La Film School for international student.. is it worth it ?

[amanchopra]

Hi , I am Aman from India.

 

I want to get into cinematography , but as of now dont know anything much at all about it . I was planning to do a one year immersion study program ( specialising in Cinematography) from the La film school. I am going to be a graduate in april 2006 and then will join the may batch .

 

I wanted to know is La film school worth it ? I dont want to do a 3 year course ..

 

I am through with photography as i am into the filed from the last 2-3 years , so i am very well connected with basics and much more than basics of photography , but dont know much about lighting though..

 

A person like me has not even used a camcorder properly ever , so at the school will they teach all about it and all??

 

 

 

Is it worth 35000 dollars ( 15 lac rs in my currency , plus accom seperate .. haha )

 

How is San Francisco school of digital film making ,,,?

 

I have been to archive but was not satisfied with the replies so here i am again ..

Pls help

Thanks in adv

 

Aman

Mumbai

[Mark Allen]

Well, is the LA Film school that pristigious? I live in LA and haven't heard it spoken about much. Does UCLA extension offer cinematography courses? Are those reputable? (question to other forum members)

 

I'm not going to say this as advice, but just as something to consider:

 

I think you should consider as an alternative to spending so much cash - getting an internship so that you are not only learning and getting some real world experience, you are also making connections with people who really work in that industry. Then with some of the spare cash, start shooting things on your own to utilize things you've learned.

 

If you are a likable person though - being around people who could bring you onto jobs in the future is pretty important.

[Joseph White]

i'd have to say that the LA film school seems like an ok place for people who live here, but i wouldn't necessarily reccomend travelling the distance and justifying the expense in going to it from where you are. i also have my doubts on how worthwhile their cinematography program is seeing as how its such a short program i'd imagine its more of a general immersion program and the experience you'd get directly related to cinematography would probably be equal to getting your hands on some strong books (which you can find on this site), maybe getting a camera internship, and putting that money you would have spent on school on even a cheaper dv camera and just learning what you like. i went to film school for my Bachelor's and Masters degrees and still say that i've learned as much as I did in the last couple years since graduating as a working dp, if not more, than i did in school. the best thing i got out of film school(s) was the friends and contacts i made, and those are things you can definitely get with internships and llwer-rung on-set jobs.

 

Best of luck, though! Having a backgrounf in photography always helps when entering the world of motion pictures.