Film School Secrets: Insider Advice for Aspiring Filmmakers Learn Filmmaking as Creative Professional, Not a Starving Artist Last week I discovered Ben Hughes. For those of you who haven’t heard of Ben.. you soon will. Ben has been shooting music videos and youtube videos since he was 15 years old. The difference between most of the vids on youtube and Ben’s stuff is that when he shoots something… it looks GOOD. Like, really good. Check out his ...
Read More »Hunger Games Review: A Rushed Book Adaptation
My 22 year old girlfriend wanted to see “The Hunger Games” last weekend, so we went. I am a fan of teen fiction ever since I was a teen. But the books that caught my imagination back in the day were things like “The Dark is Rising” by Susan Cooper, “A Wrinkle in Time” by Madeline L’Engle . They were ...
Read More »Paying $42,000 a Year NOT to Make Films?
One of the most hilarious reasons why film school is such a retarded idea has to do with the process through which “thesis” films are selected. At most of the 4 year film schools, from NYU to USC, UCLA, and even smaller colleges, students are still subject to a mind boggling process of “selection” in order to shoot a simple ...
Read More »I Can’t Believe ‘Pulp Fiction’ is 17 Years Old
I was 17 and in in high school when “Pulp Fiction” came out in late 1994. Holy crap. I first saw the movie with my parents at an art house theater in Rochester. I will never forget watching my Mom, a small woman at 5’1″, curling up into a fetal position during the infamous “needle scene”. Nor will I ever forget the ...
Read More »Which Is More Important, Brains or Balls?
When making a movie, which is more important: having brains or balls? Clearly you don’t want to be a complete idiot when making a movie. But you don’t need to be all that smart either. In fact, when I was a TA at NYU, I used to check out editing equipment to graduate students. Some of these folks were in ...
Read More »Why Did This Famous Director Drop Out of NYU?
Did you ever see the movie “There Will Be Blood” or “Boogie Nights”? Those are two of my favorites. And both were directed by PT Anderson. Not many people know this, but PT Anderson actually attended NYU Film School… …for two weeks. That’s right. the accomplished director of “Punch Drunk Love” and “Magnolia” spend about 14 days at film school ...
Read More »Visual Effects Degree: A Good Investment?
Many film schools now offer visual effects degrees in addition to the standard film school degree. Technically, this is a much sounder investment than a film degree, as jobs in the VFX industry are ample and should continue to grow as 3D technology gets more popular and CGI becomes part of nearly every major movie made. Consider that the original ...
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