What films schools should I think about?

College Majors Visual Arts and Film Majors
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<p>I kind of prefer to stay East Coast. Here are my stats and thanks I don't know much about film school programs but I know its probably the only thing i can picture myself being happy doing every day
I'm a Junior.
Class rank 18/519
GPA Weighted 4.96
GPA Unweighted 4.27
SAT First time taken: Verbal 650, Math 650 (need to improve terribly)
Courseload: Heavy (4 AP's senior year, 2 this year)
AP's taken: Calculus AB, Euro AP (next year: Spanish, Language, Biology, Gov)
Varsity Sports: X-Country, Swimming (Captain), Tennis (played JV)
Clubs: Academic Team, Key Club, Film Club, Mock Trial Team, Debate Team, Ultimate Frisbee, Environmental Club
Recommendations: Potentially 4-5 strong ones
Community Service: Low (20 hours)</p>

<p>AND I LOVE FILMMAKING</p>

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<p>How's your portfolio?</p>

3

<p>Not too good. I mean I got a 10 minute documentary I made on graffiti and a draft of a short screenplay but not much else. I know its crap but I don't know what to do. </p>

<p>How important is the port. I mean any advice?</p>

4

<p>04-11-2007, 12:33 AM #1
digmedia</p>

<p>There's a good thread begun by DIGMEDIA on 04-11-2004 called "To Parents of Potential Film Majors" in the Parents Forum. Many good tips and links for you.</p>

<p>Some schools want you to send them stories or script ideas you've written rather than films, figuring they can teach you what you need to learn technically there. They want to understand your ability/potential as a "storywriter" so allow written portfolios if you don't have films yet. </p>

<p>In the Northeast, as you prefer , there's NYU-Tisch School of the Arts -- wildly competitive. </p>

<p>Also check out: State University of New York ("SUNY") at Purchase, Emerson College (in Boston), Ithaca College (in Ithaca, an upstate NY town; same town as Cornell U). And a place in Florida, I think it's Florida State U, but please check--i'm unsure. </p>

<p>All are hard to get into b/c it's such a popular major.</p>

<p>There are other places off the East Coast, such as Columbia College in Chicago that seems to admit more liberally (although from their website I coudln't figure out what they teach you, after saying "everybody" can do this!!(RahRAH)</p>

<p>There's no such thing as a "safety" school for film, with admit rates of 10% or 8%. To be smart, include on your list a different kind of "safety" which has a program in
being a producer or backstage/crew expert or the more academic "Cinema Studies" which is "about" film (e.g., criticism) rather than making them. For example, Wesleyan in Connecticut has a fine Cinema Studies offering.</p>

<p>If you can afford it, you can get a taste of film school at NYFA which is not for academic credit but lets you get your hands on cameras and guides you while you make films. You pay like a college but it doesn;t give any college-credit worthy courses. Only do it if you're RICH></p>

5

<p>
[quote]
To be smart, include on your list a different kind of "safety" which has a program in being a producer or backstage/crew expert or the more academic "Cinema Studies" which is "about" film (e.g., criticism) rather than making them. For example, Wesleyan in Connecticut has a fine Cinema Studies offering.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>This is good advice, for sure. But I'll point out that Wes isn't a saftey either, since it's a highly selective school (our film department is fantastic at placing people in the industry, and there are oppertunities to do production both through the major and outside of it, however, so it's certainly worth checking out). </p>

<p>To the OP: You'll probably want to look for easier to get into acedemic schools with strong offerings in film studies like programs for true safties.</p>

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<p>You might also want to consider North Carolina School of the Arts for filmmaking; a filmmaking friend of my D recently got in there on the basis of a screenplay he wrote. And if you're looking at Cinema Studies programs, SUNY Purchase (the school that paying3tuitions mentioned in her post) has one.</p>

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<p>actually SUNY at purchase is harder to get into than Tisch, they take about 20/400</p>

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<p>//Not too good. I mean I got a 10 minute documentary I made on graffiti and a draft of a short screenplay but not much else. I know its crap but I don't know what to do.//</p>

<p>My question to you is, if you love film making as you state, then why is this all you have done? It seems you took time to participate in tons of extracurricular activities (and done very well!), but why did you put these things ahead of your true interest - the one thing you can imagine yourself doing? And have you really given yourself enough exposure to the craft and experience of film making to know that it is your passion? When you say you don't know what else to do...do you mean that you have no other interests, and that at least you have some interest in film? This doesn't seem like good reasoning either.</p>

<p>My advice is go to any school possible that will offer you the opportunity to see what it is really like, to discover if you have a lick of ability or talent, and if so, then pursue admission to a better school.</p>

<p>Another piece of advice I might offer for students wondering what they should do is to take an aptitude test at the Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation. I know the web site looks cheesy, but I encourage you to explore this opportunity. I took the two-day battery of aptitude tests - things like small tool dexterity(great for dentists), and ideaphoria (great for ad executives), etc, and was very pleased by the direction to which I was pointed. At least give them a call to discover how they might help you.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.jocrf.org/testing_centers/index.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.jocrf.org/testing_centers/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>My point is, that you seem like a bright and intelligent person, but that you have not yet discovered yourself. Don't jump to conclusions, and follow your heart (yes) but invest a little more effort to know it better.</p>

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<p><<actually suny="" at="" purchase="" is="" harder="" to="" get="" into="" than="" tisch,="" they="" take="" about="" 20="" 400="">></actually></p>

<p>Maybe that's true for their filmmaking program, but I don't think it is for Cinema Studies. My D applied last month for the latter program (she'd been turned down for their ultra-competitive acting program and was looking for a place to land). Within a few weeks, she was accepted and also got a scholarship offer. Her stats were as follows:</p>

<p>Weighted GPA: 3.5 out of 4.0
Class rank: Her school doesn't compute class rank
SAT's: 630 CR, 520 Math, 560 Writing
AP's taken: World History, U.S. History, European History, English Language, English Literature
EC's: HS Theater, Cappie critic, film club
Community service: Not very much
Rec's: 4 very strong ones</p>

<p>We live in northern Virginia.</p>

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<p>SVA (the School of Visual Arts) in NYC has a film program that has been getting better each year. Your stats would likely qualify you for a scholarship.</p>

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<p>Florida State has a very good film school, also very tough to get into. Probably a better school than some that have been mentioned so far. <a href="http://film.fsu.edu/film_school%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://film.fsu.edu/film_school&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Well, to note on Raining's post...</p>

<p>I play 3 varsity sports and do the school thing so filmmaking is kind of hard to fit in to my schedule (And I work too) I mean I can't top prioritize it because my mom is against but I do alot of watching and self-studying. There aren't too many oppurtunities for teenage filmmakers. But idk...maybe the aptitude thing would be good but filmmaking to me seems so perfect for me</p>

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<p>
[quote]
There aren't too many oppurtunities for teenage filmmakers.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>In filmmaking, as in many other endeavors, you have to make your opportunities. My son is your age and he makes his films over the summer. He started out by checking into our city's public access t.v. channel and took a summer video camp they offered. Then he was able to check out equipment from them. He used what he learned and the equipment he borrowed to make films. He also bought books about filmmaking at Barnes & Noble and learned from those. He is homeschooled and had no video teacher or video club.</p>

<p>There are many opportunities on Craigslist. Look under "Gigs" then "Crew" or "Jobs" then "TV/Radio/Film". Filmmakers are always advertising for volunteer crew members. You can learn a ton that way. Be careful though, some of the "film projects" listed on Craigslist can be on the seedy side.</p>

<p>If you can't do those things because of sports, that's okay, but you might need to make your college goals accordingly. Maybe you can't get into a "top" film program, but there are programs that aren't so selective. Here is a link to a list of film schools: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/filmschools%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.imdb.com/filmschools&lt;/a> . You can research the different schools to find one that would fit you.</p>

<p>Another option would be to enter college as a general studies major, but join the film club. Also, if there is a film program there, the students will always be looking for crew members to help them.</p>

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<p>One further point to consider for film schools that was raised in the Parent's forum. Film careers are normally gotten after working on film projects. You usually have to start at the bottom and maybe even work cheaply or for free. If you have a lot of college debt, your options will be very limited and might even hurt your ability to work in film regardless of your education.</p>

<p>Bottom Line: if you have great parental funding then go for the best school that you can. If, however, you need to incur substantial debt, go for the cheapest place, net of scholarships, that you can find.In my opinion, do NOT incur a lot of debt even if you can get admitted to top rated schools.</p>

<p>Just something to think about.</p>

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<p>//I play 3 varsity sports and do the school thing so filmmaking is kind of hard to fit in to my schedule (And I work too) I mean I can't top prioritize it because my mom is against but I do alot of watching and self-studying. There aren't too many oppurtunities for teenage filmmakers. But idk...maybe the aptitude thing would be good but filmmaking to me seems so perfect for me//</p>

<p>Have to respect your parents, I understand, but do you have enough athletic talent to play a professional sport at the highest level and make a living? </p>

<p>Tell you what...here's some 1/2 decent advice. Apply to SCAD. With your GPA you'll likely be accepted, especially if you play a sport, and try to submit something 1/2-way decent per film making. My best guess is that w/o production equipment and an editing suite, work on a whiz-bang screenplay. For some reason SCAD is also very interested in student athletics to a degree I don't understand. It irritates me, but whatever. The former president wanted to raise the profile of the college so much that he hired Luis Tiant as the baseball team coach and Cazzie Russell as the basketball coach. I think Russell is still there. So if you have athletic talent they are also going to be interested in you and probably throw some money your way. I doubt the Film and TV dept. here ranks anywhere close to the best schools, but I'll bet the facilities are outstanding and I think the faculty are largely former Hollywood screenwriters, directors and producers. So check out the school, apply, see how much money they throw at you, use it as a backup if you don't get in elsewhere, and if you don't like it at SCAD after 2 years (year 1 is foundations), work your butt off to improve yopur portfolio and get into the school of your choice.</p>

<p>Film and TV Dept: <a href="http://www.scad.edu/academic/majors/film/index.cfm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.scad.edu/academic/majors/film/index.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>This is the bio of the dept. chair (I think):</p>

<p>A veteran of the entertainment industry, Annette Haywood-Carter directed the movies "Foxfire," starring Angelina Jolie, and "The Foot Shooting Party," starring Leonardo DiCaprio. As a writer and director in television, her credits include "seaQuest DSV" for Steven Spielberg, "Love is Strange" for Lifetime and "Blue Valley Songbird" for executive producer Dolly Parton. Haywood-Carter worked as a script supervisor on more than 28 feature films, including "Die Hard II," "Cliffhanger" and "Driving Miss Daisy."</p>

<p>I really don't know anything about the dept. or the faculty, but it can't hurt to look into it.</p>

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<p>You may also want to look at Syracuse and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). RIT doesn't require a portfolio, but film is there most selective program. With your grades and SATS you'll probably be OK. If you apply to Syracuse Visual Arts you will need to submit a short (5 min) film. Ithaca doesn't require any portfolio either.</p>