Brooks Institute of Photography

[benspo111]

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone is or has attended or know anything about The Brooks Institute of Photography film program. What are your thoughts on it, was it a good program, where did you live? and just as much info about the program as you can give would be greatly appreciated, because I applied there and want to make the right decision. thanks a lot.

[Kevin Zanit]

I had a friend who went there. He spoke real highly of it, but I really don?t know much about their program, other than that he was happy with it.

 

 

Kevin Zanit

[benspo111]

thanks you very much. If anyone else has any info that would be great.

[Jonathan Spear]

Hey,

 

I would have been there today if it weren't for some financial obstacles.

I've heard great things about Brooks and their staff was very professional and friendly with me.

 

It's pretty darn expensive though...

 

I've decided to teach myself cinematography instead.

 

School or no school it's up to me anyway, right?

 

(instead of giving around 50,000+$$ to Brooks for tuition and paying back loans for the rest of your young adult life, wouldn't be cool to teach yourself photography/cinematography, filmmaking, get an internship somewhere and instead spend your hard earned clams on a good 35mm shooting package? You could build a pretty good rep. also, i just recently saw a bit on "60 minutes" about colleges who lie about or sugar-coat their job placement post graduation programs... and we all know it's hard enough to break into this industry as it is.)

 

Go to your local record/video store and pick up a copy of Steve Vai Live in Astoria.

 

That's what happens when one puts his mind to something and donates 110% of himself to his art.

[marcshap]

thanks you very much.  If anyone else has any info that would be great.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

I can speak from expierence, I am a recent graduate of Brooks, I cant complain, the more I find myself working the more I relize what I learned at Brooks. There are Pros/cons to any film school. Brooks Is great because you get hands on equipment right away however from a fundamental consertive film making aspect the school is not up to par. If you have the money to do it, it is worth it, the school is only going to get bigger, weather thats good or bad, I dont know? Its already over crowded

 

Yes the job placement at Brooks is not good, but you cant reley on a school to get you job, you got to go out there, start making connections, an find your own work.

 

All in all, I would recomened it, theres great faculty, people and good equipment.

let me know if you have more questions.

 

marc

[MarcusHoffman]

Hi,

 

I agree with Marc for the most part about the Brooks experience. The immediate hands on experience is great, but that accessability has tightened with the recent explosion in the student body. The education overall is improving as new faculty is being brought in. As with any school there will be things you dont care for though, and the quality of your education is really in your hands alone. The knowledge you'll gain of story, and other practical film knowledge will only help moving forward to becoming a cinematographer. I'm learning this for myself by the day. :) Marc is correct on the job placement, the placement numbers are far exaggerated, but as with any job it's up to you to get out and land the work for yourself.

 

As far as recommending it... I would make sure you first ask yourself how badly you want a degree. I'm meeting alot of people in the industry so far that do not have a degree, but are very successful based on their experience and personality and not a piece of paper. For myself, I did want a degree for future possiblilites teaching and personal achievement. So from that perspective, the barely sub-6 figure debt I've incurred is worth it and has been an investment in myself.

 

So yes, the film school experience can be worth it, Brooks or otherwise. UCLA has some fantastic non degree programs that even my faculty has recommended in addition to my education there. In my opinion, if you are young enough and feel you can afford a year or so to get out and just get involved on set in almost any capacity would help. By doing so will help you get exposure to how things really work (as opposed to student filmmaking) and better make the decision to attend a university.

 

Please feel free to ask any questions.

 

-Marcus

[Jeremie Amit]

I am currently a student at Brooks. I am about half way through the film program. I agree with both Mark and Markus. One thing about Brooks is that it is a owned by a corporation and the administration cares more about stockholders than the students. However, if ou have the money and drive you can great education at Brooks. I feel that if ou put the effort in you will get something good out of it. One great thing is that Brooks has great studio space. They hae pretty good equipment, but lack an HD or 35 mm camera (they do have many DV and 16mm).

 

The program has 3 divisions: feature film, Commercial, and Special fx. The commercial film track was designed specifically for cinematographers. I have taken some great classes there. For instance I just finished their MPV 300 Cinematography course and we were exposed to all sorts of equipment that I don't think you have the option of at other schools. We went to Otto Nemenz and had techs go through the BL4 and the Arri SR3. At Keslow they had three techs and demoed us on the 535B, 435, and Sony F-900 Cinalta. We went to panavision and spent hours with their elaine. We were also able to shoot tests of various filmstocks. They also have an advanced cinematography course, which will be offered in a few months that will deal with rigging and shooting on trains, boats, cars, helicopters.

 

So, basically if you have the money I personally think that a bachelors of art degree in three years is quite worth it.

 

Hope all this helps.