Film schools/studies?

Slitz

To make things short: I was going to move, but some financial hiccups have now prevented me from doing so within the next 4-5 months. I'm currently three years (would be starting my fourth) into an English degree, which I intend to finish as I am pretty close to completing it. However, now that I have some time to re-plan a move I am considering scoping out film as a viable means to do the whole "follow your dreams" routine.

I come to you, oh forum of help and advice, to guide my hand towards some good suggestions on schools and programs.

Edit: Edited for edits. :O

myvillain

so, you have financial issues. Youre just about to finish a degree so you just spent a heapload of money and are probably in debt. Now you want to start a new degree? Do you have financial limits?

You said you want to do film. That encompasses thousands of jobs. What are you specifically interested in doing?

Thylacine

Look on Craigslist for people doing film projects in your area and start volunteering. You will learn a lot, make friends and connections with people in that business and hopefully you will be able to meet someone who can help advise you on a path to doing those things you want to do. Getting hands on experience can be just as good as school in things like this if you get in with the right group. In art people don't care where you've gone to school...they just care what you can do, and how good you are. School can help, but it's not the only way...especially if you don't have money for it right away.

rchou

You do not need to go to film school to learn how to film. Film School is expensive and is no guarantee of a job after a degree/certificate is earned (no matter what the program, no matter what anybody says).

Check out your local community college, see if they have a beginning filmmaking class. Cheap, provides equipment, and teaches you the fundamentals.

Failing that, pick up some DIY books and devour them. If you want suggestions, I can list specific books.

Directing/Filmmaking is something you learn primarily by experiencing. Go out and shoot films. Then go shoot more films. You will learn from your mistakes.

Editing is much the same way. Get Final Cut Pro or Avid and just start fiddling around, check out youtube DIY tutorials, and do your darndest to make your projects good.

The rest of the post if you're deadset on going to a film school / still want to learn more about them:

Film at colleges generally follows under two main categories: film production and film studies. In a film production major you learn how to make films. In a film studies major you study movies and critically analyze them much like a Lit major would.

Depending on the school, film is treated like an art, a form of communication, and usually falls somewhere in between. This means that film overlaps heavily with lots of Comm. / Broadcasting majors, as well as aesthetics / photography ones.

USC, NYU, and UCLA are acknowledged to be the top tier film schools [in no particular order]. All three are going to be very expensive -- unless you happen to be a California resident and get into UCLA. All three are also highly selective in both BA/BFA and MFA programs.

Following that you have lesser known but still very good schools like Chapman, Long Beach, Northwestern, BU, LMU, Hofstra, etc. etc.

After that you schools which aren't known for film but still offer a degree in it. These are most likely film studies programs, as maintaining facilities for production is very, very expensive, even if the equipment is outdated.

Alternatively, there are certificate schools. These schools offer equipment and instruction to anyone willing to pay money. The equipment is usually pretty good at these places, but they aren't exactly cheap [less expensive than a national university, to be sure] and sometimes the student body can be a bit... unsavory.

Ultimately the most important thing is not where you go but what you do while there - a body of work that will hopefully open up opportunities to working gigs.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask.