The Best Film Schools

by Vic Hurlstorm on August 1, 2010

All schools have unique things to offer. That’s why schools have varying identities and characteristics. It’s not surprising to hear the school being blamed by people for the certain image that an individual portrays to the public. As an example, you might hear the statement: “Well, he acts like that because he is a graduate of the Blank Wall University. All students who came from that school act in that manner.” And this interference is not totally without logic. A certain type of culture and characteristic is generic to a specific school because of peer influence.

Thus, to figure out the best film school is quite easy. The answer relies on what you want to gain from your film school experience. Each film school has its own attributes and distinguishing features so the best thing to do is know them first. The country where this school is located plays a significant role in figuring out the character of a certain film school.

There are several aspects to consider: the kind of courses offering, the length of time each subject is discussed, the number of written modules against the time of actual practice, the incorporators of college and the course itself, guests in key lecture forums, the reputation of the school and whether that really matters in the end of the course. I always believe it will. It aids you in how you move in the world, whether you go up or down. However, in the real world of film, degrees runout of value and what has more weight is track record and experience. There’s no amount of argument that can topple off track record and innate talent. A few samples of schools that have impeccable status and repute are the following:

American Film Institute

New York University

California State of the Arts

University of Southern California

University of California – Los Angeles

Aside from the United States, there are two noted film schools that anybody who’s interested can opt for and they are: the Australian Film, Television, and Radio School and the United Kingdom’s National Film and Television School. This is not to belittle the capacity of other international schools in teaching the art of filmmaking but rest assured that there are those that may be at par with the capacity of these aforementioned schools. What one has to do is to have a deep research on what he aspires in the film industry, what culture he wants to be part of, and where he can be most comfortable with.