Film majors

<p>I remember reading on the old CC board, that if you get a degree in sccreenwriting for undergraduate at NYU or USC, there's no need for grad school. You'll pretty much be set with the knowledge and connections.</p>

<p>HELP!! My D is an amazing writer - really interested in screenwriting (TV and/or Plays) - but had a rough freshman year with honors geometry and an even rougher sophomore year with honors algrebra 2 and chemistry. She's waitlisted at Sarah Lawrence and Emersom - performance arts/non acting, accepteted to Eugene Lang, Pratt and UT non Austin (it's a crazy Texas top 10% thing). S.L./Emerson were her top choices and now she's rethinking everything else and wants to go where her friends are going. (Places she hasn't even applied to and wouldn't have considered in Jan.) Help - I don't want to push ... but she's such an amazing writer (and this school doesn't even have scriptwriting or creative writing as a major). Any info out there on Eugene Lang and/or Pratt's writing program would be more than appreciated as well as info on how to get off the waitlist and into the college.</p>

<p>so i'm a junior now and i want to major in film but i really don't know what to do to get started on building my portfolio.. is it too late?</p>

<p>Look at contribution #49.</p>

<p>Koyaanisqatsi85,
I looked at Northwestern's website, and it looked like their focus was purely on animation. Maybe I'm not looking in the right place. Do you have a link for the film school?</p>

<p><a href="http://www.communication.northwestern.edu/rtf/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.communication.northwestern.edu/rtf/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>btw, the program's not at all focused on animation. I'm not sure what webpage you would've been looking at.</p>

<p>Thanks for the correct website! Here is what I was looking at:
<a href="http://www.siggraph.org/education/directory/schools/e_nur.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.siggraph.org/education/directory/schools/e_nur.htm&lt;/a> . I found it by Googling "northwestern" and "film". Weird.</p>

<p>She should seriously look at Pratt Institute. It has a very strong program in creative writing, and I believe it's emphasis is on screenplay writing. I met some kids who are in the program, and everyone of them loved it.</p>

<p>Here is what Pratt says about their writing program:</p>

<p>This four-year undergraduate program leads to a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Writing for Publication, Performance and Media. The goal of the program is the creation of well-rounded writers, writers able to produce ad copy as well as fiction, journalism as well as poetry, web content as well as screenplays, html as well as book and film reviews.
The attainment of this goal requires a serious and sustained commitment. In contrast to traditional colleges, in which a major is often declared only in the third year of study, writing majors at Pratt begin an intensive concentration on writing in the first term of their freshman year and gradually expand it over the course of the program.</p>

<p>At heart of the curriculum are the Writing Studios. In the first year, while the assignments are often creative in nature, the primary focus of the Studios is on word choice, grammar and the honing of a forceful clarity of expression; in the second year, narrative and poetic forms come to the fore; while in the third year, students are encouraged to begin specializing in genres that will culminate in their Senior Theses, book-length original works of prose, poetry or an experimental form, the composition and polishing of which take center stage in the fourth-year Studios. The program takes full advantage of the fact that New York City is the literary capital of the United States.
Beginning in the sophomore year, Special Topics in Writing Tutorials provide students with the opportunity to work closely with accomplished writers in areas such as artist’s book, short story, poetry, satire, feature and editorial journalism, screenplay and drama. The overall emphasis on the practice of writing is undergirded throughout by courses in literature, cultural studies, science and history. A solid grounding in these disciplines is crucial to real achievement in the written word.</p>

<p>Friday Forum: On Friday afternoons, literary agents, poets, editors, novelists and humorists come to campus to discuss their work with students. The current roster of guests can be accessed on the Pratt website at: <a href="http://pratt.edu/%7Efforum/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://pratt.edu/~fforum/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Writer in Residence: Each year a well-known is chosen to be the program’s Writer-in-Residence, while Writers Live, Pratt’s reading series, brings to campus yet more writers each semester. Past writers-in-residence are: Ellen Miller, Laurie Stone, Eileen Myles, David Gates, and Amy Hempel.</p>

<p>Internships: Typically taken in the spring of the junior year, internships give students invaluable opportunities for work experience at places such as the Village Voice, Saturday Night Live, Vibe Magazine and Comedy Central, as well as not-for-profit arts organizations such as St. Mark’s Poetry Project and the Dia Foundation.</p>

<p>Critical Thinking and Writing: Moreover, with an eye to sharpening student’s analytical and argumentative skills, a two-semester sequence called Critical Thinking and Writing has recently been made a requirement of the freshman year.</p>

<p>I have been researching what it takes to get into film school for our freshman in high school son. We are working on different things for film experience, but I am wondering about academics. We homeschool our kids, so I need to plan the courses he will take.</p>

<p>It seems that I am seeing things on the college websites that make me think he needs to have some more creative writing and literature, so that he can develop his storytelling skills.</p>

<p>What kind of high school courses have you guys taken that you feel have prepared you academically for film school?</p>

<p>For me, classes outside of filmmaking have been the most influential. AP Chem and AP Bio were some of the best classes I took (all because the teachers made the material so engaging). I thought that stories of classes like world and u.s. history would be my perfect fit, but I found all the memorizing boring and trite (the ap exams are quiet easy if you can bring yourself to memorize all that stuff). </p>

<p>Writing is crucial to filmmaking. When I first started in film (ten, eleven) I incorrectly believed that the director simply shaped everything and that a good director did not need to now how to write. I could not have been more wrong. Get the best teachers you can, take college course, and push yourself to be the best writer you can be. </p>

<p>As for admissions, I have no idea. I didn't shape my classes or activities to perfectly match what a college wants. When I went to the harvard admissions reception in my area, the admission officer said that I had stood up for being strong academically but also an artists and activist. Honestly, I have no idea why I got into harvard, and I don't really care because I'm not going there. </p>

<p>As for getting into NYU Film, I am still stunned that I got in. NYU is even more a crap-shoot then harvard because they only take 200 instead of 1800, with a much smaller amount of diversity (we all are filmmakers...haha). </p>

<p>Goodluck with your choices. You've got plenty of time. And most of all take classes that you enjoy, do things you love. Don't do things simply to get into college...they can see right through that.</p>

<p>Safiamilke- I saw that you went to the summer program at NYU last year. I applied (find out in 1 1/2 weeks!) and was curious if you knew what they looked for in their applicants? Like, what were your stats etc? Also, do you think that since you got into that it made your chances a little easier getting into the film school? Thanks!</p>

<p>I'm going to be honest, it is very difficult to get in. They told us they took 5% of the people who applied...Basically, the admission process is the main professors reading your essays and scanning your transcript. Above all, the essays are the most important. I cannot stress this enough. When I got there, the other kids were seriously lacking academically (I was the only one who scored over 750's on the sat II, only one with a higher sat then 1400...I know this because we all talked about it at the meetings we had with the admission staff, I'm not that obnoxious guy that asks everyone what the got...haha). But, everyone was an excellent writer. </p>

<p>As for helping your chances, of the kids in my summer session 30 got in of the 50 who went. Thats 60%, over the normal admission rate of around 3-7%. </p>

<p>Goodluck, I hope you get in. And your idaho status should really help you! There were two kids from kansas, and two from idaho even though there were only three from new york city!</p>

<p>Safiamilke: Thank you for your reply, I just wanted to say that I found out yesterday that I got in. I'm really excited!</p>

<p>For those of you interested in screenwriting esp for tv, go to today's
<a href="http://www.dailynorthwestern.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.dailynorthwestern.com&lt;/a> and click on article "Taking On Tinseltown."</p>

<p>What are some specific examples of celebrities and the colleges they attended? What school has the best track record of successful film actors?</p>

<p>Safia, what was your GPA?</p>

<p>and also, holler back with a link to that summer program you went to--- </p>

<p>what do they look at on your transcripts/resume/whatever for the summer program?</p>

<p>Summer session at the North Carolina School of the Arts</p>

<p><a href="http://www.ncarts.edu/ncsaprod/summersession/filmmaking.asp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ncarts.edu/ncsaprod/summersession/filmmaking.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>what about the NYU summer program?</p>