<p>I have a freshman S who is very interested in film. He has taken some film courses in our area but I would like to send him to a good summer program possibly this summer and/or next summer. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>I believe that NY Film Academy has good summer programs in film for HS and college students.</p>
<p>NYU's Tisch School of the Arts offers an excellent summer filmmaking program for high school students.</p>
<p>The New York Film Academy, from what I've heard, is not the best program... I talked to a kid who went there and he said he didn't learn anything he didn't already know. I don't really like how they advertise themselves either... they brag about how they're the film school of choice for pierce brosnan's son and many other hollywood types... it makes me wonder why they focus on the kids that go there and not the program itself.</p>
<p>If you haven't heard of it, I would strongly recommend you check out Interlochen Center for the Arts. They have a very new film program, it's only 5 or so years old, but it's fantastic. I went there for camp this summer. It's a 6 week program that functions as half traditional rustic camp experience- you live in cabins with 15 or so other guys and a counselor- and half immersion art program. We spent 6 hours a day in various classes (I took a creative writing elective, screenwriting, production, film history, editing, and an advanced screenwriting elective) and the rest of the time having fun and hanging out. I learned an incredible amount in a short period of time thanks to the incredible teachers- they were all really down to earth, and I still keep in contact with them. The equipment is all top notch too, the building we study in is only 2 years old and has incredible facilities... a full soundstage, a huge screening room, edit suites with brand new macs, sony HDV cameras and full lighting setups, really college-level stuff. I was considering this program and NYU's summer program as well, but I'm glad I made the choice to go to interlochen. Because of the camp I'm going to their arts academy and it's incredible so far... I would consider Interlochen and NYU the top two summer film programs in the US by far.</p>
<p>North Carolina School for the Arts has a summer program in film.</p>
<p>California State Summer School for the Arts (InnerSpark) has one -- and the tuition is a real bargain if you are a California resident.</p>
<p>My child went to SOCAPA, but I don't recommend it.</p>
<p>Northwestern University has a summer media program in its NHSI (National High School Institute) program -- for kids going into senior year of high school. My son attended it several years ago and it was perfect for him.</p>
<p>Second North Carolina School for the Arts. Phenomenal program.</p>
<p>There are a few programs here:
Summer</a> Academic Programs - Singapore American School</p>
<p>Scroll down to filmmaking</p>
<p>As an additional recommendation, get him to plan on making a good quality short film which he can enter in film festivals starting in the fall. My S did this starting after his freshman year of h.s. and now that he is applying for college film programs he has some festival awards that he can list on his application.</p>
<p>S found the book "Filmmaking for Teens: Pulling Off Your Shorts" to be very helpful. You can get it at any online bookstore. Don't worry about him not having professional equipment...very few teens do. If he can check some out from the school, that would be great. You can even rent equipment. Search your yellow pages or online for "video equipment". He'd have to know enough from his classes to know how to use the equipment for that to be of value, though. Maybe he could do that after you send him to a camp.</p>
<p>As a "film mom", some things I have seen that separate the good student films from the crummy ones are:
1) Sound - acquire and learn to use a boom mic or else stick with films with no dialogue. We rented a mic and then attached it to a telescoping light bulb changer. Use what you have.
2) Lighting - many student films are just too dark. Pick up some shop lights from Home Depot; they work fine. To soften the light, hold a white sheet up in front of the light. Well-lit student films stand out because they are unusual.
3) Script - there is nothing worse than student films which feature h.s. kids ad libbing for the camera and thinking they are hilarious. He should write the screenplay and insist that the actors follow it.</p>
<p>About festivals....search online for the name of your city and "film festival". Sometimes there are festivals just for students in that city. Also check for ones in your state. Watch out for entry fees. Some are steep, and our S doesn't enter those. </p>
<p>Avoid online film festivals or contests. They are inundated with entries and it makes it difficult to shine there. Also, some of them are decided by votes on YouTube, so then it becomes a contest to see who has the most friends.</p>
<p>Good luck to your S!</p>
<p>the maine workshops are supposed to be great, i know a lot of people who went there who are exceeding at film schools now</p>
<p>I'd be interested in information on SOCAPA.</p>
<p>mom48, my daughter attended SOCAPA the summer after 6th grade (2005), but high school students were also in attendance at her location (Smith College).</p>
<p>As you know, the progam is quite expensive.</p>
<p>We attended the final showing of the movies made during the two weeks my daughter was there. The middle school students made a film together, each high school student was responsible for creating his/her own. The variation in the quality of the finished product was HUGE, with only one or two (in my view) being well thought out and put together. Some students were far too ambitious, other insufficiently so and had obviously not made good use of their time (granted, it was only two weeks).</p>
<p>My impression was that the students had access to the tools they needed to put together a film, but that the rest was more or less up to them. The adults were there to advise, but since an adult had to accompany each group in progress, they were spread thin. So apparently the time was not available (nor, apparently was this the focus) to critique work in progress and require certain standards at points along the way.</p>
<p>If a student was focused and self-starting, the project turned out well - but if a student is already that focused and self-starting, they could use the money to buy a good Apple and camcorder, and stay home and do their own projects with similar success.</p>
<p>In addition, student supervision had some gaps. Males and females were housed in the same dorm on different floors, and apparently some midnight visitations took place (ahem). This didn't disturb me unduly, as I don't think students were ever unsafe, but it may not be the kind of supervision you want for your child.</p>
<p>By the way -- my daughter had a FANTASTIC time, and was upset when we wouldn't send her back. We simply didn't feel it was worth the money, especially in our case. The final credits of the middle school student film project suggested that my daughter had not been as involved in the making of the film as we would have liked (ie, only one small walk on role, credit as a boom operator, writing credit on a film with minimal script). We think this is most likely because those who wanted to direct, edit, whatever spoke up and did so, whereas the adults did not make sure the more quiet and retiring types (such as my daughter) were as involved as they should have been.</p>
<p>One I want to recommend in a fabulous location but perhaps you'd not know of it: Gulf Island Film School. </p>
<p>It's on one of the gulf islands, just off the coast from Vancouver Canada. </p>
<p>Do a google search on news about it, and you'll see they are doing some very cool things.</p>
<p>You'll also find programs in Canada often to be quite inexpensive: </p>
<p>The</a> Gulf Islands Film and Television School : Welcome!</p>
<p>Here is the island it's located on:</p>
<p>Just in case someone is following this for a future summer, I wanted to follow up on the posts Fendrock and I exchanged about SOCAPA. Daughter, who was entering 11th grade, attended the senior high program at Champlain College last summer. She not only had a ball but learned a great deal. She had already taken a high-school class in film-making but felt challenged by the pace at which they were asked to work (three short films in three weeks). She was also incredibly excited by the equipment, which was apparently super, and the experienced and accessible faculty. Also, for what its worth, this daughter is fairly shy but became very involved in both her own films and those for which she was on technical crew. It sounds to me like a difference between our reactions to the program might be middle school versus high school?</p>
<p>My kid, who is now in film school, attended SOCAPA after 7th grade and had an experience much more like mom48's daughter. He was one of the younger kids there, but each week he was responsible for writing and directing his own film. He also acted in and crewed on other kids' films. There were classes on various aspects of filmmaking and there was definitely adult involvement. I would agree that there is tremendous variety in the quality of the films the kids made, but overall, I was impressed with what they came up with in a week, particularly considering the kids' diverse backgrounds and levels of experience. I just don't think you can judge the program on the product; it's more of a process and experiential learning thing and it definitely left my son able to produce his own short films.</p>
<p>I would, however, judge the Smith program negatively in that each kid didn't have the opportunity either to create his own film (as writer/director) or to take a significant role on more collaborative efforts. Knowing about the differences between different SOCAPA programs, I would definitely ask if all of the students would have the opportunity to write/direct their own films if they wanted to before writing the check and sending my kid. But at SOCAPA programs structured so that even younger kids take significant creative roles, it's a very good experience.</p>
<p>My dd attended NYU's Tisch for their high school summer program in photography. She loved it! She learned a lot! It has affected her life more than I can say.
She is now waiting to hear whether they will accept her to college.
I have heard wonderful things about the film in the same program.</p>
<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I am a senior applying to films schools, and over the past couple summers I have attended a few film programs:</p>
<p>School of Visual Arts (SVA) Pre-College Screenwriting Program (3 weeks): Excellent, immersive 3-week program. Great professors, invaluable instruction. On-campus living is extremely expensive, but the three weeks I spent in the heart of the city were life-changing. They also have a good summer film production program, I was friends with lots of students in that program as well adn they only had good things to say about it.</p>
<p>Duke Talent Identification Program: Reel Expressions at Chapman University (2 weeks): This program is highly selective (maybe the most selective summer film program; it's capped at 32 students, and I had to send a HS transcript and recs, like a college app), and you get to spend the two weeks at Chapman's world-class Marion Knott Studios film center. My major complaint is that the program is run like a concentration camp, i.e. no students in other students dorms, lights out at 11, zero free time, not allowed to leave campus. Program is run by some guy who sells speakers in France, and the only Chapman professor affiliated with the program showed up like twice. Instruction is still top-notch, and we had a couple good guest speakers from the industry. Still, not worth the $, stress and restrictions.</p>
<p>Emerson College Young Filmmakers Summer Conference (5 weeks): This is a selective program that requires a small portfolio (they ask for a video or a screenplay, I sent a 9-page script). I don't think there is a better summer film program in the world. The schedule was perfect: class from 9-4 (w/1 hr lunch), then the rest of the day in Boston to do whatever we pleased. Dorms are outstanding, right on the Commons. I know it is very expensive, but if your son aspires to be a filmmaker, this is where he needs to be, at least for 5 weeks next summer. We were taught by a tenured Emerson film professor (Peter Flynn, a god) throughout the entire program, with the perfect balance of cinema studies, and technical practice (we edited on Final Cut here, Avid at Chapman).</p>
<p>Hope that was helpful!</p>
<p>Wow, sammy, that was very helpful indeed!</p>
<p>Which program would you recommend for after sophmore year of high school (d will have had two semester long filmmaking courses at high school)?</p>
<p>Also, did you consider attending the Northwestern program? If not, why not?</p>
<p>Where are you hoping to go for college?</p>
<p>After my sophomore year in HS i went to the School of Visual Arts Screenwriting program, and hadn't had any production experience. If your son/daughter has already had two semesters of filmmakign courses, he might find the SVA screenwriting program below him or too concentrated, but a lot of people loved the production program so that would be a good fit. I think the Emerson Program might only be open to those going into their Sr. year in HS (but if its not, go for that), and I'm not too keen on reccommending the Duke at Chapman program. I would look into SVA.</p>
<p>I didn't know Northwestern had a summer film program, but i'm sure its great. I applied early decision to NYU Tisch (cinema studies), but I would be fine going to Emerson, SVA, Chapman or USC, all of which I applied to early action. I also applied to the film programs/majors at UNC-Wilmington, Savannah College of Art and Desisgn, University of Tampa, University of Colorado-Boulder, San Francisco State and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.</p>
<p>Sammy --</p>
<p>I just looked into the SVA program and it looked great. They don't have a brochure so I asked to speak to the director. She said that the kids were not grouped by experience so that he would be working possibly with some kids who had absolutely no experience. Do you know if this was a problem? Also, while he's quite responsible, I'm not wild about him having free run of NYC! How supervised was it? Do you know of anyone we could talk to about the production program?</p>
<p>My D is interested in theater and went to Northwestern's Theater NHSI program. It was totally life changing. I don't know much about the film program -- only what I can see online. If it is anything like the theater program, I would highly recommend it. However, it is a bit long for my S (he also plays football and needs to keep in shape) and is only open to HS juniors (rising seniors). She is at Northwestern now and I think it helped getting her in there. It also helped HER know she wanted to go there.</p>