grahamstanly

Yes i do understand film industry dosnt equal fame and wealth nor, am i persueing those things. But based on your response richard, It seems like mabey haveing that buisness degree would be a benificial back up plan.

thank you for all of the replys but i am now not sure if I should go to film school or not.

Hey all i am going into my senior year of hs, and Ive been making shorts and in film classes for all 4 years of my highschool, I have always wanted to go to a film school, but now im not sure if film school is the way i want to go. I have been working my butt of making shorts, many of them people have liked quite a bit, i purchaced, a cannon xh-a1 and i have been going crazy. this summer i am going to shoot a short on about a 7000 dollar budget which is a lot for me. I have been taking film classes, and I have been told my first year of film school would be a waste of money because i will know most of the things they teach. I am thinking of getting a degree in business, so I have the option of beeing a producer. while still working on shorts, and interning on sets, ect. then hopefully I will be able to get some payed jobs, as AD, or DP while i am still in college. I have a few contacts already that i have worked with before that are currently doing industry work, like commercials and tv. So hopefully thats not a stupid idea, some feedback on my plan would be much appreciated. Thanks for all the help!

Also if your looking to buy you may want to consider getting a camera, that can go either Hd or Sd. the Cannon Xh-A1 can go either Hdv, or SD 24f, 30f, 60i. and it is about 100 dollars more that the Xl2 on b&h. its a great camera with a lot of options. good luck!

Ok i personally own the XH-A1 so my opinion could seem like it pushes that direction, but I have used the HVX200 and it is definatly a quality camera, but I am not a fan of the tapeless recording medium there just seem to be to many problems. I do however think that the HVX200 has slightly better picture quality than the cannon, the XH-A1 just has a bit of a flat image but it still does look very nice. To me it came down to price, because people will tell you to go hvx200 because you dont need tapes, and you can go right to a hardrive, but take into the consideration that the Xh-a1 can also record to a hardrive. For me i got the Xh-A1 for about two thousand dollars cheaper than the Hvx200, and I have had no problems at all I strogly beleive for me it was a great buy. As for the V1 i have heard good things but never used it myself. If you are purchacing a camera, my opinion is to go with the cannon then spend the money you saved on a nice tripod, but if you are renting for a project you should consider the Hvx200 because of it image quality and they would probably rent for the same price. When it comes to a film look from the Xh-a1, I would say it gets as close to the real deal as some much more expensive cameras, i diddnt check the hvx200's 24p mode but i heard it is slightly superior to the cannon, and V1 when I was looking to buy it seemed not to many people had used the Xh-a1 so it was hard to find some reviews, so i would recomend doing what i did and renting it for a few days test it and see if it fits in with what you need it for. Hope this helps and good luck!

Ok i had the same budget when getting my camera, now everyones needs are different, but I for me the cannon Xh-A1 was the best buy. I was also able to get a nice case, and tripod with the extra money. and most importanly I love the camera its a tough and not easy to break, with a good built in mike, and it can produce some amazing images. Good luck with the buyin process.

thank you for both the reply's, I just got my information packet from columbia. one thing i would like to know is are you allowed to check out school equipment while doing non school related projects? because one of the things I hope to have with me comming out of film school, is strong reel. Also is columbia only a film school? or can I use HDV, because though I hope to one day be shooting features in a cushy studio job, I also want to be ready to shoot TV shows, and commercials to pay the rent, and that seems to be going more into HDV and DV now. also I would like to know the types of cameras they use, not just film, Hd, and DV as well. once again thank you for the help.

Hey guys as a senior in hs, I have been looking at film school options I narrowed it down to chapman, brooks, and columbia college of the arts. At all of these schools I could get a BA in film and tv broadcast which is what i want. Columbia however is the cheapest, it is also a bit smaller, and I was wondering if any of you knew about it? or if any of you have been there. it is in hollywood california in an old panivision warehouse. sure mabey chapman, and brooks are nicer schools, but they are also around 30,000 a year. vs columbia's 13,000 a year. So i guess I would like to know 2 things, is columbia a good school where i will learn a lot and get some good experience, and when it comes to getting into the industry does it really matter which film school you go to?

the stills look great before I got my XH-A1 i was using a gl2 but i never produced footage of that caliber kudos!!!

Hey guys, basically I have a few questions on the steps involved in becoming a camera operator, or AC for television shows, or tv commercials. I understand it tends to be a bit more steady of a job than filming movies, but what do you need to do to start, join with an ad agency, or a television station? basically where would you start. also is working in Tv difficult to get started or is it relativly simple? Thanks for all of the help.

I mean no disrespect to this forum its amazing and I get all my questions answered. But i am looking to check out some other ones as well, are there and forums dedicated to dv, or hdv filmaking? I have not seen any so far. Or are there any other good film forums you all go to? thanks for the help

Hey guys I just got my brand new cannon XH-A1 HD camera. I want to get a good feel for it, so i am thinking of running some tests with it. What should I try? also what ever i choose to do i will post the results if you would like me to!

yea i watched a few "professional videos" but to all i have seen is music videos really a bunch of touching moments to music...i dont know if thats normal but i would like to get some audio in there. Well my biggest problem is age I am confident in my ability with a camera and audio, and editing. but im only 17 so I dont want people to see me as unprofessional or think they can take advantage of me. but I suppose i can get some jobs if i charge a lot less than others in my area. and if i turn out a few good projects i will just up the price. tell me if those ideas are dumb, and if you think i should just wait.

yea i chose not to buy it though cheap it dosnt seem practical

what experience level? and do you need someone to work free or for pay?