To Film School or Not To Film School: Crash Course Film Production with Lily Gladstone #14

Should you go to film school? Great question? But there aren't necessarily a lot of direct answers. Do you want to go to Hollywood? Do you want to make movies in your spare time? Do you want to learn about world cinema? Do you want to be a director? A cinematographer? An editor? Do you want to pay for tuition? All of these questions can help you figure it out, but today Lily Gladstone will talk us through a few important things to keep in mind when deciding if film school may be right for you!

***

***

Want to find Crash Course elsewhere on the internet?

[MonzennCarloMallari]

"The person who can tell you is watching this video right now"

*instinctively turns around and looks for the guy*

[dpo]

My sister, a director of photography, says the single most important factor of going to film school is networking and creating connections. According to her, every single job and gig she's ever participated in she got thanks to someone who vouched for her previous work, or just someone she knew. So my guess is that unless you're a top 1% persuader/salesperson/lobbyist, or have tons of contacts already, you'll be probably better off going to film school.

[tessamitan]

Side point: Going to film school doesn't necessarily mean you have to work in the film industry. The skills apply to a wide variety of media jobs. I got a film degree, am not in the industry, and use that degree every day. Be mindful of debt, but higher education means access to resources and a network of people with like interests and goals. And don't think you have to go to one of the major schools in this video. I went to Bowling Green State University in Ohio and I have classmates that currently working in the industry.

[dawn_h]

From my experience, film school is best for finding like-minded people and networking with teachers that are active in the industry. You'd likely learn class topics just as fast by actually being on-set, but the people you meet at film school are the ones who get you there in the first place. I've had the opportunity to meet and work with some amazing people that I may never have if I didn't attend film school. Something else I've found is that most of the films you make for assignments will be pretty bad - they're held back by the underachievers in the class most often. The best stuff you'll make in those years are the films you create outside of school hours with the classmates you work with the best.

[alexandersorensen]

watching this video in 2023 after the release of Killers of the Flower Moon it feels so weird to see Lily Gladstone on a CrashCourse Video.

[benaaronmusic]

If you want to write, WRITE
If you want to sing, SING
If you want to direct, DIRECT
Just always do it!

[he.smile_]

The timing for this video is crazy accurate for me right now.

This week I dropped out of Software Engineering to eventually go study Film Production at UQAM next fall. Which is the same week Denis Villeneuve received his honorary master degree from UQAM (he studied there). During his speech he said that the day he quitted his science degree to go study Film was the day life became beautiful.

And now this video.

Are you spying on me Crash Course?

[yotamdelayahu]

Series idea
“HOW TO ADULT”
A series where you explain to us recent high school graduates how to file taxes,
Get a job, figure out what we want in life, find a job, manage bank accounts, avoid scams (beyond the obvious Nigerian prince), and find jobs!
Even stuff like how to make easy repairs to the car or fix small stuff without paying a professional will be super helpful to us
There are so many things that adults can do but no one has ever taught us high schoolers because adults take it for obvious and you can be sure that we won’t ask them
Some schools have classes that are supposed to do that but not all schools do and the those that do have the classes are usually worthless beyond “don’t fall to peer pressure kids” or “you don’t have to smoke to be cool” and “sex can wait”
While telling us that we should believe in ourselves is nice for your self confidence. It’s not very helpful when I have a flat tire in the middle of nowhere. And no cellular reception.
( I can have all the stuff I need to replace the tire, but I won’t manage to do it in a million years)
Please give us a series that explains how to be an adult
Thank you

[sydneytalks]

I'm in film school right now and I still don't know if I should be going to film school

[zerowastecult]

Film school is extremely expensive but as a current film student I feel like I learned a lot from film school and it gave me the opportunity to work in every field to figure out what I like and what I don't like. In classes like "industry professionalism" I had to interview people in the industry and that helped me create a lot of connections in the field I want to pursue (editing) and on top of all that I created connection with my own peers and they will also soon be in the film industry.
It is hard work and I barely get sleep, we have thousands of projects and workshops on top os 5-6 classes, but I know I made the right decision going to film school.

[steelea]

Feels so weird to see future Oscar winner Lily Gladstone teaching Crash Course.

[Tselel]

I've always told people that when it comes to film, your work matters more than your credentials every single time. If you need a school to produce on that sort of level, by all means. But we live in the age of YouTube, Skillshare, etc.

[Domdrok]

Lessons from the Screenplay is a fantastic channel.

[Larissapringiers]

I did a 3yr undergrad degree at my local university. But i found that the most valuable education I got was when I interned and worked as a receptionist for a year at a production company. There is nothing like hands-on learning

[shubhkundu]

Take the money you would spend on a Film School. And use it to travel, make your own films and collaborate. You can find tons of tutorials on YouTube teaching you the basics of film making. You can figure out the rest by yourself and develop your own style!

[DuranmanX]

Try making shorts on YouTube and get experience that way.

[superstandard]

I moved to the US recently to pursue a film career. My initial plan was to get a job that had ridiculous hours that would give me 3-4 days a week to fund and focus on my shorts that I would submit to film festivals. Then over the years I would eventually gain enough awards, probably made friends in the industry and done networking and stuff and eventually maybe get an opportunity to work in Hollywood. After I arrived I got a job that gave me the free time I needed, but then actually finding people to make films with proved to be impossible as people had their own lives to attend to and noone's schedule would ever match up. So now I am considering going to film school because then I would be placed in an environment with likeminded people that have the time, skills and motivation to make films. Then I came up with another plan, I could move to LA, the holy city of filmmaking and try to do the same approach with gaining reputation and a network, only problem is that LA is expensive to live in...

[Yosi-Berman]

What I miss in film school was the easy access to equipment. The school I went to in Tel-Aviv didn't have any rules about when you can take equipment. In fact, we were encouraged to use them for our own side projects.

[tonyar]

This velvet voiced presenter is superb, explains well in calming yet reassuring manor.

[omeryigit]

It's not mentioned in the video, but as a side note: Stanley Kubrick didn't go to a film school, too. :)