saad hassan khan

hi Varun, i graduated from PFS this year and would like to share my experience with you. i chose pfs because of it intensive one year program and personally was very satisfied with the time i spent there. they sort of throw you in the deep end from day one and ask you to swim but there is always someone close by to give you a helping hand. initially i had my reservation about this approach but later discovered how this helped me gaining experience and confidence. i came to pfs to gain theoratical and praticle experience which i did. i personally worked on so many sets that i have lost count. my objective was to absorb as much information as i could and gain as much experience as i could while at the school. i did that. ofcourse there are all sorts of people at every school, and i must admit, i am not a hundered percent satisfied with a couple of individuals there but at the same time there were people who went out of their way to help me out when ever i needed help. some of the teachers were exceptional, actually most of them are pretty good. they would take time out of thier personal lives to meet me and go over my scripts with me. we used meet over coffee or lunch even when they were not obliged to, even after the classes were officially over. all in all i developed a very good raport with most of the people there. ofcourse there are things that i would like the school to do differently, but i am sure other students at school would disagree with me about the things i did not like. when i was in college or university, there were things i liked and some i did not, but that does not mean i would paint the entire school or system negatively. i would also like to point out that the admisnistration was extremely helpful and accomodating. when some students had issues at a personal level the administration was sensitive to thier problems and made changes to thier rules to accomodate these students. that for me is a big thing. while at PFS i got the oppertunity to work on sets outside of school, and that happened only becasue of the ppl i met and contacts i made at the school. i feel that because of PFS i got the oppertunities to work on sets outside of school. another upside is that the equipment you get is free of cost. yes, things break down, and dont work sometimes and this might happen on sets too but the thing is these things happen in real life too. the school also gives you the equipment for free even after you graduate or want to do something at a personal level. infact such things are encouraged. i feel that if you face problems while in school (on sets, like equipment breaking down etc) you get the experience to tackle such situations in real life so i would not complain about these things. i chose to look at the negatives in a positivie light aswell. all in all i was very happy with my experience there and would recommend pfs to anyone who wants to spend a year learning the craft. if you want to be spoon fed and face no problems while at school, and be detached from how things work in real life then pfs is not the place for you. another excellent thing about the school is the diversity. we had ppl from over 50 countries i think. i was exposed to many cultures many different ways of thinking and approiaching concepts adn ideas. i made friends with people all over the world. made life lasting friendships. there was no sence of competition, instead all the students were very helpful and accomodating. each person wants the other person to do well, and i feel they did thier best to make the best film they could. i interacted with students from other film school aswell, like FAMU, and even they had compains about their school. no school or instituation is perfect. what is important is how they see themselves and if they are willing to improve themselfves. i feel PFS knows that it is not perfect and is constantly striving to achieve better results. i would recommend pfs to you without an iota of doubt. look around. look at your options and make up your mind. ofcourse there are bigger and better schools out there but for me a small school where i get personal attention from teachers and administration was important for me. i would not chose a different school if had the oppertunity to now. i loved the time i spent at pfs and am very satisfied. good uck in your search. best of luck saad