Posted by Smalls at syr-24-24-14-133.twcny.rr.com on January 30, 2002 at 11:57:28:
In Reply to: Film School posted by BigYT on January 30, 2002 at 11:26:19:
If you're 18... or whatever... and you're not an actor? I really doubt you're going to be breaking in as a writer or a director just out of high school anyway.
Go to a four year college with a good film program... and live a life, man. Doing the college thing is... as far as I'm concerned... not a waste of time if you can afford it, even if a good percentage of the classes are bullshit. It's four years of growing up that, well, at least I personally needed to do.
And on the side, read all the books you can on the subject, watch all the movies you can... get sidework on other people's projects as much as you can... and write write write.
I learned a whole lot about screenwriting at college... but admittedly, that was mainly from two or three really good profs and a lot of experience in short films figuring out what actually translates from page to screen.
If you've just realized you've wanted to do this and you're... 25? Just study as much as you can, write as much as you can and go for it.
Remember, Kevin had a pretty shitty experience with film school... except for the likeminded people he met there to help him out with the technical side of filmmaking, Scott Mosier and Dave Klein.
Sometimes, meeting the guys or girls you know you could legitimately break in with as a team is worth all the time and expense, y'know?
I mean, if God handed me 300 grand, a super16 cam and an AVID deck right now... I could tell you who my co-director/editor would be, my DP would be, my other two producers, my costume designer, my set designer, my AD, my band doing the score, my casting director/storyboardist, my sound crew and my UPM would be.
And all but four of them would be geniuses I met at college... the other two being my brother, my girlfriend and two of my friends from this board. haha. But you get the point.
Mike