Read This Before Spending a Lot of Money on Film School!

Written by WilliamSchwarz

Saturday, 12 July 2008 12:06

Every passing year sees the completion and release of more new movies, and every year skilled people are required to make them. To fill this need, many good (and not so good) film schools have sprung up during the last few decades. Many successful artists and technicians are graduates from these schools.

But film school can be expensive or far away. Is getting a student loan and going into debt for several years a future filmmaker's best way to enter the business. Could there possibly be another way, and is film school even worth the expense?

Whether or not to seek training at a school is a decision that only the future filmmaker can make, but it's always best to weigh all of the options first.

It is with the intention of helping the movie makers of tomorrow to become of another possible route to their goals that I'm telling the following story. It's about a friend of mine and how he got his start in the film industry. I've lost track of this friend (he's very busy), so I haven't been able to get his permission to use his real name. Let's call him Paul.

Paul was informed that he would be the beneficiary of a small inheritance. This money had to be used to further his education and Paul's mother was assigned to make sure that this stipulation was adhered to. Naturally, she asked Paul what he wanted to do with his life.

He said that he hoped to someday build a future in the movie industry and that he thought going to film school would be the best way to get started. His mother figured that his goal was reasonable, but she had a suggestion for a different route to take.

What if he used the inheritance to make his own short movie. That could be his film school.

Paul thought this was a good idea, so he went out in search of some help on this project. He found a local special effects technician who was interested in getting involved. I also happen to know this man. We can call him John.

This is the deal Paul offered to John: John was to contact some of his special effects colleagues and together they would compile a list of effects that they had always wanted to create but had never had the opportunity to do. Paul would write a script that used as many of these effects as possible and a short film would be made from it that they would all work on together. The technicians wouldn't be paid for their work, but Paul would supply all of the necessary materials.

Everybody in the effects crew agreed to this plan and were very enthusiastic about the project. They all had lots of fun with the project and Paul learned how films are made. In the end he had a really slick looking short movie that he could use as an impressive portfolio piece when seeking work in the future.

Paul's story is by no means unique. Although there are a lot of successful people working in the film industry, there are also plenty of self taught filmmakers who are doing very well.

There are quite a few directors(Stanley Kubrick, Quentin Tarantino, John Waters and Robert Rodriguez are just a few examples) who have been known to publicly state that they learned filmmaking on their own and that in their opinions this is the best way to go.

Video equipment and movie-making software are now relatively affordable and easy to find, making it possible for just about anybody to get started making independent movies. Once they're completed, these films can even find an audience when uploaded to the internet.

Once again, there are many paths to success in the motion picture field and it is in the best interest of all who plan to enter it to consider as many of these paths as possible. Best of luck to all of you in the future!

About the Author:

If you're interested in a career in the film industry and are wondering what the best way is for you to get into the movie business, visit Flashfink's Squidoo page to decide if going to film school is right for you.

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