Dustin, it sounds like you're on the right track by nature of the fact that you are pursuing school.

In my opinion, I would consider a school that will make you feel comfortable. You will be living there, so make sure its where you want to spend 1-4 years of your life. You aren't far from Full Sail - go visit it and check to see if it will meet your needs.

May I suggest you also check out LA Film School? I did some work there back in 2000 - it seemed like a decent school. Also, it's in the heart of Hollywood...and that is just as if not more valuable than going to the school. Be social, be cool...and you will meet and get involved in projects that will lead down the road to success.

Remember, live a fullfilling personal life...and your career will follow.

Murph

Currently, I know lots of instructors in Vancouver who teach in a variety of schools. I've taught a course or two in 3D. Some of the schools have a bad rep, some have a good rep and I know my friends are good people. However, this is one thing I hear alot about as far as vocational schools go.

80 per cent of the enrollees have no business being in school.
- They got suckered by the school's marketing. "Get a job in 10 months!"
- They came in without the basics needed "Uh, what's this mouse do?"
- They were sponsored by the government and received a 'free pass' through the vetting process
- They are on a 'learning vacation' and want to snowboard most of the time in beautiful B.C. and then spend their time in class chatting with the other students
- They convinced their parents to pay for the education and realize quickly that it's actually work!
- They are sadly in bad circumstances outside of school and are always trying to juggle too many jobs or have bad relationships that are affecting their schoolwork
- They are social misfits who do not like other humans.
- They are blue-skiers who just like going to school and trying to learn things and then as soon as they graduate, go onto cooking school or tourism hospitality school or intensive yoga
- Older people who were turfed from their jobs because they weren't keeping up with younger people and were 'promised' their jobs back if only they would get retrained but actually just want their jobs back without the learning.

These majority of students are the result of a vetting process where the overriding criteria is their ability to pay the fee. The people doing the vetting don't really care if the prospective student is really suitable. That's what the tuition fee is supposed to do ahead of the interview!

Of the rest of the students, there will be a handful who are hard working, intelligent, sociable, quick-learners. These are the ones clamouring for more lab time, the ones who try and camp out in front of their computers, who are always pestering instructors for more, who challenge their instructors. These are the ones who produce more than is required, who race through the lame introduction courses, who finish the in-class assignments ahead of time and then actually help other students. These are the ones who use their knowledge to work on their own pet projects and, indeed, try and steal computer time to work on those projects.

These are people who, despite the quality of the program itself, will always find a way to push their own education as far as it will go. They may in fact find the program to be totally unsuitable and drop out so that they can find their education elsewhere.

Surprise! These are the same people who become excellent people to work with in a professional environment! But it is only a small percentage of people in each class.

Sure, there may be schools where the pre-admission process is so stringent that you only get these people.

I've found this in every classroom environment I've been in as a student and in the handful of situations where I've instructed. And, as I've said, this is what I understand from my friends who have instructed.

Hey Keith, that URL doesn't work. There's an extra <br%20/> at the end...

Never mind. It was just a cheap shot at Bush.

Hey Dustin,

When you do visit Fullsail, be prepared for a flashy show and tell and a vast marketing blitz. All their money goes into advertising, marketing and equipment at the school.

You'll hear "you get out of it what you put into it". This much is true, but my advice, if you want to do film editing, would be to look into local Avid/Final Cut workshops (I know Apple sponsors some around the Orlando area). If you already know Premiere, then transitioning to these programs will be easy.

I graduated from Fullsail in 2001 and have no regrets. It was a LOT of money...I'm still paying for it actually...but I went for computer animation and there was really no better place to jump right into Maya then FS. It was a great experience and I walked out with Valedictorian and Perfect Attendance. The best thing about the school is the people you meet. The opportunity to network is great, the placement is sub-par. You'll be doing virtually all of your own job hunting.

I won't clog up this thread anymore with my opinions. I just wanted to post up some of my thoughts in case anyone else searches on the topic of Fullsail.

Dustin, if you'd like to speak to me more at length or have specific questions, feel free to e-mail me. The marketing team at FS is top-notch, but you probably won't hear from your "recruiter" after you get in. : )

Okay I made the drive out there today to check it out. It was excellent. There is too much to type about it. All I can say is it looks like a really really good experience.

Financially I think it shouldn't be too bad. Financial Aid is judged by my parents salary the prior year and they made squat. Also, my aunt is really pushing me to go to school and she has money out the wazzoo so she said she is going to help out as much as she can. I can get a student loan for any other expenses.

I'm really excited about going now. Before I showed up I thought I was only going to be taught how to use the equipment and such. But I then realize that they teach all the aspects of film making. And their internship programs seem to be great too. They said that they will help me find a job and anytime in the future I can come back to them for help finding jobs as well. They also told me that since technology changes so much, I can come back anytime, however many times I want, and retake the film degree program again for free.

Dispite all of the bad stories I have heard about this school, I believe this will be an excellent learning experience nonetheless and seems like alot of fun. After all, I've heard lots of good stories about it as well.

Well thanks alot everyone for putting in your two cents. I really appreciate it!

I honestly thought about going down to fullsail...i used to lived a few blocks away at the end of university blvd. at the time i was going to UCF for film (only went a couple years, partied too much and quit).
Fullsail is a pretty cool school, but overall it is a business school. it really depends on what you want to do with your career. If you go someplace like UCF, which does have a film program, you get a more rounded education (which can seem pretty boring at times).
If you are kinda unsure about what you want to do, why not goto the community college that is right up there inbetween UCF and fullsail for a couple years (forgot the name). hey have a bunch of film stuff there, i know that when i was at UCF those guys did the BLair Witch movie and they went to the CC and then UCF, but it much cheaper and lets you explore what you want.
The other people on here that recommended jsut taking training for avid/FCP may be right, you would probably learn more about the technicalities of editing from something like that.

It really depends on how you do it all...like jeff said earlier - its what you put into it.

Hey Trey,

The name of the school is Valencia Community College. Not a bad idea either. I can see going to Fullsail to learn game design, recording arts and computer animation. Despite the grandeur of learning 35mm at Fullsail, if one wanted to do editing or digital media I don't know if I'd recommend the investment at this point in time...especially since tuition keeps going up and up.

But hey, I got a fantastic education out of it and it was an opportunity to learn and grow, and I think Dustin will have a great time.

Something to consider... Full Sail is NOT an accredited school. What ever degree they give you is not the same as one from UCF or even Valencia CC (associates). I took my son up there a few years back. I was not impressed with the film program,
but the animation and audio recording/mixing programs were pretty good. Though if you check around there are week long and 2 week long seminars on pro-tools that will cost you a lot less.

When it comes time to actully use the film camera, you have to earn the right to do so, competing with others for only a couple of cameras. You can use digital if you want, but why if you are paying that much. You will learn other aspecs of film making, like production design and script, plus a bunch of other jobs related to making a movie.


BTW.. the film program at UCF has over a 1 year waiting period last time I checked. Maybe it's better now.

IF you are interested...
FAU in Boca is ramping up their communication/media studies department. And they are offering post graduate classes as well.

My son just graduated with his BA in communications with a double major in film and broadcast/media studies. They have both pratcial and theoretical courses. They also encourage a lot of internet based study. The have a pretty good equipment to student ratio. With heavy emphasis on the latest Mac/FCP and/or full blown AVID stations.
The only problem is they are currently all digital as far the the film making program goes. You might want to check to see if that is changing.

Another thing, if you are worried about your grades..you can take your first two years at Palm Beach CC and have an excellent chance of getting in to FAU.



Good Luck

Hey Joe,

Actually, it is accredited. The AS I got for comp anim will hold water legally, but in all honesty I went to Fullsail more for the quick experience and extensive animation program, and less for the degree. They do also offer bachelor degrees now.

Having said that though, I agree with the rest of your post. Although I cannot speak for those schools, I think you bring up some good points about Fullsail's film program and offer some good advice.

I stand by what I said before: recording arts, game design and computer animation are pretty top notch programs at Fullsail. Film and digital media are over-over-overcrowded and I often wonder why some don't consider either other schools or just a more concentrated workshop.

The trouble that I see with programs like FS is that you don't spend that much time actually using the programs. While call it hands on, they don't have an NLE station and camera for each student. You'd be better off buying a decent camera, fast computer, plenty of HD space, and taking workshops for the software if you learn that way. Or be like me and teach yourself ;)

Well I talked to some of the students there and they said they really liked it and that all get to use the equipment. Either way...this is my chance to move out of my parents house. And it seems like alot of fun too.

Sorry to dig up old topics, I'm new and decided to do a search for Full Sail so I didn't waste space posting a new thread,



I WAS going to go to Full Sail. That was my goal. I had everything planned out, I even went to a Behind the Scenes Tour (the damn trip cost me $600!).


They put on a HUGE show. I was impressed with the equipment, but I still had a bad feeling about the school. It seemed like they wanted to do a huge show to try and pull people in.

Nevertheless I still figured this was the place to go to get into the industry, and I still wanted to get in.

That was until last night. My parents were worried I'd f**k myself over getting a $40,000 loan and they wanted to do some research to make sure I wasn't gonna screw up my life going there.

The information my dad found last night pretty much made me change my mind. Yeah, I was extremely bummed out because I didn't think I had any other way of getting into the business. I remember a friend of mine who owns a production company, to go out and buy equipment, search the internet, read and learn on my own (Oh and Kevin, if you read this, I still need to talk to you)

Searching around more on the internet last night I discovred L.A. Film School (which someone mentioned briefly early on in this thread). I requested information which is on it's way and it looks like this is the place I am going to go.

I have business in Hollywood that requires me travelling there once a month and L.A. Film School looks like the place for me.

Anyone that is interested can check it out at: www.lafilm.com

I know that some people disagree with going to a school but it feels like something I need to do for myself.

(BTW, L.A. Film is much cheaper then FS)


Take care,

Chris

I went to neither lafilm, nor fullsail, all of the experience I got was working as an intern (lowpay) and then moving up as I learned more, in addition any money that I saved by not going to film schoolwent to camera's and equipment for shorts. The people that I have met that went to fullsail, said as they were going through it that it was really just a money maker, each moneht they accepted new students to replace the ones that had graduated the moneht before, one guy in particular finished up fullsail had no job to show for it then went on to be a PA in NC on dawsons creek. His review of fullsail wasn't glowing and it seemed to him that anything he wanted to do could have been done simply by going out and working in the field.
The LA FIlmschool people that I met were really obnoxious and honestly not the most learned people I've ever met. The company that I work for now does a little bit of business with them and I just wonder how much more experience one could get by taking 40 grand spending it on rent and working for free for a couple of years (note that if you are in anyway compatent you will be working for free for a couple of gigs then you'll begint o get paid.) I'm not saying that film school is bad, I'm saying that these film schools (oh and the newyork film academy as well-MANY stories out of that place) seem to be more interested in churning out people so that can bring in more and make more money, but hey maybe that's all schools. I think that if you really don't knwo what you want to do in the biz and you want experience covering everything, then heck drop 40k and go to school work your butt off and make connections and while you're at it figure out what you want to do. But if you do KNow where you want to go (directing DPing, editing) you need to follow a more specialized route.