Anybody who goes to the movies is aware of the huge number of new films produced each year, and anybody who has sat through the end credits of a current Hollywood blockbuster knows that a lot of skilled people are employed in their production. To learn these skills, many aspiring movie makers attend one of the many film schools that have come into being during recent decades. Some of these students have gone on to great success after graduation.
But there are a lot of people with plenty of desire and potential who don't have the financial resources to attend film school. Should these people give up on their dreams and get into some other line of work, or can the enter the business by some other means? Is it even possible that film school might not be the best route, anyway?
It's up to the individual enthusiast to decide whether or not film school is the best way to gain entry into the field, but it's always good to examine all of the available options.
It is with the intention of helping the movie makers of tomorrow to become of another possible route to their goals that I'm telling the following story. It's about a friend of mine and how he got his start in the film industry. I've lost track of this friend (he's very busy), so I haven't been able to get his permission to use his real name. Let's call him Paul.
Paul had an inheritance coming to him. His mother was put in charge of deciding how this money would be spent, with the stipulation that it had to be used to further his education. Naturally, she asked Paul what his career plans were.
His reply was that he hoped to get into the movie industry. In his estimation, film school would be the obvious way to get eventually enter the business. This career goal suited his mother just fine, but she had another idea about how Paul could learn the necessary skills.
What if she allowed him to use the money to produce a short movie of his own? It seemed to her that it would be the best way to learn how films are made.
Paul thought this was a good idea, so he went out in search of some help on this project. He found a local special effects technician who was interested in getting involved. I also happen to know this man. We can call him John.
Here's the deal that Paul and John made: John would go out and find a bunch of his fellow special effects people and ask them if there were any effects that they had always wanted to create but had never found a project that needed them. A list would be made of these effects and Paul would put together a screenplay that would call for as many of these effects as possible. They would then all collaborate on the film that would be made from this story. There wasn't enough money available to pay the technicians for their time, but Paul would pay for all of the building materials.
Everybody in the effects crew agreed to this plan and were very enthusiastic about the project. They all had lots of fun with the project and Paul learned how films are made. In the end he had a really slick looking short movie that he could use as an impressive portfolio piece when seeking work in the future.
Paul's story is by no means unique. Although there are a lot of successful people working in the film industry, there are also plenty of self taught filmmakers who are doing very well.
Stanley Kubrick, John Waters, Quentin Tarantino and especially, Robert Rodriguez are just a few of the many directors who have publicly stated that producing a film on your own is the best way to learn how it's done.
With the availability of affordable video equipment and helpful software, just about everybody has access to all of the resources they need to make independent films. They can even get their movies seen by uploading them to the internet.
Once again, there are many paths to success in the motion picture field and it is in the best interest of all who plan to enter it to consider as many of these paths as possible. Best of luck to all of you in the future!
About the Author:
If you're interested in a career in the film industry and are wondering what the best way is for you to get into the movie business, visit Flashfink's Squidoo page to decide if going to film school is right for you.
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