The Best and Worst Things About Film School

Still deciding what to major in during college? Unsure if you want to go to film school or not? Perhaps the following things will sway you one way or another.

The Best

1. You get to watch films everyday
Yes, you get to watch movies everyday and call it classwork. Often your homework is to watch films as well. Terrible, I know.

2. You get to play with cool equipment
You get to learn how to shoot, edit, direct and more so you get a chance to try out all the equipment. It's a lot of fun to try ten and twenty thousand dollar camera and work in million dollar studio set-ups and call it a normal day of school.

3. You get to go to film festivals
While you could easily buy passes and go to any festival you want, many film schools have programs that take you to festivals and show you the ins and outs of them. I went to the Sundance Film Festival and my coordinator was "in" with a lot of people so he took me with him to a bunch of "VIP" parties and functions.

4. You have internships at major studios
As a film student if you want to do an internship you can apply to go work for Warner Brothers or NBC. Where else do you get credit for helping out on the Conan O'Brien show or reading scripts for Jerry Bruckheimer?

5. You get to screen your films
That's right. You get to screen the films you make in a real theater and feel like a big shot even if your film isn't Hollywood material.

6. You get to meet famous directors, writers, producers, and more
There are weekly panel discussions, screenings and other events where well-known writers, directors, producers, designers and more come and talk about what they know best, the film industry.

7. There are a lot of different aspects of film you can try
Unlike some majors, there's a wide variety of different aspects of film that you can try out to see if you like it or not. Maybe you have a talent for gaffing and you don't even know it!

8. You have a cool major
Honestly, you do. People always think it's cool when you tell them your major. While they think it's all glamour and fun you hold your tongue and just smile and them think that because the truth is it's hard, real hard, only you don't even know that quite yet.

The Worst

1. You watch films everyday
While most of the time we all love to watch films at seven o'clock in the morning after you've stayed up the night before editing a project it's really difficult to stay awake in a dark theater in comfortable seats. Prone to sleeping in class? You're doomed!

2. The hours are long, really long
When I went to film school we had a hell week boot camp of sorts, except it lasted an entire semester. And even after that it was still exhausting. Making films, writing films, the whole endeavor takes a lot of time and energy. Get this: in my first semester we had to make ten films in sixteen weeks - and that was just for one class!

3. There are a lot of boring movies and genres you won't like
Don't like silent movies? Sci-fi not your thing? Too bad. You'll have to watch them. And write about them. And talk about them. Get used to it.

4. You have to dissect films
You will be deconstructing great films, Academy award winning films that you might love as well as odd experimental ones you've never even heard of. Just because it's film school doesn't mean you don't write papers, trust me. You write tons of papers on everything from the history and evolution of the musical to the emerging distribution markets to the stylistic cinemagraphic flaws of Citizen Kane.

5. You look at films differently
It's an odd thing that happens, after you've analyzed, critiqued and recreated so many films it's more difficult to just sit back and watch a movie for enjoyment. Even when you do there's always this little voice inside later on that picks out certain aspects. "This dialogue was unrealistic." "It lacked a character arc." "The lighting was terrible" and so on.

6. Did I mention there are a lot of bad films?
Not just the bizarre experimental films, your films. Face it, not everything you do will be perfect and the same goes for your peers. There's plenty of failure in filmmaking so prepare to take criticism and give it as well.

7. There are no job guarantees coming out of school
While there will always be a need for entertainment theirs isn't a dire need for directors or producers like there might be for nurses or social workers. The other bad thing - a lot of the work is freelance so even after you get a gig that last for a few months it's time to hit the pavement again and start the search once more.

8. Okay, it's really not that bad!
Alright, I have to admit, while there are some downsides to film school it really isn't that bad at all! Have fun!