15 Points to Keep in Mind While Choosing a Film School
1. Infrastructure – The first thing that separates a good film school from run of the mill film schools is the infrastructure. The classrooms, the studios, editing rooms, sound mixing studios, outdoor shooting facilities, library, computer labs and film screening facilities are the primary requisites of a film school.
2. Faculty – Of course the quality and experience of the faculty members are important for any educational institution and there is no exception in case of the film schools. Efficient faculties will always make the difference as you will be learning the art and science of film making from them.
3. Equipments – Film making is a craft where you need hands on training for effective learning. That is why the equipment like camera, sound systems, editing machines, everything should be available with a film school.
4. Comprehensive Course – The courses at the film school should take care of every aspect that is important for film making. It is not that the acting schools will teach only acting for the aspiring actors and camera techniques to those who are studying cinematography. The course should cover all the areas of film making that will give the students a comprehensive idea.
5. Options of Courses – The film school should have different courses for different functions of film making. The courses should include film direction, film acting, film editing, sound engineering, art direction, cinematography, script writing and so on.
6. Contemporary Curriculum – The curriculum of the institute should be in tune with the best film schools around the world. The courses should incorporate contemporary style of film making and latest techniques that are being used globally.
7. Association with Industry – The institutes should have close ties with the film industry. Thereby the students will get the chance to learn from the people who have the first hand experience of making film.
8. Diploma Films – The diploma films produced by the film schools is another deciding factor of the quality of education that the institute provides. So before selecting a film school one should carefully study the diploma films and the chances of making films at the institute after successfully completing the course.
9. Alumni – The alumni of any institute speaks a lot about the standard of learning facilities at the institute. So, you should try and find out how the past students have done after leaving the institute.
10. Film Archive – The film archive of the film schools are very important as that will give you a chance of seeing as many films as possible. When you enroll with a film school that has well stocked film archive you get a comprehensive idea of the world cinema.
11. Production Facility – The production facility of the film school should be of professional standard equipped with latest and finest machinery. It will let you learn the fine points of film making right at the school and you will ready to work professionally right from the first day after you leave the institute.
12. Short Films – The institute should have proper infrastructure and ambience for making short films and should promote the films at different film festivals that will eventually help you showcase your work.
13. Further Studies – The institute should have scope of further studies in the fields of film making and acting. The acting schools should have the advanced courses like master degree and PhD courses that will eventually help you make it big in the field of film making.
14. Student Exchange Programs – The scope of student exchange program with other acting schools and international film schools will give you the much needed exposure to international film education and technologies.
15. Career Opportunities – The institute should have proper infrastructure and network to help the students in their career. Whether it is promoting the diploma films of the students or arranging campus interviews, the film school should provide a platform to launch the new talents.