As a senior about to graduate, I have a lot of thoughts after going through the Documentary program at Dodge College of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University. I write this for two reasons: firstly, as a recap and place to get my thoughts in writing, and second, as a resource for incoming film students.
The Education Overview
Everyone has to go through similar classes in the first year of film school, regardless of major. We all take an intro editing class, sound design class, and basic intro classes for each field of study. Each major is a little different, but it is not until the upper-division courses that you truly dive into your field. My experience has been through the Broadcast Journalism and Documentary program.
Things to Consider Before Going to Film School
Each school is different, but at Dodge College, the class selection is segregated by major. As a Documentary student, I could not take any advanced editing, sound design, or cinematography classes. My main goal was to dive deeply into the technical side of filmmaking. I am not going to lie, I feel cheated out of that expectation. I have friends who are Film Production students, and they have a whole range of these classes to choose from.
The Documentary Education
A curriculum revolving around trial and error student Documentaries are good to improve their skills over four years. However, the only thing we are taught is how to improve our storytelling ability. Anybody can tell a good story. That all depends on the subject you focus on, you do not have to go to film school to find a good story. We are all craving an advanced education, not storytelling critiques.
To be clear, most of my professors were very well-connected individuals who I believe genuinely tried their best and cared about their students. I am discussing the curriculum, not the faculty.
Self-Teaching vs. Class Knowledge
Without being able to use my educational resources for what I wanted, I was forced to self-teach myself and learn to work with friends, the key elements necessary to succeed in this highly competitive industry. Without a scholarship, paying over $60,000 annually, roughly $250,000 in total for my education, advanced cinematography, editing, color grading, and sound design classes, should be a given.
Aspects of Filmmaking I Self-Taught
Shooting in LOG – The difference between shooting in LOG vs. standard gamma makes a world of difference. I learned this from a friend during my second-semester senior year. This would have been crucial if I ever came close to being taught...
Color Grading – You must be enrolled in a select few majors to access these classes. Film Production students get this luxury, but the rest of us do not. Every film school graduate who works with editing should know how to color grade. It would make us stand out from the everyday content creator throwing on a primary filter.
Sound design – To be fair, sound design majors have solely sound expertise. However, as a Documentary filmmaker, I would love to have the opportunity to learn in-depth techniques regarding sound without needing to hire a sound designer.
Editing – Dodge College uses Avid as their editing tool, outdated software that came out in 1989. I do not know a single student who edits on Avid. This avenue of education forces students to learn independently on their preferred software’s, most commonly Adobe Premiere or Final Cut Pro X. Advanced editors transfer footage to Adobe After Effects of DaVinci Resolve for color and Pro Tools or Adobe Audition for sound. Yes these are self-taught. We should have the tools to perform advanced skills, not have a basic understanding of outdated software.
Political Bias
This is self-explanatory, but something I feel needs to be mentioned. I am more conservative but have always been extremely friendly to everyone. People at this age and in this field of study are not mature enough to associate with people they disagree with politically. In film school, every conservative I know is either closeted or disliked by most of their classmates. To make connections in this industry as a conservative, you must hide your political beliefs or go down the political route. The majority professors and students are far-left, making it challenging to make connections for your future for those who possess passionate conservative views. Diversity of thought is non-existent.
Within sixty-six of the top liberal art colleges in the United States in 2017, roughly 39% of Universities did not hold a single republican faculty member, holding a 10.4:1 liberal to conservative ratio. A Southern California liberal arts classroom, creates a more liberal environment than you will find anywhere within society. On top of that, society in 2022 is more left-leaning than it was five years ago. Times are changing, and the film industry, unfortunately, will continue down this path until it collapses in on itself.
Advice to Potential Future Film Students
As a Documentarian and someone with high levels of independence and expectations, I want to create films independently after graduating from film school. After spending a quarter of a million dollars, I do not feel I was given the resources to thoroughly do that, forcing me to teach myself anything outside the basics. Watching YouTube tutorials, something us film students do anyways, would provide you with more well-rounded film knowledge than spending four years at an undergraduate film school. Your connection resources are off the charts; if you put yourself out there and dive into extracurriculars, something in hindsight, I should have done more. You pay for that and the piece of paper, not the quality of education.
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