Is Film school just a sham?

Is Film school just a sham?

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It is if you have access to a set and working people.

If you don't, it's still a scam up until you meet the right people. This business is all about networking.

Yes.

Martin Scorcese is one of the very few directors who went to film school and he says it's pointless in 2016, considering the only reason to go to film school was to have access to cameras and film stock (these days you can just use a DSLR).

>hurr pick up the camera and shoot duur
But that's operator's work, not the directors.

Based.

All non STEM is a sham.

honest answer
in kubrick's days it was better to go to film school to actually get hold of the equipment , learn about such equipment and a tip or two

nowadays you can do this all from your own backyard and room

so yes it is unless you're not confident enough to find work

You're probably not working on a big project where you have acces to a huge crew when you're starting out.

Also, if you don't know how to do it yourself you won't know how to tell someone else how to do it either

if you actually go to film school, you are beyond fucking retarded. The internet makes the entire fucking scam useless. No one other than irrelevant hacks making shitty """"art"""""" films goes there to listen to other washed up hacks

>The internet makes the entire fucking scam useless.
By that logic going to any school is retarded.

Probably.

I start a program this semester that will give me credentials or something to work as a PA. It's only two semesters.

>director job is to sit on a chair all day shouting

lucas please go

>directors shoot their own movies
Name at least one.

yeah, basically. except for that paper.

...

The difference is you can easily learn to be a lawyer without going to law school but no one is going to hire you as a lawyer.
Film School doesn't put you ahead of any other wannabe director.

you NEED a degree if you want to be a doctor. Also, its an actual science and not an art like film making.

Steven Soderbergh springs to mind immediately.

And the best directors are always heavily involved in all aspects of the film, especially cinematography where they instruct how to frame the scene, how it should be lit, etc. It's not a coincidence that all David Fincher films look like David Fincher films, though he has used several different DPs over the years.

Id go to film school if it taught me how to get capital for films.

>try to sell alien sequel to execs
>just write Alien$ on a chalkboard
>a check falls to his lap

based cameron

Couple of films I've made whilst studying experimental film production

vimeo.com/164604342

vimeo.com/148882462

I met a guy who graduated film school and we talked about his favorite directors and his top 3 were Woody Allen, Stanley Kubrick, and Christopher Nolan. So yeah film school is for absolute retards

>going to music school is dumb. Just pick up and instrument and start playing

>film making
>not a science

>framing a shot = shooting the film
fullretard.png

All of them ? of all the things that's director does shooting the movie and editing is 80% of the job

"Pick up a calculator. Calculate something. No matter how small, no matter how easy. Put your name on it as mathematician. Now you're a mathematician. Everything after that you're just negotiating your numerator and your denominator."

"To this day I actually think that...rather than go to math school, just get a calculator and try to start making math."

"...the best thing that young mathematicians should do is to get hold of a calculator and some paper and make a calculation of any kind at all."

>going to music school is dumb.

True

yeah you're right. not sure why you green texted that

>film making
>science

>George Green
>Blaise Pasca
>George Boole
>Évariste Galois

your point is invalid

It's not a sham and it's not useless but it doesn't mkae you a succesful director either and it doesn't mean that you couldn't become a succesful director without schools.

Why are film students generally so cinematically illiterate and ostensibly uninterested in movies?

These are complete generalizations, but:
>Dance students eat, breathe, sleep dance (and you really have to, considering how physical it is)
>Music students practice day and night and have already been dedicating their life to music long before they went to a conservatory
>Students going to school for illustrations are constantly sketching things from childhood
>Film students say things like "I don't really watch a lot of movies but I saw Harry Potter once that was pretty epic"

Again, these are complete generalizations, but it's quite unsettling how every film major I've met only had a tangential interest in cinema. I think Werner Herzog once said something along the lines of "It seems like Star Wars is the only film from before the 80s film school students have seen."

>an artistic/interpretative medium is a science

yeah nah

It's kinda sad that filmmaking is seen as such an unserious profession as for people to proclaim
>HURR DON'T STUDY ANYTHING JUST PICK UP A CAMERA

It doesn't work that way. Maybe it did 50 years ago when an earlier generation of filmmakers was starting out and films followed much more rigid conventions, but nowadays you'll just make a fool of yourself if you do something like this, unless you're somehow an innate genious who without any study knows all the basics of filmmaking. Could be, but it's maybe a one in a thousand chance.

Of course you don't have to go to film school, you can just pick up some books and learn the same thing, just like you can learn any other craft by yourself. But it's really hard to learn a craft by doing it, even more so a complex craft like filmmaking, you have to actually learn HOW to do it. Otherwise you'll spend ages with trial and error just to learn the basics which you'd learn in a couple hours by reading up on it.

It's for rich kids to network or to satisfy their aunts and uncles that will let them walk into a job that they can work.

If you're not rich you can't be too talented otherwise the rich kids will resent you and you will struggle to network.

Basically it's best to cruise through and make as many friends from as many fields there as possible whilst demonstrating some talent but not outshining everyone.

Once you have the skills and networking and have graduated make a film.

You can do all that without film school. It can be beneficial but it's wholly unnecessary. Look at all your favourite writers and directors and those that did attend university almost never major in film or attended film school.

"Pick a forum. moderate something. No matter how small, no matter how petty. Put your tag on it as janitor. Now you're a janny. Everything after that you're just volunteering your time and your health."

"To this day I actually think that...rather earn real authority, just get a board and try to start banning people."

"...the best thing that young janitors should do is to get hold of a board and some people and make a moderation of any kind at all

Science: biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy
Not science: mathematics, philosophy, art, film making, atheism, psychology, economics, astrology

>he thinks anybody can just do this kind of thing

These three directors are among the best and incredibly talented. You think anybody can just do what they did?

>went to film school
>have seen tons of films from the first half of the 20th century
>but rather few films from the latter half, especially the more avant-garde stuff
>fellow film students look down on me for not getting a hardon from watching godards latest cinematic masturbation
>I'm the only one in the class who has watched anything by René Clair
JUST

Srinivasa Ramanujan taught himself everything with an old math textbook.

>textbook
nuff said. He didn't just "pick up a calculator"

Is this what liberal arts students think, that mathematics = calculating?

Go to films

These days you hate to go to film school just to get a film crew job.
But honestly it's a good way to network and find inspiration.

Through hardwork and dedication, anything is possible user

or you can just become NEET who cry about others success on an online image board

Yeah, but he still basically went to math instead of math school.

You are born to make kino. Going to school is for the keygrip and guys like that.

I'm You don't have to go to film school, but you need some education. A book is fine too, desu.

He taught himself basics, which he could learn in a couple of years and become one of the greatest mathmaticians of all time. Instead he wastet his whole live reinventing things

What about community college screen play writing class? I'm interested in film making but I think I'm more interested in writing screen plays.

Im applying to study film starting next year.
Fuck it.

Also most of the cases of "you dont need a degree to be successful" usually neglect to mention that Uncle they had who was extremely successful in their chosen field and got them in.

This. Who wants to be a crew member anyway? It's either writer/director or nothing.

Writing screenplays is one of the things most people don't consider studying, yet which will benefit the most from study.
However, if you have enough disciprine you can just get all the basic literature on writing screenplays and learn it by yourself. Any class will just teach you the same that you can find in a handful of basic books on screenwriting.

being a DoP is breddy based tho

thats how all the crew members feel too, they just do what they have to do to force their foot in the door. they're your competition.

>now I make pretentious crap which nobobdy likes except a couple of tryhards who want to seem intellectual and superior to others
cheerio

>David Fincher

The guy that only has two good films and a bunch of avobe-average ones?

>going to film school for years, doing shit jobs you don't like for years because you want your "foot in the door"
>instead of picking up a fucking camera and making a film

The point is that basically no professional feature film directors went to film school.

theyre doing both
so twice as much as the guy who is just picking up the camera.

consider the age of all the non-film school grads and realize how different the world was back then. the application process these days for menial work is a fucking slog.

Directors always say this shit to seem all prodigious and artistic.

You don't have to go to film school to be a director, but if you want to be any of the hundreds of technical people who have to know more than I DONT LIKE HOW THAT LOOKS MAKE IT DIFFERENT before shooting begins go to film school.

Most of the directors I've met who believe shit like this are useless micromanaging cunts. Film school is useful for the equipment and the knowledge the way literally every other school is. Shoot your DSLR dogme film in high school or whatever, the likelihood is no ones gonna see your shitty movie and jump to hand you a big boy camera that costs more than the car you transport it in.

>don't go to trade school just fix the electricity in my house bro

>Scorsese
>George Lucas
>John Carpenter
>Francis Ford Coppola
>Trey Parker
also
>Ridley Scott (art school)
>Brian de Palma (theatre school)
Yeah, no significant filmmakers ever went to film school.
It couldn't be that film school has only existed since the 60's-70's...?

If you haven't watched Ozu's filmography you'll never make it

Maybe you shouldn't if you're an autist like Tarantino who can't process any information without directly putting it in his movies.

All college is a scam education wise, you can get the textbooks and learn yourself

College is for professional accreditation and networking

Sure you can beg for an internship on a film production but if the person hired you didnt skip film school then they wont feel entitled to give you shit.

If you want to skip even that, petition fund/finance or simply create your independent projects

Gotta agree with this.
Currently working construction only because the money is good.
While I'm doing that, I'm also trying to do my own thing (writing, directing, etc). So I have to work a shitty job in order to fund my dream job. You cant just pick up a camera and shoot. Maybe you can if you're a scrub, but like if you want to do it right then get real actors, real locations, real crew. No one wants to see you fellate yourself while your shakycam detective movie plays at a small local festival, starring your aunt joanne who did theatre in highschool

>No one wants to see you fellate yourself while your shakycam detective movie plays at a small local festival, starring your aunt joanne who did theatre in highschool
truth

it must be great for networking.

surf schools are the kek though.

>all those times his mother was fucked by a nigger while he watched
It makes sense now.

>No one wants to see you fellate yourself while your shakycam detective movie plays at a small local festival, starring your aunt joanne who did theatre in highschool
say it ain't so baby. Joanne is gonna be so disappointed

Holy kek

B T F O
T
F
O

The 20 000 + you spend on school could be better spent on:
A) 3000+ dollar Editting computer with software
B) 1000 $ sound equipment
C) 500$ textbooks
D) 500$ for movies to collect or rent.
C) 10 000 on any number of cameras.

And leave a cool 5000 for your own car.

It gives you such good capital to work with initially, film technique and history can be self taught through textbooks, movies, and biographies.

>Ozu
>Not Bresson

Sasuga, user-kun.

Yes
You can't be taught how to make art

>wow I just spent 20,000 dollars on all this stuff film school would have given me complete access to or discounts on and I've met 0 competent people who will work on my film for free or let me work on theirs! Well time to find a job!

That is quite true.

Never gonna make those filmic gains with that attitute, bro

If Sup Forums was less autistic, it'd be cool to have a directory of people interested in making kino so we could all help each other make our shit. I would trust the people on here to make something decent before craigslist, Reddit or any of the other sites.

There used to be a filmmaking general, but it just sort of disappeared.

Ok, how do I start? Whats the bare minimum equipment to film some shit? Any reading material or online video tutorial? I need to be the next Lynch

Damn that Aronofsky who didn't do it right fucking self-fellating hack he will never be anything.

Now this user, he will definitely amount to things.

Google and YouTube are your friends

flm+sw generals have been pretty active on Sup Forums over the last few weeks.

>I need to be the next Lynch
kys

read that robert rodriguez book about making el mariachi for $7,000.

This is exactly what I wanted

Aronofsky went to Harvard for film and the AFI what the fuck are you talking about?

Regardless anyone who thinks the favorable circumstances of a few directors makes film education is a scam is a retard and has never worked in film.

Was there a time when people thought film school WASN'T a sham?

I haven't seen a filmmaking thread in ages.

What exactly do you want to do on a set?

Regardless, read that book The English Patient author wrote with Walter Murch, it's very good.

I mean I'm not saying I WILL amount to something, I'm just saying I've already won an emmy (kind of, long story)

You probably don't spend as much time on here as I do.

If you want to make wild claims for attention you need to be prepared to provide some sort of evidence.

Check out Every Frame A Painting on Youtube, theyre pretty based. Rocket Jump Film School is alright, CorridorDigital BTS are pretty good.

No. Film school is now more accepted than ever.

The quality of the people it produces is still about the same, though.

youtu.be/0xokC7TIQBs
It won a local emmy this spring. I was first AD, so I didnt get a physical award.

Tear into it, I personally dont think it's all that great, but the fact that it has won some decent awards means that I'm better off.

Which major directing talents has the film school process produced since the brat pack?

The only two I can think of who attended film school are Paul Thomas Anderson and Steve McQueen who both dropped out of NYU in their first year because they found it flawed.

I used to frequent Sup Forums back when liking arthouse stuff was cool, but I mainly stick to Sup Forums, Sup Forums, and /lit/ nowadays.
His videos on Kurosawa and Winding-Refn were cool, even if they were pretty barebones (especially the latter)