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Dropping out from film school and shooting a short film - thoughts?


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I have Lebanese ancestry and if there would be anywhere to shoot footage from what I've seen of Lebanon, it'd be through the mountains. The places have a distinct scenic quality that will surely elevate your work. As far as I know, there is an industry for work in the Middle East, specifically in the wealthy parts such as Abu Dhabi, perhaps more so in digital media, and the professions between filmmaking and media can very much intertwine. One being significantly more reliable for an income, with the other not so much. The top players of the film industry (Wally Pfister for one) are the 5% that have both an inordinate amount of skill/knowledge (something lacking in film schools) and sheer luck to make the proper connections, surely the chance to make it to the top is low, but if you have no interest in doing that, then it shouldn't even be apart of your decision to drop out or not.

 

In my personal opinion, get that 30 grand out and take it back to Lebanon, setup connections for work, invest in camera gear if need be (which will pay off) and shoot whatever you please, there's no reason why you can't shoot a short film in your spare time. It'd be much more beneficial in the long run to have a significant amount of good quality footage shot to show clients, rather than most of the muck about film school work.

 

If you can make the proper connections, meet the right kind of investors, there's no reason why you won't continue on making quality films, but film school or not, won't help you with that. I'd see much more benefit in keeping hold of that inordinate sum of money.

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  • 10 months later...

Personally I'd stay in school regardless, period. A state school even will give you access to equipment, and the price of a year's tuition could be the same cost to rent equipment for one week, more or less. Everyone finds their own path, I guess,

I met briefly in my neighborhood a renowned director who directs A-list cast in probably every movie he makes, who dropped out of Harvard.

Edited by Jenna Whitney
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  • 2 weeks later...

Sorry, hit save before writing...

 

Tarkovsky came through the Soviet film school system. These tend to build up from basics of images, for example shooting only stills during the first year, so that the students have knowledge in real depth, rather than just knowing how to work the gear.

 

When looking at someone's work it's useful to look at the people who influenced and mentored them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrei_Tarkovsky

 

It's rare that a person just does something totally outstanding without something in their upbringing or background that brings it about.

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