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AFI Cinematography applicants, students, alumni


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Ok, well December 16th has passed, this means Fall applicants must have applications sent in. So, I guess its time to refresh this thread with more application stories. I just nervously applied.

 

Me too Josh.

 

This is going to be a long, excrutiating wait till April to hear whether AFI has accepted us or not. By the way, best of luck to you -- I hope to be seeing you in the 2006-07 class!

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Josh, I wouldn't hold your breath because most of us weren't contacted for an interview until mid-to-late March (meaning it'll be a while until you hear ANYTHING). If you're in LA, it wouldn't be a bad idea to contact AFI about sitting in on a few classes (they're very cool with prospective fellows doing this). Take a deep relaxing breath, sit in on a few classes, and keep us updated as things start happening. Best of luck!

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Josh, I wouldn't hold your breath because most of us weren't contacted for an interview until mid-to-late March (meaning it'll be a while until you hear ANYTHING). If you're in LA, it wouldn't be a bad idea to contact AFI about sitting in on a few classes (they're very cool with prospective fellows doing this). Take a deep relaxing breath, sit in on a few classes, and keep us updated as things start happening. Best of luck!

 

Jayson: Thanks for the word.

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  • 2 months later...

alright. so March has arrived and i guess that means it's time once again for those of us who have applied to AFI to seek each others moral support and to share any news. Josh and Mayrock, i see you've applied, anybody else? my understanding is that it could be any day now through the end of March that we could be called for an interview. and if called, we have a great chance. if not -- no chance. wow, will be pretty nerve-racking every time the phone rings with a number you don't recognize. good luck to everyone! how do you feel about your chances? heard anything about how many applicants they got this year? let us know if you hear anything.

 

cheers.

dan.

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Dan:

 

I'm in a complete information null zone. :ph34r: I have no idea how many apps they got this year, or any idea -- whatsoever -- of my chances. All I know is I don't believe I've ever wanted anything this badly (getting into AFI); and the stressful angst of this waiting is, like I mentioned before, excruciating.

 

I was going to tour the campus last week, but had to miss out on it because of a last minute commitment on a school film production. Have any of you guys been shown around campus? If so, what were your impressions?

 

Anyways, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you guys. I hope to see you all (as well as myself) in the group of 28 new AFI Cinematographers for '06.

 

-Mayrock

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Two of my friends got calls already for interviews here on the East Coast...I haven't gotten a call yet (still have my fingers crossed). I don't know if theyre going in a particular order like alphabetically and/or by discipline. My two friends applied for screenwriting and directing. And the east-coast interviews are between March 10th-16th here in Maryland. Good Luck to Everyone!!!!!

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hmmmm, interesting. they probably do call people for interviews based on certain regions. but i wonder if each discipline is seperate in it's setting up of interviews. i guess there is no reason to start to panic about not getting called untill we hear people from our region in our discipline have been called. but yeah, mayrock, i'm with you on how ridiculously badly i want this.

i was able to tour the campus as well as sit in on a couple of classes. obviously, i thought it was pretty great. the highlight was bill dill's class where they picked apart their first films, basically shot by shot, talking almost exclusively about character and story.

 

ok. gotta go. fingers crossed.

dan.

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Well, all I have gotten so far is a financial aide letter in the mail about a week ago. I'm going to be in LA in about a week and a half for a transfer at Fotokem, should I call AFI and let them know I will be in town? Would that help any?

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u should visit...i met the admissions manager jj jackman twice and he seems real cool...

 

but ive just gotten a financial aid letter too...has anyone here gotten an interview callback yet? it seems wierd...my friends that applied for directing and writing got calls but i haven't heard one cinematography applicant get a call back yet...and the interviews are next week!!!

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maybe they just do the directing and writing interviews first, before they even start the ones for cinematography. i guess it's a good sign that no cinematographers we know or have heard of have gotten a call. i'm hoping this all means that they just havn't called anyone yet in this discipline, and interviews will be later in march.

wow is this nerve-racking! waiting for a phone call that could be tomorrow, could be in 2 weeks, or could never come.

 

well, i'm pulling for us all.

good luck. dan.

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Well my cold world has suddenly gotten warmer...i got a call from the admissions office for an interview next thursday...its supposedly the last day for east coast interviews...so i have to cut my spring break short, but who cares, its the AFI!!! But the admissions told me they were running behind on application reviews so look out for those calls everyone! GOOD LUCK!!!

 

can someone whos been through an interview give us some tips! i know people from last year posted that they ask about for you to tell them about urself...then ask about ur reasons for wanting to attend the conservatory and about favorite movies and DP's...is there anyone else that had a different interview experience?

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Good luck to everyone in their interviews.

 

Keep in mind that the number of directing applications are usually at least a 10 to 1 (and often higher) in comparison to Cinematography, so there's a boatload of apps for them to get through for just directors. However, it does sound like they're cutting it REALLY close this year........

 

They want people who are going to be actively involved, so in the interview hear what they have to say, but also be prepared to ask them questions as well - ask what type of candidate they're looking for, what should you expect from the program, what will the program expect of you, etc. Speaking about collaboration in any way is always a plus. Don't, and I repeat DON'T BS them in the interview; there are only a handful of people who do all of the interviews, and they're very good at seeing through rubbish - be truthful, be relaxed, and it'll be over in no time.

 

Let us all know how it goes.

 

And again, best of luck to everyone.

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Well, well, well, just like Richard, my world also just got a whole lot warmer! AFI called to set me up for a cinematography interview at the campus in Hollywood on Thursday March 23rd.

 

Excuse me while I step outside and let out a primal scream of joy! :lol:

 

Next up will be some kicking of ye olde metaphorical gluteus max in the interview.

 

-Mayrock

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congrats mayrock! i too got the call today for an interview!!! i was on set when i got the message, gave my 2nd a huge hug, and needless to say the rest of the day flew by. i wasn't able to call them back, so i don't yet have a date for the interview, but i'll be calling first thing in the morning. wow this is getting exciting. my heart is still beating ridiculously fast. but it ain't over yet. on to the next step.

 

good luck to you all in the interviews! and thanks for the advice jayson.

 

dan.

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Congrats to everyone!!! I'm really glad to hear that all of you got calls! and thanks jayson for the words of advice. Good Luck in the interviews and i hope we all do well........and...hopefully i'll be able to meet all of you soon!! ;)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Wheww, I visited AFI last week to sit in on the cycle 2 screenings and they asked me to stay and interview. It wasnt as scary as I thought It would be, Steven and JJ are really great guys. I felt it went well considering they gave me 20 minutes to get ready.

 

Anyways, good luck to everyone else, I hope to see you all there in the fall.

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I had my interview last week thursday and it went pretty well...i dont know what to expect but it wasnt bad at all...they mostly talked about the program, and asked about my favorite books, movies and cinematographers. He asked about why I applied to the program and about my financial plan. Then he randomly asked if I knew and worked with a particular directing applicant from the same school that I go to...(i dont know why though)

 

Overall I thought it went pretty well, they said that applicaqnts that get chosen will get a call on the 15th of April, so its gonna be nerve-racking but ive got my fingers crossed

 

how did everyone else's interviews go?

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  • 3 weeks later...

hey guys,

 

so this is the week we'll find out our fates, huh? am i right in that if we do get in we will get a call on saturday the 15th (or will it be friday the 14th??) and if we don't, we won't get any call and the rejection letter will just arrive the following week? pretty nerve-racking. i want this so badly it hurts.

 

when i went for my interview i asked one of the guys in admissions and he approximated that there were maybe 40 - 50 applicants who were interviewed. my interview went well, i think, but they did have some serious questions/concerns about my reel. for the most part i actually agreed with what they had to say. but hopefully i was able to alleviate their concerns, somewhat, and they will see my potential. i'm pretty sure they saw my passion and hunger though. so we'll see. it's going to be a long week.

 

anyway, good luck to everyone out there!!!

-dan

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First off, congratulations to all AFI candidates who are accepted in 2006. And to those

who didn't make it in during this annual admission cycle, best wishes, and may all your

cinematic dreams come true -- even if they are delayed a bit by a non-acceptance this year.

 

As for me, I got the call of my life yesterday from the head of the AFI Cinematography department: Stephen Lighthill. I'm IN as part of the 2006 class! The timing of his call will make it a conversation I'll never forget; as I talked with him literally the moment after we completed our last shot on location of a final 16mm project our group is creating here at school. We had just wrapped and were having a crew lunch, and that call gave me double reason to celebrate with my production collaborators.

 

Time to go un-cork that bottle of wine I've been saving for this day!

 

-Mayrock

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YAYYY!!!! Congrats Mayrock!!!! I feel amazing as well because I got a call from Mr. Lighthill yesterday as well...and I'm in!!!! It's the wierdest feeling to get a call like that after you've been waiting so long for something like this. So i'll definitely be seeing you around Mayrock. Maybe we can exchange contact info or something. I don't know how I'm gonna pay for it but ill figure it out...that'll come. But now its time to just hunker down, graduate from undergrad, and mentally prepare for this. If there are any present fellows or alumni that have any words of advice or anything that would be wonderful.

 

And good luck to all the other applicants, the week is definitely not over yet!!!!

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Richard: excellent news! I had tears in my eyes when I was talking on the phone with Mr. Lighthill during that fateful call. It was powerful moment, I don't mind saying, for this usual stoic.

 

Feel free to drop a line anytime through the email feature on the board. I check my email frequently. I took my cell phone number off the profile temporarily since I'll be changing it soon, and, well, I'm kind of phone-phobic. I hate the phone, and turn it on only periodically just to check voicemail. :ph34r: I know, I'll need to become more cell-phone friendly when we start collaborating hard-core at AFI. ;) Too many past jobs of being such a slave to the phone make me want to chuck all of that technology and head for the hills Jeremiah Johnson-style sometimes.

 

Kind of on-topic, my current instructor this term is an AFI-grad cinematographer who had one of his former AFI teachers -- Patti Bellantoni -- come and give a really fascinating guest lecture today on color theory. I think I heard we'll have her for lectures early on at AFI. She's a fantastic teacher and person, and I'm sure you guys will really like her. Also, not sure if it will be on the reading list, but here is her book to check out: If It's Purple, Someone's Gonna Die: The Power of Color in Visual Storytelling.

 

Back to those that haven't gotten a call yet, as Richard observed, the week is still young. My AFI grad instructor noted I got my acceptance call a little earlier than usual. Everyone might not have been contacted yet.

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