Let’s cut to the chase. If you are planning of enrolling in film school, it is possibly because you dream of working in the film business. So you won’t have false hopes, let us tackle what are to be expected from film school.
Creativity can’t be taught. Drive and determination as well as your capability to thrive under pressure cannot be learned from any film school. But these are three of the most important job skills in the film industry.
On another note, film school can teach discipline, theory, history and many production elements properly. The field of filmmaking can be likened to storytelling – using light, mood, action, music and images, instead of words, to portray a story; this art, you can learn from any film school.
Is it then a good idea to go to film school? If we look to the film industry for answers, our findings are not so convincing. Lucas, Scorcese and Coppola all went to film school. Steven Soderbergh, Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino, Richard Linklater as well as Spike Jonze did not.
Today, the chief reason of going to a film school seem to vanish as the film industry has started to enter the digital age. In the earlier days, film and editing equipment were best accessed through a film school, as those are very costly. Today, with digital technology, access to filmmaking equipment is within an arm’s reach of anyone who’s serious about attending film school.
The digital transformation therefore made it less difficult for novices to get a shot – as in filmmakers who get discovered after posting their works on platforms like You Tube. As Nike would say, those who will thrive are those who “just do it.”
So, is it really necessary to be in a film school? If so, how would you select your school so you’d immediately live your dream job?