<p>Does film school carry some benefits? Of course. The number one thing I can think of is having a large group of students to work with. You need other passionate filmmakers surrounding you to make quality short films. Unless you were lucky enough to grow up with a group of friends who happened to like film as much as you, most people need to pay to get those kinds of friends. Though you can make a group of filmmaker friends on your own outside of school, it’s certainly easier when you’re forced to be in close proximity to them in a classroom setting. There’s a reason why it’s so much easier to make friends when you’re a student. </p>
<p>What are the drawbacks though. For one, the equipment means nothing - you can buy a wonderful set of equipment (on par with the kind of equipment used to shoot popular indie films) for $4,000-$6,000 if you’re frugal enough. Don’t even get me started on what you can buy with the outrageous tuition of a school like USC or NYU. The education isn’t anything special either. Though having a few instructors to guide your learning is helpful, at the end of the day film production is a technical skill and can be learned completely independently through trial and error. Watch films. Read books on filmmaking (there are some amazing ones out there that cost between $10-20 each - which is remarkably low). As for screenwriting, I believe that skill is particularly innate (meaning you either have what it takes or you don’t, and dumping thousands of dollars into a film program won’t make much of a difference). The way I see it, with most writing skills, people have a baseline. With hard work and practice, anyone can improve their writing, but the difference between “amazing” and “good” writing isn’t something that can be taught or bought. Another obvious drawback is the fact that you’ll have regulations to work around. You’ll have to take film theory classes as well as production ones. I hear lowerclassmen aren’t permitted to use the same equipment as upperclassmen, and I also hear scripts have to be approved before filming. </p>
<p>Film school is not a one size fits all solution anymore. I think the positive, starry-eyed film school experience you’re thinking of is a fantasy that was cultivated fifty years ago. * there was a time when film school was essential *, around the time people like George Lucas went to USC. 35mm and 16mm was the only format available to shoot with, and because film cameras were so unbelievable heavy and complicated to use (taking multiple people to operate one), and film stock was horrendously expensive and easy to damage, your average schmuck simply couldn’t shoot with 35mm film unless they were in film school. Because social media and the internet didn’t exist, networking wasn’t a real option either unless you were in film school. Literally the only way to meet other likeminded filmmakers was to be in film school. In this sense, back in the day film schools truly were an elite little community where 95% of film industry professionals had graduated from these schools, and all of your classmates were people you could contact in the future for jobs. </p>
<p>Today, this isn’t the case at all. Today, you can order a blackmagic camera, a tripod, a lighting kit, a shotgun microphone, boom pole, digital audio recorder, and some other film goodies off of amazon (and have it shipped in under 2 weeks to your home), contact other filmmakers or film crew via sites like Craigslist, facebook, or even sites that specify in film crew connections, and boom - you’re ready to make a film. There is no elite group anymore. Filmmakers and film crews come from all walks of life. Ever heard of Robert Rodriguez and El Mariachi? Look him up. His story might interest you. Even though YouTube and ITunes have changed the game immensely since Mr. Rodriguez was a young filmmaker, his story is still one that people attempt. </p>
<p>Bottom line - film schools are not elite anymore, they certainly aren’t necessary to learn filmmaking and make a film, and the boom of digital equipment and the internet has made it possible for * anyone * to make and distribute a film via the internet. Of course, this has led to a gross over-saturation of bad quality films to pick through, but that’s a discussion for a different thread. </p>
<p>Would I suggest you go to USC or NYU? Hell no. All you’ll be doing is sinking yourself into debt. You don’t want to start out your filmmaking career already waist deep in a hole you’ve dug. Young filmmakers need at least a few good years to take risks, live poorly, and give filmmaking their all. You can’t take risks if you have the ball and chain of debt weighing you down. You just can’t. There are many, many other schools vastly cheaper with fine film programs. Really, the only real benefit you’re looking for is having a huge pool of other filmmaker students to become friends with and work on films together. As long as you have that, the equipment and instruction doesn’t have to be state of the art. All the industry cares about when you graduate is if you have a reel. I’m telling you now, ** your reel is everything. A high school dropout with a dozen short films under his belt and a great reel will always win against an NYU/USC grad with a crummy reel **. The first thing people ask you isn’t “where did you go to school?”. It’s “can I see your reel”?</p>
<p>If you still want to go to a high-end college, I suggest you major in something practical, and then either double major or minor in film. I think it’s a bad idea in general to major in film alone, because let’s face it… a film degree isn’t worth squat. If you go to college, the primary goal shouldn’t be to ‘learn filmmaking’ (which you can do without college). It should be to make a nice safety net in case you fail. Plan ahead. Even if it sounds negative, you should always have a plan B in case you fail. I think double majoring or major/minoring in film and then something practical is a great idea in general, because you aren’t putting your eggs in one basket and you still get access to all the friendly students who would be willing to help you make films. </p>
<p>Good luck </p>
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