thespian86

If so, what did you do to get there? What school did you go to? What did you take in highschol? What kind of things did you do as hobbies? What have you done in the business while you've been working? What kind of stuff should you do when you start... so on and so forth.

Thanks as always

PMF 21

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peeweesbigbong

going to film school is pointless. use that money instead to make your own film. you will find others. just pass out flyers looking for volunteers to help you.

you WILL learn 10x more doing it this way then wasting your time at a desk reading film books

Jesus Pimp

Film school isn't totally pointless. It's a good place to meet people and make contacts. Networking is key. It's really up to you. Read lots of books on film production, theory, shooting, editing, and script writing etc.. Get a nice mini-dv film camera and just shoot. Learn video editing (both analog and digital). Learn lighting & sound etc.. Watch lots of movies and study them. Good luck!

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Charlatan

Jesus Pimp is right. There is a ton of networking that goes on in film school. In fact, a good friend of mine when to Queen's University (Kingston, Ontario) and there are a ton of people in the Canadian industry that when through that program. He has used it to great advantage. His production company has made a couple of short films, a limited series for the Comedy Network and his first feature film will be released theatrically this year.

I too am in the film and television industry. I took film studies (film studies is to film making what studying English Lit is to writing). While at University I worked at the campus radio station where I produced a weekly film show. Through that gig, I was offered a job in publicity for a film releasing company. I used that job to network my ass off and a couple of years later moved to a position with an international distribution company.

I started out there doing all the contracts and tape traffic but quickly moved up in to sales. I am now the head of sales and acquisitions (it was a small company and it grew beneath me).

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thespian86

Thanks for the advice! Man I'm glad there are lots of people, any more?

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SmileyG3

I am currently in the TV industry and hoping to branch out into the film industry. I took a radio and tv production class in high school and started doing highlight videos for our football team, since i was on the team other people shot it for me and I edited it and showed them over our schools tvs. I never thought I could make a carrer of it so I opted to go to my local university instead of going to the Academy of Art in SF, CA....I majored in Political Science, and was looking for a part time job after school when I found a production assistants position at the University. There I learned how to use a Betacam and edit with the Avid system and learned other software like Softimage, AfterAffects, Photoshop and Illustrator.
My grilfriend at the time (who is now my wife) wanted to move out of our small town to San Antonio, TX, so we packed up and within two weeks i got a job at a fairly small Post-production house and now have been working her almost five years. The buisness has dramatically grown and we now do national campaigns along with big name clients.

I often speak to clients and producers I work with about the whole experience VS. schooling and the majority think that a degree does not matter in this career field. I definately helps but exp. is definatley the key.

by the way I love my job and it is so fun that it hardly feels like work.

Good Luck!

Stompy

What's a good Mini-DV cam to get? I was looking at the Sony DCRVX2100 (and DCRVX2000). Are those any good?

Links to those cameras: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...photo&n=507846
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...photo&n=507846

I have absolutely no experience whatsoever in film making, but I have tons of ideas.. and I've heard the only way to do them is to just do them.. to just go out and buy (or rent/borrow) a camera and get to work!

I think the hard part would be networking. I don't know a single person in the industry, so where do I begin?

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SmileyG3

Those cameras are pretty good to start out with, the only problem is they don't have any XLR inputs. XLR's are inputs for audio cables, to be used with any type of microphone. There is an adapter but it is not to great of quality. Try looking for The Sony DSR-PD-150. I've used it and its great I dont no anyone how dosen't like it. They may not be manufacturing it any more but I know Ebay has plenty. Andy if you want a step up look into the DSR-250, also by sony it goes for about $5,000.

lazyaznguy

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Hrothgar

I was but due to the recent "scare" i had to take some time off.

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jvwgtr

I went to film school:
Florida State has a great program, but it's pretty hard to get into nowadays...only 20 students or so, but they pay for everything you shoot.
I opted not to go into the industry, but lots of my classmates are doing very well in Hollywood or more local areas.

Most of us felt like film school was a good experience, but we probably should have just spent that money on making a film. Learning the fundamentals will help you a great deal, but not necessarily get you a higher-ranking job in the industry, you'll probably have to start at the bottom no matter what.

I agree with what everyone else has said, work on writing and re-writing some good stories, shoot & edit video every chance you get. This stuff will become your résumé.