My son just got admitted to the Interlochen summer program for high schoolers in film. He’s taken a number of film courses at school as well as attended a number of film camps. Is this program worth the expense? I’m just wanting to make sure he is challenged and will benefit from this experience, I’ve read online that the music programs are the most rigorous and other programs less so? Anyone who has attended this program? Would appreciate your input, thanks!
Yes!!! I believe the program is worth it!! I attended Interlochen Camp for Digital Filmmaking in 2012 and it was a life changing experience. I also did an after school film program in Chicago but Interlochen was 10x better. It is a super fun and life changer experience. I thought I would be able to take electives but they plan out your whole schedule from morning to evening and I took several classes. I’m not sure if they are the same but I had editing (Final Cut 7) at the time, Film History, Screen Writing, Film Tech and Film Production which was hands on and also featured special guest speakers. Because the program was so new we had AC a state of the art building. Actually we had the best building on campus.
The program is pretty small. There were about 15-20 kids in the core program. I believe the documentry, animation, and screenwriting classes were even smaller maybe 5-10 kids. So congrats on getting accepted. You really create a special bond with everyone because of the size. I still keep in touch with everyone over social media and I also worked on a short film with a classmate after the program was over. I also attend college with a few. There are a lot of international students too! Lots diversity and culture throughout the camp. You get to make friends with so many student studying different art disciplines and you can use them in your short videos.
The program has a sound stage which is awesome for shooting as well as the whole camp which is beautiful. I remember using the C100 camera. I believe they had a Rep. from Red or Canon come do a presentation and show us new cameras. They also teach you how to use every professional equipment on set. You have the opportunity to work on 4 films and you have a different position every time. At the end of the program we screen all of the films for the the entire camp to watch. We also had the opportunity to go to a film festival in Traverse City. They keep you busy.
Plus you still have the camp part which is fun. You get to stay in a cabin and create special bonds. You get to attend friends performances and see how talented they are. They have activities such as archery, star gazing, swimming, campfires, themed parties, and so much more. They have so many crazy traditions which you end up liking. The camp structure kinda has a lil military vibe which wasn’t bad.
I hope this helps!!!