New film student

[Brood]

Hello, i'm a new film student who's pretty excited about starting to education on becoming a film maker. If any of you have any words of advice I would really appreciate it.

[AJ]

Best advice would be to make sure you take full advantage of the benifits film school offers.

The uni/college you attend will have all the equipment and editing facilities you need to make films, as well as all your classmates who will be available to help with projects.

Keep making films, the best way to learn is by doing, make sure that you take a look at a wide variety of movies, even those that you wouldn't normally watch.

Film school is the best way to get a good grounding in the art of making movies, just keep at it and you will succeed!

[herbertwest]

I am a huge supporter of the film school system. Been through it myself.

FILM SCHOOL is where you F*CK UP. F*ck up your script, your actors, your editing, your set, everything. (Not intentionally, of course.) But that's the point. You are safe, without lawyers, agents, producers, executives and studios with lots of money, you have no repercussions for your screw ups.

Make ALL of your mistakes in FILM SCHOOL. Then you will learn what NOT to do and you will have a better chance at succeeding in the big bad real world.

HELPFUL HINTS TO SURVIVING FILM SCHOOL:

1) If you don't like boring, snooty, Fellini artf*g films, don't pretend to just to impress everyone. Stay true to your own tastes and use that to differentiate yourself from the crowd of wannabe snobs.

2) Don't concentrate on learning how to shoot a film. Concentrate on learning how NOT to shoot a film. You have a school full of failures to study from.

3) Never look at a scene in a movie and think, "That looks cool. I bet I could try that in my film." You'll be filling your film with meaningless Vertigo shots and useless speed-ramping effects. God help you if you try to copy The Matrix effect.

4) Make an "adult" film. No, not porn. Gratuitous nudity, sex, profanity, toilet humor, and gay jokes make you look immature and sophomoric. Grown ups in the real world are more impressed with a young person who acts like an adult. The South Park guys weren't able to make their schtick work until they were out of college.

5) Never ever criticize someone else's work or judge them too low for you to be a crew member on. Film students who dedicate themselves entirely to their own "vision" and never to someone else's are not team players and will be useless in the real world.

Finally, one last word of advice.

REMEMBER THIS: When you graduate film school, you will NOT be a director. Nobody opens up Variety in LA, comes across an ad for DIRECTOR WANTED and applies for the job. You can learn directing in school, but it will be a while before you can use that skill in the real world. So, you will need marketable skills to keep you employed in the meantime. Learn how to load a camera, learn how to mix audio on set, learn how to assist in editing. So many film students leave a 40thousand dollar education in the dust and spend the rest of their days working in a video store, telling customers how they will direct someday because they can quote Apocalypse Now in their sleep. Become skilled in the BelowThe Line positions because they will be your bread and butter on your journey to the director's chair.

[mrblonde22]

hey man thats cool im going to apply for film school next year hopefully, atm im in the process of pre production for a gang movie this will be my first decent length film

[thundy]

BEST ADVICE I CAN MANAGE IS -

Use your resources to the fullest, and people are a resource as well. Find like minded students, and get them modivated to help you make what you want. You well help them in return, and make more out of school than just what you learn in class.

Film school will give you the tools, but the stories have to be told in your way. If you want to be a Director learn lighting, acting, and writing. If you want to a great Director learn about people, and what pushes their buttons. It will help you Direct actors.

Remember there are at least hundreds if not thousands of people, me included that wish they would have taken more advantage of the film school then they ended up doing.

Good luck, and this is a great exciting time for you. I hope you do well, and find i niche in the this crazy business.

[bcfilm101]

herbertwest is right. follow his. also, going along with what he said about f**king up in film school, if one of your teachers asks for a volunteer for anything, you NEED to volunteer. You will learn by making mistakes, and if you look stupid, thats ok. you will learn.