This topic contains 2 replies, has 3 voices, and was last updated by 
Jason Spencer 9 years, 4 months ago.
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Hello Film Riot and fellow Bammie Whammers!
I will be applying to colleges soon and was wondering if I could get any advice. I live in Massachusetts and was wondering on what college to attend for film. I would prefer going to somewhere in California mainly for the networking purposes however I know paying out of state tuition will be a huge burden. I’m also aware attending college for film itself is getting a little dated and isn’t really a necessity anymore. In conclusion if anyone had any good California colleges for film they could share it would be greatly appreciated :)… Any advice is great advise thanks everyone 😀
The college I went to had a relatively dated film course, which was completely modernised when I left.
Usually I’d argue that the internet is a better educational source than school is, but when it comes to film colleges the hands-on experience with the industry gear, along with the networking opportunities, makes it worth it. Even if the gear you use is old – the core concepts will remain the same. They have done for years.
Online tutorials are fantastic, and often I learn things from FilmRiot, Philip Bloom, Video Copilot, Blender Guru that I’d never have heard about in my media course. Getting my hands on a studio mixing board, setting up a dolly track or jib and having to sort out a complicated audio setup with XLR cables was highly useful to me. I’ll probably never own a lot of the gear I used in college, but by using it in college I’ve been prepared for jobs and projects which are using that same gear on-set.
I don’t know much about California colleges, but in regards to networking – I can’t think of one job I’ve picked up that hasn’t via word-of-mouth. So absolutely, networking is highly important.
While I haven’t attended film school myself I feel that there are pros and cons. Most of the cons have to do with cost.
My suggestion would be that if you are set on going to a school and taking on the burden of the cost then you want to make sure this is indeed what you want to do with your life. Get some On Set experience. Not your own sets but on someone else’s set. Doesn’t matter what the job is just get in there and see what it’s like to be working with other creatives on something.
I’ve seen people pop onto a set and find that they just don’t work well with others or that they really don’t like working on things that they aren’t in full control over and they opt out. As filmmakers we aren’t always going to be the big kahuna. Filmmaking is a collaboration. It takes someone willing to bend to make things happen.Good luck!
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