What do Graduate Film Schools want?

Graduate School
1

<p>I'm going to be a sophomore this fall and I still have alot of time left before going to graduate school, but I've been looking around and I'm not really sure what film schools want to see. What would impress the admissions board of a film school the most? </p>

<p>I haven't been doing well in my first year at Fordham and I want to make sure that I will do everything in my ability to make the greatest possible change I can with the time I have to get into a great film school like Northwestern, NYU, USC, UCLA, Florida State, Bard, wherever. I want to look the best I can because I know that I want to pursue film and getting into a great school would help.</p>

<p>Also, I haven't had too much hands-on experience with sophisticated equipment and am not too aware of really complicated film/graphics software. Do I still have what it takes to make a knockout portfolio?</p>

2

<p>I am a second-year graduate student at Florida State. To begin with, a disclaimer -- While I like to think I know what helped me and my friends get in here, I really have no idea. Also, FSU is known for having less traditional admissions criteria. Here's my advice anyway:</p>

<p>I think what the faculty wants to see is that you are a smart, creative person who is excited and passionate about making movies and who is above all collaborative and easy to get along with.</p>

<p>I will go out on a limb and say that grades, test scores and portfolio take a back seat to passion and personality. Not that these things don't matter, but one friend of mine from school claims to have answered all 'c' on the GMAT, and nearly flunked out of college. But the films in his portfolio were interesting and showed off his unique view of the world, and he's done some amazing things in life outside of the film industry. For my part, I didn't include any films or photography in my portfolio; only some writing samples which, in hindsight, seem pretty weak to me.</p>

<p>All of my friends in school have interesting experiences and backgrounds. Of the four or five who were admitted straight out of undergrad, all of us have done unusual things and worked in unusual places. The rest are drawn from a wide, wide variety of disciplines; we've got aerospace engineers, biochemists, lawyers, Army vets, ER nurses and on and on. About half to two thirds of our class is from the North America, with the remaining chunk from overseas; many speak english as a second language, and a few started speaking english on the plane ride to school.</p>

<p>My advice is to learn to read and write well, and to get out and live life. If you make movies before school, more power to you - but avoid recycling stuff that you think is stylistically cool from other films, and concentrate on characters we care about, who are in some sort of trouble that we're interested in.</p>

<p>Some guys I met in interviews had studied film extensively in college, or had spent huge amounts of money creating their demo reels, and they were not accepted into the program.</p>

<p>thanks for humoring my self-induldgent reply.
-dave metzger
tallahasse, fl</p>

3

<p>hey,</p>

<p>i was looking seriously at graduate film school in the US for a while and found:</p>

<p>You need to show you have a passion for creating film- so something you've done to build up a portfolio like a short film, even photography is suitable, as long as it is creative or you had creative control on the project.</p>

<p>You need to be able to communicate in words (an essay usually) your passion for film or a competent analysis/critique of film. This put me off, as my undergrad degree is in a non-related subject, so i had no idea what to send them or do!</p>

<p>High grades will help you, but they don't seem to be the most important thing at all. as long as you show a commitment and motivation to the industry- you are in a good standing for admission.</p>

<p>hope that helps... that's the general knowledge i gained through the applications process.</p>

4

<p>thanks for the replies.</p>

<p>But, is this true for most of the schools? I've read about UCLA and Chapman's respective 11% and 8% acceptance rates. Why are these schools so competitive even though grades don't go into such deep consideration as their portfolios? Do I even have a chance anymore?</p>