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Is Film School Worth the Time and Money?

by: WilliamSchwarz
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Every year there are lots and lots of new movies produced and released throughout the world. If you've ever sat through the end credits of any of these films you have a good idea of the large number of people employed by this industry. Several film schools have opened in recent years to help supply studios with new technical and creative talent. Many of the graduates of these institutions are now enjoying successful careers.

But what about the aspiring filmmakers for whom film school is too expensive or far away? Are these people out of luck or is there another way to realize their dreams? Is film school even worth the time and money in the first place?

It's up to the individual enthusiast to decide whether or not film school is the best way to gain entry into the field, but it's always good to examine all of the available options.

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.

One day Paul learned that he would be receiving an inheritance. It was his mother's job to decide the way this money was to be spent. The only condition was that it was to be used in the furthering of his education. She asked Paul what kind of career he wanted to go into.

His reply was that he hoped to get into the movie industry. In his estimation, film school would be the obvious way to get eventually enter the business. This career goal suited his mother just fine, but she had another idea about how Paul could learn the necessary skills.

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

This seemed to be a good idea to Paul, so he got to work. What he did first was to find a local special effects technician who would be willing to help him out. He located one who also just happens to be somebody I know. Let's call him John.

This is the offer that Paul made to John: John would gather some of his fellow special effects professionals together and they would put together a list of the effects that their dream project would contain. These would be all the things they had wanted to create but had never had the opportunity to do so. Paul would take this list and compose a script that would contain as many of these effects as possible and they would all work together on the film that was produced from it. He couldn't pay the technicians for their work, but all of the necessary materials would be supplied.

The effects crew enthusiastically agreed to this offer and the result was a very slick looking short film. Everybody involved had a lot of fun and Paul learned how movies are made. He also had a nice portfolio piece to show when looking for 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.

In one of the most famous quotes attributed to him, Stanley Kubrick stated that in his opinion, the best way for a young hopeful to get into the film business is to get the necessary equipment together and make a movie. Robert Rodriguez, John Waters and Quentin Tarantino are just a few directors who have made similar statements.

It's now easy to buy or rent video equipment and filmmaking software, so that just about anybody willing to do some work can get a film made. Once these films are finished they can be uploaded to the internet and viewed by millions of people.

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!

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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, take a look at Flashfink's Squidoo page to see if going to film school is your best option.  

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