Film School Sham

Film school is a sham.

Did I ever say that? Because I think it bears repeating.

The fact there is a New York Film Academy in Los Angeles and is accredited by the U.S. Gov’t proves what a scam it is. Once advertised in cinematography magazines (next to the sea monkeys) is now a place some foreign kid whose parents have a ton of money can send them there so that they don’t burn down their castle/mansion/plantation. Yes, it fleeces foreigners, so…the government’s cool with them. By default, I’m okay with them too.

It dawned on me as I was standing in line at Fotokem, a couple of pretentious dickhead film students from NYFA. NOT to be confused with New York University’s film program (I’m sure they HATE themselves for ever naming themselves New York now).There is no affiliation. But understand how stupid movie execs can be to confuse them. Much like Asylum movies that ape popular titles. For instance when “The Hateful Eight” came out a typical Asylum pic would be called “Bounty Hunter Massacre” with the same font and everything. Dumb people at RedBox will confuse the two. I know one co-worker of mine thought “Battle for L.A.” was the same movie as “Battle: Los Angeles” What a dum-dum.

I’ve said this until my head almost exploded, you can learn the practical nuts and bolts of filmmaking in…three days (two if you read a book). It’s really intuitive to tell visual stories. To do it well takes a lifetime. You will never perfect it. At this point, I’m led to believe most film schools extend film history lesson past the three initial days. The whys and how you study movies. Shit, you can do that on your own. IF you are serious. If you watch movies simply for entertainment, you’re screwed. Movies are a formula despite what artsy people say (me). If you watch movies long and enough and desperate to make them, it will really come to you pretty quick. It took me forever, and a ton of money to get through my concrete brain the basics. In a sense, film school just delayed my learning. For which I am eternally grateful. To others…a complete waste of time. Actually, I would put that in the majority. My faults, shouldn’t be foisted on younger more sophisticated minds.

The biggest issue these days are movies aren’t about experiences anymore. Every once in a while, one will pop out and grab Hollyweird by the nuts. The reason: it’s not derivative of other movies. The people who make movies today aren’t living life, they’re stealing from other movies. We grew up with movie language and can’t shake it. While it’s true people like Coppola, Scorsese, Altman and so forth rode on the coat tails of their predecessors, they also eventually told stories more personal. Ones that were anchored in their living. Their style wasn’t derivative of movies they’ve seen. Scorsese was influenced by all genres and thus, even as a cinephile, was able to ride the line between teacher and maker.

Film school makes the mistake of teaching by movies, rather than teaching by life. What would be the best teaching tool…everyday, give people a one page of what they did in their life. Boil down everything to one page. For instance: I drove out to the gym today, rode a stationary bike and ate chicken strips at Popeyes.

THIS to me has more potential than “let’s dissect why Kurosawa decided to tell this story from three points of view.” In movies, we copy…but we copy bad. Let’s copy, but…make sure your own life plays some part in it. And it doesn’t happen in film school.

Learn by doing. Make mistakes. Make them big (if you have that in you). This isn't a place for shy introverts.