Need suggestions for film schools

[Ava]

My mom and I have been looking into film schools lately. We found a few that looked promising, but I was wondering if any of you knew of any good ones. :hi:

[brentspeak]

1. I think the famous ones are UCLA, USC, and NYU

Syracuse University (I think) has a pretty good one

[Starbucks Anarchist]

2. American Film Institute.

www.afi.com

[Zomby Woof]

3. UCLA

B-)

[maveric]

11. Anthony Hopkins teaches there.

Imagine going to a lecture by Hanibal Lecter?

My son is exploring the possibility of film school and UCLA is on his list.

[JVS]

19. Does he make that noise when he teaches?

[Ava]

4. we've looked into all of the larger and well known ones.

anyone know about any lesser known schools with good film program?

[driver8]

5. Chapman University in Southern California

http://ftv.chapman.edu/

I work at Warner Bros. and I know a couple of people who went there.

Please keep us posted on where you decide to go.

[henslee]

6. Forget film school. Study playwriting and theatre. That is where

you, with some application, can master dramatic storytelling -- character, plot, theme, etc. That is what you want to learn about. Film schools are more often than not filled with wankers. Then if you want, ho do your graduate work at one of these film schools if you feel you need it.(Of course this is just my opinion but i know what im talking about)

[driver8]

10. You are right -- that is an excellent way to learn how to direct and

tell a story. I work at Warner Bros. and we do re-mastering for DVDs. We were working on some interviews that were done with Lawrence Kasdan after "Body Heat" came out. He said basically the same thing that you said in your post. He was an English Literature major and wrote a lot of plays. "Body Heat" was his directorial debut and I would say that he knew what he was doing.

I have seen so many movies that were directed by people who got their start directing music videos and the movies absolutely suck (most of them.). You can only watch explosions for so long before you need a story.

[tjdee]

14. I agree. Film majors that I've met are all about shots and other superific

ial nonsense. They all want to be Quentin Tarantino (at least the ones I've met). They are more about the equipment and the technology than the actual medium and what's on it.

You want to learn to use a camera? Learn to use a camera on your own.

I'd only consider film schools for the contacts, and those may be worth the tuition.

[KitchenWitch]

7. If you do not mind going to Canada - The Vancouver Film School

is very good.

http://www.vfs.com/

My cousin went there and is now working in Los Angeles.

[Hissyspit]

8. Full Sail in Florida is production-oriented, not liberal arts-oriented.

But is very expensive.

NYU is good.

Or just take the money and make a movie.

[ScreamingMeemie]

9. My brother went to Wayne State in MI. He is now a location director...

hoping to be a director in his own right in LA. Let me know if you would be interested in speaking with him and I will try and set something up. :hi:


***For personal security's sake, he is a married, father of two small girls. :)

[KamaAina]

12. Don't overlook Yale

I can hardly imagine typing that sentence in any other context...

I remember reading in my Yale alumni mag about a fellow named George Hickenlooper, who was undecided until the last minute between Yale, NYU, and either UCLA or USC. Eventually he chose... Yale. And don't forget, the Ivies are always looking for geographic diversity (i.e. not being from the Northeast helps), plus Yale offers full financial aid to your demonstrated need plus need-blind admissions (that big honkin' endowment helps a lot!)

Of course it is "film studies", not a film school per se, but it IS Yale, which, by the way, is not nearly as conservative as you might think; in fact, it's pretty much where I got radicalized!

edit: film studies, not "flim"; I hear Tom DeLay is opening a school for that! :-)

[trof]

13. Yea Yalies!

My liberal son-in-law went to undergrad there and loved it.
Say what you will about the "rich kid snobbish Ivies" but it gives you a leg up on life that you shouldn't be ashamed of at all.

I've become friends with some of his classmates.
What a diverse and talented bunch.
If I had it all to do over and could get in (and afford it), I'd go.

[Catchawave]

15. Why Filmschools.com of course !

Here's a nice site with a directory, good luck on your dream :hi:

http://www.filmschools.com/

[mwooldri]

16. http://www.imdb.com /filmschools

http://www.imdb.com/filmschools - well it's a non-exhaustive list of schools that teach film studies. If I ahd to study locally and could only go locally then I'd choose NC School of the Arts in Winston-Salem. If I had oodles of money and could go home - as other people said, I might go the RADA route. That is of course if I was really one of those arts type people. I'm not.


Mark.

[libnnc]

17. North Carolina School of the Arts

in Winston-Salem, NC just a couple of miles from my house :hi:

Home of the River Run Film Festival

http://www.ncarts.edu/ncsaprod/ncsahome/ncsa_home.html

edit to add Andie McDowell and Chris Parnell (of SNL) are NCSA alums

[serryjw]

18. Are you ultimately interested in Film or Theatre?

n/t

[L A Woman]

20. how far are you willing to travel?

needless to say, there are MANY film schools here in L.A. - USC is probably considered the best but there are others. It really depends on what your ultimate goal is. If you want to get into feature film, you're better off here because of the contacts you would make. If you want to do documentaries, you could do that from anywhere. GOOD LUCK! (P.S. - I write screenplays - film is a love of mine, too)

[fishwax]

21. the university of oklahoma's film school

is not among the most famous, but i've known several people who went there and found it very much worthwhile. It results in a BFA with an emphasis in film and media arts.

They've revised their film program in the past several years, but they've always had a reputation for allowing/encouraging independent creativity in a way you can't get at the big film schools (which often are more commercially oriented).

Here's a link ... http://art.ou.edu/degreeprograms/BFA/media/film.html