5 Reasons To Go To Film School:
10. You Are Encouraged To Make Mistakes
A common idiom says that we should "learn from our mistakes," and this saying is never quite as relevant as it is in film production. There are so many intricate details that go into the making of a film, most of which people aren't even aware of until they actually try to make a movie on their own. Film Schools are designed to ease you into the art form, starting small and gradually moving to bigger and better projects. Mistakes are made and lessons are learned, but the early projects are small and insignificant, and the stakes are not very high. By the time students reach the point where they are directing large-scale thesis films, they have already made most of the amateur mistakes that are inevitable with first-time filmmakers, but on smaller projects or class exercises, before larger crews, budgets, locations, and other factors are at stake. For evidence of what unchecked ambition will get you without first taking baby steps and learning from one's mistakes, look no further than the fascinating 1999 documentary "American Movie," about aspiring filmmaker Mark Borchardt's attempts at directing an independently financed horror film. Say what you will about Mark's admirable (and borderline naive) ambition, I can assure you he wouldn't have made nearly as many mistakes as he did trying to make his movie had he attended film school.