard to say anything in such a small amount of space. Perhaps I was too hasty in ruling out USC.</p>
<p>Do you have much sense yet of what the academic atmosphere is like at USC? How are they on film theory and cultural studies-type stuff?</p>
<p>If they liked people committed to one style, USC would've hated me, lol. For my sample scripts, I did one on Ancient Rome and the other on the American Revolution, and than my creative piece was an excerpt from a teen romance I was working on. So yeah, they like a little diversity. :)</p>
<p>For transfers, I only know that screenwriting at USC is strictly four-year, meaning transfers have to start at the beginning for film classes. </p>
<p>Extracurriculars: I was an activity varsity player in two sports (nothing special, not playing in school), French Club, the school academic team, but I was most active in the school variety show. I made sure to make clear that, as one of the directors, I committed to the production from June 07 to March 08, working through summer on sets, and then closer to showtime leaving school at 8-9pm. </p>
<p>I'd be happy to PM you something if you still need it! Get back to me!</p>
<p>Atmosphere: USC is really committed to teaching film theory, it's like one of the cinema school's mottos. Also, we're required to take cultural courses as part of our general ed., but it's extremely flexible with a lot of choices. Within the cinema school, the general vibe is amazing, mixed between the disbelief on actually being at USC and support for our fellow film students. Also, the cinema school's reputation precedes it, especially on campus. A lot of the students I've met are usually really excited to meet film majors since there's so few of us wandering around, hahaha.</p>
<p>Interesting, thank you. One person at USC I'd have been extremely excited to study under is Tom Holman, the audio genius. He built my amp & pre-amp (APT/Holman) and was super nice when I emailed him with some questions about it. If you ever take a class with him, be sure to post about it!</p>
<p>Adding onto TheMovies who described the artistic content difference of an "Indie" film: The word "Indie" is simply shortened from "Indendent." </p>
<p>Back in the old days, a Hollywood studio system (MGM, Universal, and more) decided which major feature films would be produced, and hired everyone: director, actors, crew..then later marketed the film for distribution. </p>
<p>More recently, especially with affordable (ahem, almost) technologies in many peoples' hands, "anyone" could make a film by declaring themself the producer/director, hiring a cast and crew, and finishing the product. After that, the films would be shown in festivals, elevators, anywhere to increase exposure. The film's producers hope to sell the rights to a more established production or distribution company. Some do and some don't, but those that succeed encourage others. </p>
<p>Independent Film Festivals, at first only Sundance but now many others, provide opportunities for exposure, awards and reviews of Indie films. This increases their likelihood of being of interest to production companies who really have the access to funds to market the films. An independent filmmaker does not have this kind of distribution network, by any means!</p>
<p>Some "Indie" films simply exist on shelves, yet are exciting pieces of art because they have so few creative limits when they began (other than the budgets of filmmakers or those they can interest in investing right from the beginning). Even if they don't get "picked up" by a larger company, their artistic merit stands.</p>
<p>In the U.S.today, top actors are appreciative of the Indie movement and will sometimes agree to act a role in them, to keep that spriit alive and help the chances of the film/script to succeed by their box-office draw. Some actors have written that they view doing a role in an Indie as their artistic responsibility to the community, and try to do one each year.</p>
<p>Long answers to an important question.</p>
<p>Point is: It has nothing to do with Indianapolie or India, necessarily, although an Indie could begin from any location in the world and be picked up!! It is exciting that it is now possible that something that begins as an Indie film might become a major feature shown in moviehouses nationwide...or, if not,
sit on many friends' and relatives' shelves and make them feel good.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Unique advantages:An "aesthetics first"approach to study; active interest in interactive entertainment; a fiercely loyal alumni base dubbed "the NU mafia"</p>
<p>Ideal for:Self-starters with a collaborativespirit. Associate professor David Tolchin-sky believes the strong ties that NU
grads feel to the school and each other is due in large part to the unique grantsystem, which has students getting their media projects approved and funded by other students. "It's a very healthy environment, with students learning production within classes but also from one another," Tolchinsky says. A word from an alumnus: Screenwriter
Eric Bernt (Rogue Pictures' January release "The Hitcher") says that focus on design over technical know-how leads
to student work "very different from what you see coming out of NYU or AFI or UCLA, which all look like they're geared for Hollywood."
[/quote]
</p>
<p>"SCA (School of Cinematic Arts) at USC is definitely more "Hollywood" than NYU, focusing on genres and stories with broader appeal. However, they aren't entirely limited to just commercial successes.</p>
<p>I can speak to the application for both USC and NYU screenwriting majors:
-for USC I did approx. 40 pages of writing, most of which was very structured (responding to script parameters, essay prompts), with 20 pages of creative supplement strictly from you
-for NYU the Dramatic Writing required 25 pages of creative supplement, basically anything you wanted to submit</p>
<p>Also, I read somewhere that the admit rate for screenwriters is about 25% and I don't want to give anyone false hope - for USC, I know this year it was 6% for us and NYU I don't know. The screenwriting major at USC is a B.F.A., meaning our film classes start freshman year and the program is much more intensive than the B.A.'s. </p>
<p>Having been accepted to both programs (and I'm now committed to USC), I'd be happy to answer any further questions.</p>
<p>P.S. Etcheverry, I had no prior film experience either and I know USC will not accept film projects as the sole basis for an application (for all three cinema majors, including production) because they don't want to exclude prospective students who haven't had the chance to get behind the camera."</p>
<p>Nice post.. thank you so much...
I see you are on the screenwriting "field"...In my case, as a producer major will i have to write a 40 page like essay? I will be visiting USC, UCLA and chapman this fall to see how i like it. As for the film students, do you know if they are very competitive or if people work fine as a group and help each other?I heard that students at NYU are very individualist and don't care much for their classmates.Also, in my case as a transfer students would i take only film classes or would i be required to take core curriculum classes?How duable is to double major in film and business?What are you opinio on Northwestern program? i really appreciate all your help...</p>
<p>Production majors did not have as extensive an application, though I know they had to do at the very least an in-depth original character sketch. I believe the application requirements or questions change year to year -- the SCA website is great and really informative. </p>
<p>Along with USC, I visited UCLA. The campus was beautiful but it felt a little impersonal and my guide wasn't as knowledgeable towards my particular major. However, its film program is two-year, not four, and therefore better suited to transfers like yourself. </p>
<p>One of the reasons I didn't choose NYU is because I felt it would be too individualistic, whereas at USC, collaboration plays a big role. My own department, at least, took the time to evaluate all the admitted students and sort them into classes based on who would work the best together. That alone speaks volumes upon the subject; basically USC wants their film students to work together and grow from each other. Unfortunately, our academic advisor refuses to tell us the grounds on which we were sorted until after graduation =)</p>
<p>I'm not too familiar with transfer students, but I'm sure you could transfer credits for general education courses. As for film and business, I've heard something about there being a business major/film minor combo that students really like. For screenwriting majors, I know minors are almost impossible to fulfill, let alone double majors, and I assume it's probably the same with production.</p>
<p>I'm not at all familiar with Northwestern's program, sorry, but I can tell you about Emerson College, in Boston. It was the first film school I was accepted at and basically a safety I loved: it's in a great location with lots of resources and is currently in the process of opening up a West Coast campus.</p>
<p>etcheverry,</p>
<p>My post (#17) refers to Northwestern, not BU, in case the URL confused you.</p>