Can you learn to direct without film school?
May 5, 2009 4:59 PM Subscribe
Is it possible to learn to become a movie director without going to film school?
Roger Corman never went to film school. (His degree is in engineering.)
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 5:10 PM on May 5, 2009
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 5:10 PM on May 5, 2009
Quentin Tarantino didn't go to film school.
Nor did Steven Soderbergh, Robert Rodriguez, Richard Linklater, or Spike Jonze.
posted by scody at 5:11 PM on May 5, 2009
Nor did Steven Soderbergh, Robert Rodriguez, Richard Linklater, or Spike Jonze.
posted by scody at 5:11 PM on May 5, 2009
Ridley Scott, James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, David Fincher, Peter Jackson.
So, um, yes.
posted by dersins at 5:11 PM on May 5, 2009
So, um, yes.
posted by dersins at 5:11 PM on May 5, 2009
Or to flesh out my answer and put it another way... Where did Robert Rodriguez go to film school? Where did Woody Allen go to film school? Where did Alfred Hitchcock go to film school? Where did John Ford go to film school? Where did Kevin Smith go to film school?
The answer is nowhere (well Kevin Smith went to Vancouver Film School but dropped out fairly early).
You want to be a film director? Make films. Short ones. Use a video camera, cast your friends, edit it at home. Will your first movie suck? Probably. So will the second. But if you have stories to tell, you'll get better and so will the movies.
Read every book on directing you can find. Watch tons of movies. Write lots of screenplays. Learn to sell yourself and your talent. Learn to work with people and not be a totalitarian shithead on a film set. Network. Find industry people and get them to tell you what they know.
Film school can be very valuable. You can learn a lot there and it can help you sometimes to get your foot in the door. But the tuition fees are often enough that you could probably make a film instead and learn just as much.
posted by wabbittwax at 5:12 PM on May 5, 2009 [1 favorite]
The answer is nowhere (well Kevin Smith went to Vancouver Film School but dropped out fairly early).
You want to be a film director? Make films. Short ones. Use a video camera, cast your friends, edit it at home. Will your first movie suck? Probably. So will the second. But if you have stories to tell, you'll get better and so will the movies.
Read every book on directing you can find. Watch tons of movies. Write lots of screenplays. Learn to sell yourself and your talent. Learn to work with people and not be a totalitarian shithead on a film set. Network. Find industry people and get them to tell you what they know.
Film school can be very valuable. You can learn a lot there and it can help you sometimes to get your foot in the door. But the tuition fees are often enough that you could probably make a film instead and learn just as much.
posted by wabbittwax at 5:12 PM on May 5, 2009 [1 favorite]
Tarantino did attend some film school at AFI
posted by wabbittwax at 5:12 PM on May 5, 2009
posted by wabbittwax at 5:12 PM on May 5, 2009
To put it yet another way - if you don't go to film school, very well, but:
-how will you learn all that stuff they teach you in film school?
You'll need to pick this up somehow, either in self-study or trial and error. I'll suggest that these days, with the filmmaking flow being heavily computerized, high tech and expensive, it will be challenging for you to sufficiently learn the ropes independently.
-how will you convince a studio to entrust a movie production to your skills?
Having a degree gives a measure of confidence you might just know something about a particular subject (although it's not guaranteed, I know lots of clued-out educated people). But a degree is quantitative.
-how will you network and make contacts with people in the industry?
Going to film school will connect you with others who ought to be plugged into the industry. Your classmates will likely end up in industry too. Your network will help you as you help them. If you go off on your own, what will you do instead?
Yes, many big directors didn't go to film school. But many (most?) of these people are not young, they are mature men. When they were in their youth, was there even such a thing as film school? And if there was, did anyone care about it? In other words, the industry that existed when the big directors were in their youth, was likely a different system than it is now.
Perhaps that is the real question: do you want to try to enter into the existing system and work your way upwards? Or do you want to work your way up outside the system and then, if and when you're a success, the system discovers you and welcomes you in?
The film industry is an industry like any other. You can either get a computing degree and go to work for IBM or you can set up a software company in your parents' basement and create your own startup. Which is better? Which is more likely to succeed? Hard to say. But most small businesses do fail. And Youtube is full of forgettable videos cobbled together by wannabe Coppolas.
Just my ramblings
posted by thermonuclear.jive.turkey at 5:34 PM on May 5, 2009 [1 favorite]
-how will you learn all that stuff they teach you in film school?
You'll need to pick this up somehow, either in self-study or trial and error. I'll suggest that these days, with the filmmaking flow being heavily computerized, high tech and expensive, it will be challenging for you to sufficiently learn the ropes independently.
-how will you convince a studio to entrust a movie production to your skills?
Having a degree gives a measure of confidence you might just know something about a particular subject (although it's not guaranteed, I know lots of clued-out educated people). But a degree is quantitative.
-how will you network and make contacts with people in the industry?
Going to film school will connect you with others who ought to be plugged into the industry. Your classmates will likely end up in industry too. Your network will help you as you help them. If you go off on your own, what will you do instead?
Yes, many big directors didn't go to film school. But many (most?) of these people are not young, they are mature men. When they were in their youth, was there even such a thing as film school? And if there was, did anyone care about it? In other words, the industry that existed when the big directors were in their youth, was likely a different system than it is now.
Perhaps that is the real question: do you want to try to enter into the existing system and work your way upwards? Or do you want to work your way up outside the system and then, if and when you're a success, the system discovers you and welcomes you in?
The film industry is an industry like any other. You can either get a computing degree and go to work for IBM or you can set up a software company in your parents' basement and create your own startup. Which is better? Which is more likely to succeed? Hard to say. But most small businesses do fail. And Youtube is full of forgettable videos cobbled together by wannabe Coppolas.
Just my ramblings
posted by thermonuclear.jive.turkey at 5:34 PM on May 5, 2009 [1 favorite]
When they were in their youth, was there even such a thing as film school? And if there was, did anyone care about it?
Well... yeah. Martin Scorcese (NYU), Francis Ford Coppola (UCLA), and George Lucas (USC) all graduated from film school within a few years of Quentin Tarantino's birth in 1962. In fact, USC's film school is one of the oldest in the world; its founders included D.W. Griffith, Ernst Lubitsch, and Douglas Fairbanks.
posted by scody at 5:59 PM on May 5, 2009
Well... yeah. Martin Scorcese (NYU), Francis Ford Coppola (UCLA), and George Lucas (USC) all graduated from film school within a few years of Quentin Tarantino's birth in 1962. In fact, USC's film school is one of the oldest in the world; its founders included D.W. Griffith, Ernst Lubitsch, and Douglas Fairbanks.
posted by scody at 5:59 PM on May 5, 2009
You want to be a film director? Make films. Short ones. Use a video camera, cast your friends, edit it at home. Will your first movie suck? Probably. So will the second. But if you have stories to tell, you'll get better and so will the movies.
I second this with the white-hot passion of a million burning suns. People ask me, a game developer, how to get into the industry. I tell them to go make games right now with whatever tools they can get their hands on, which is a considerable amount.
Moreover, I'll give you a hint on the kinds of movies you should make first. Have you heard of this story? Yes? Good. Now go do what these kids did, only on a smaller scale. In other words, go remake some scenes from your favorite movies. You've seen how the big boys do it, now go copy it and see if you can learn something from their example.
Go to film school? Heh. You've already been to film school! You just did it one ticket at a time.
Me, I'd try to remake Jaws. Yes, that Jaws. People ask me, yeah, but where would you get a shark? I say, I don't need a whole shark right away. For about the first 90 minutes of the movie, all I'd need is a fin.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 6:00 PM on May 5, 2009 [3 favorites]
I second this with the white-hot passion of a million burning suns. People ask me, a game developer, how to get into the industry. I tell them to go make games right now with whatever tools they can get their hands on, which is a considerable amount.
Moreover, I'll give you a hint on the kinds of movies you should make first. Have you heard of this story? Yes? Good. Now go do what these kids did, only on a smaller scale. In other words, go remake some scenes from your favorite movies. You've seen how the big boys do it, now go copy it and see if you can learn something from their example.
Go to film school? Heh. You've already been to film school! You just did it one ticket at a time.
Me, I'd try to remake Jaws. Yes, that Jaws. People ask me, yeah, but where would you get a shark? I say, I don't need a whole shark right away. For about the first 90 minutes of the movie, all I'd need is a fin.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 6:00 PM on May 5, 2009 [3 favorites]
R. Rodrigues wrote an autobiography about his rise to fame....he made short films on video all through his youth.
His basic advice on how to become a movie director is that you get yourself made up some business cards that say "director" on them
posted by bonobothegreat at 7:31 PM on May 5, 2009
His basic advice on how to become a movie director is that you get yourself made up some business cards that say "director" on them
posted by bonobothegreat at 7:31 PM on May 5, 2009
I don't know anything about film, but just throwing in my 2ยข in from my own industry perspective: As a programmer, I got into the tech field without a Computer Science degree with zero trouble. What it took was to be really good at it, make friends that saw this and wanted to get me into their workplace (I guess you call this "networking"), and putting my work out there for the general public (open source). I think this holds true for any talent-driven industry. Yes, a degree helps separate the wheat from the chafe and gives you a solid, marketable foundation -- but if you aren't any good at it, you probably won't get very far with or without a degree. IMO, if you're actually really driven and talented, you have just as much a chance at success as someone who is formally trained.
I'm not denigrating a college education for these industries, though. You will have to make up for everything you miss on your own, which takes discipline, talent, and a certain amount of passion. If you are willing and able to do that, you have a good shot.
On the other hand, if you're not the next Kubrik or Tarantino -- but love making films -- a degree might net you a job in something less prestigious, yet more suitable. So there's that to consider.
posted by cj_ at 2:18 AM on May 6, 2009
I'm not denigrating a college education for these industries, though. You will have to make up for everything you miss on your own, which takes discipline, talent, and a certain amount of passion. If you are willing and able to do that, you have a good shot.
On the other hand, if you're not the next Kubrik or Tarantino -- but love making films -- a degree might net you a job in something less prestigious, yet more suitable. So there's that to consider.
posted by cj_ at 2:18 AM on May 6, 2009
Piggybacking on this poster's question: any film-school-replacement book recommendation? Specifically to do with directing and/or cinematography?
posted by Dukat at 3:12 AM on May 6, 2009
posted by Dukat at 3:12 AM on May 6, 2009
I suppose Robert Rodriguez is the epitome of successful independent filmmaking. If you do wish to do the independent route perhaps have a look at this, his story on how he did it.
And there's also this advice.
posted by thermonuclear.jive.turkey at 6:32 AM on May 6, 2009
And there's also this advice.
posted by thermonuclear.jive.turkey at 6:32 AM on May 6, 2009
You've got lots of great answers, but just one more example: Robert Redford didn't go to film school. (He started with a baseball scholarship, then studied painting. He did study set design a bit, but I don't see any actual film school attendance mentioned in that bio.)
It seems like self-education could involve a lot of the excellent suggestions above: make a lot of your own short movies. Work on other people's projects whenever you can. And read a lot - there are a ton of books out there by great filmmakers.
posted by kristi at 10:00 AM on May 6, 2009
It seems like self-education could involve a lot of the excellent suggestions above: make a lot of your own short movies. Work on other people's projects whenever you can. And read a lot - there are a ton of books out there by great filmmakers.
posted by kristi at 10:00 AM on May 6, 2009
A good thing about school is that you don't have to work in a vacuum.
You get to see how other students solve problems and sometimes the cross-pollination of ideas "lifts all boats". It can also push you past technical and artistic roadblocks that can sometimes stall your development (or keep you from needlessly re-inventing the wheel).
posted by bonobothegreat at 5:48 AM on May 7, 2009
You get to see how other students solve problems and sometimes the cross-pollination of ideas "lifts all boats". It can also push you past technical and artistic roadblocks that can sometimes stall your development (or keep you from needlessly re-inventing the wheel).
posted by bonobothegreat at 5:48 AM on May 7, 2009
Absolutely. Many directors worked their way into the position from editing, acting, and crew jobs.
Your vision can be developed on your own but you need to understand the process to be effective at it, or surround yourself with those who do. You could start by volunteering on a low/no budget production (Craigslist - gigs - crew) just to get a feel for the mechanics and flow, and to talk to others about what they're doing. It would give you an idea if the job really is what you perceive it to be.
posted by lunaazul at 10:37 PM on May 8, 2009
Your vision can be developed on your own but you need to understand the process to be effective at it, or surround yourself with those who do. You could start by volunteering on a low/no budget production (Craigslist - gigs - crew) just to get a feel for the mechanics and flow, and to talk to others about what they're doing. It would give you an idea if the job really is what you perceive it to be.
posted by lunaazul at 10:37 PM on May 8, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by wabbittwax at 5:03 PM on May 5, 2009