Applying to Film School: Florida State University (FSU)

I’ve been friends with Sherwin Lau since kindergarten.  In fact, he was one of my first friends in America after my parents immigrated here.  Turns out that he also got the film school bug, and just graduated from FSU last summer.  I asked him to write a few thoughts about the program:

It’s a 2 year program, six semesters straight, no summers. For me, I got started mid-August 2004 and I graduated first week of August 2006. The philosophy of the film school is to teach students narrative filmmaking and with an emphasis on well-rounded characters and story-telling. The bulk of the learning is hands-on, whether it’s on-set, post-production, or development/pre-pro.

It has an undergraduate degree (BFA) and a graduate (MFA). Within the MFA program, you can choose to enter the Film Production program or the Screenwriting program. Each program requires you to learn production but after the first semester, the writers start to focus on writing classes with the theater department and screenwriting instructors.

I can give some info about the writing program. But I’ll talk mainly about the production track because that’s what I did.

The writers, after their first semester, partner up with instructors in the theater department to help them write plays. Then they return to screenwriting and write feature scripts. So they learn both writing for stage and screen, but the school focuses them mainly on screenwriting.

Production track:

Normally, they accept 24 production and try to have 6 writing students for a class size of 30. Production students are given the chance to write and direct 3 short films with the possibility of being selected to write/direct 1 of 5 Thesis films. All production costs of the film are paid for by the school. They shoot on Super 16mm film and all equipment is from the school. They use both Avid and FCP platforms, and nuendo for sound design. There are 2 Dolby mixing stages, and the post department and all the stages are on a fiber-optic server, so everything is pretty much connected to a really fast network and you can access your film on any computer on the network. I don’t know the complexities of it because they installed it in my final semester, but I think it’s one of the few schools that is connected on that type of network.

In the first semester, everyone is together and take the same classes and workshops. They go through a very tough first month where they learn the basic on-set below-the-line (BTL) positions and introductory classes on filmmaking. Theory is not a focus in this school so most of the classes don’t involve history and filmmaking theory.

The first wave of production begins as the second-year film students start to shoot their 3rd films. The above the line positions are filled by the second year students. The first-year students and some of the second-year students act as BTL for the films. Second year and first years work together on the films. Instructors stop by occassionally monitor but you’re mainly on your own as a student, but by that time the second-year students have learned ( or should have learned) how to run a set and make a film and are very capable of leading the first-year students if they need help. The production cycle usually lasts about a month and a half as all 24 second-year film students shoot the film they wrote and directed. Then they go into editing and sound design for another month. While the second-years are in post, the first years start to write their first short. Then they crew themselves and shoot their first film. Afterwards, they head to post-production.

So you can think of the school moving back and forth from classes to production.

The next semester is solely focused on the production of the thesis films. I’ll explain more about thesis later. But after a little bit of classes the first-years are then selected as crew members on the second-year students’ thesis films. These are the biggest films (in scope and budget) the film school produces each year and therefore, there are only 5 films made. After a few weeks of pre-production, they start production. After production, the first year students write their second film and take some advanced classes in directing, cinematography, editing, producing, sound design, production design, and writing. In the summer semester, they shoot it. Then they go into post and after that, become the “2nd year students.” /happy at faculty and the other 5. Not everyone pitches, so not everyone is hating the others, but most everyone pitches. The other students who did not get thesis are now crew members for those 5 films, so you can imagine some of the drama that can and usually does unfold later on. That’s a whole other email in itself…

Then you leave for winter vacation and come back to start work on the 5 films. After the films are done, you are left in the last semester of film school which is the summer semester and you can usually have an independent thesis project for those who didn’t get thesis. The independent thesis project is a very general description, projects are mainly based on what resources are available at that time. You can do a cinematography, editing, sound design, feature script, documentary project, among other things.

The main thing in the last semester is to prepare students to filmmaking in the real world/Hollywood. I say Hollywood because the school is generally leading students towards LA, not specifically the big studio systems, but to LA where they want you to learn the system and get to know the players. All films no matter the size will go through LA someway or another so even if you don’t have intentions on going there, learning the system will be beneficial and helpful in getting your film seen. There’s also a seminar led by an alumnus that is an agent that represents writers, directors, and other talent. He brings in different directors for TV and film, writers, producers, representation, studio execs & development people, and gives us an overview of how the film industry works. Then the school flies us to LA to meet and greet with several sucessful alumni and there’s an alumni gathering. They also take us to different places in LA, tour of a major studio, post-production house, camera and equipment houses, so we can see first hand the film industry in LA.

So then they write their 3rd films and have the new first-year students ruin their artistic masterpiece because of the incompetence. Then after they finish their post on it, they jump straight into the thesis process.

The thesis selection process is where the film school acts like a film studio and selects 5 films to be made. As students you write a treatment for a story put together a team and a business plan and pitch it to the faculty like you would in a real studio setting. There is a group of faculty which decide which students are chosen to be the writer/directors for the film. How they choose…it’s a mystery to me, but they say they choose based on your talent as a director, filmmaker as a whole, and collaborator, and the strength of your story pitch.

So everyone usually comes into film school wanting to be a director of a thesis film. So at the end of the first semester, mid December, they choose and 5 people are happy and the other 19 or so are angry/depressed/bitter/jealous/happy at faculty and the other 5. Not everyone pitches, so not everyone is hating the others, but most everyone pitches. The other students who did not get thesis are now crew members for those 5 films, so you can imagine some of the drama that can and usually does unfold later on. That’s a whole other email in itself…

Then you leave for winter vacation and come back to start work on the 5 films. After the films are done, you are left in the last semester of film school which is the summer semester and you can usually have an independent thesis project for those who didn’t get thesis. The independent thesis project is a very general description, projects are mainly based on what resources are available at that time. You can do a cinematography, editing, sound design, feature script, documentary project, among other things.

The main thing in the last semester is to prepare students to filmmaking in the real world/Hollywood. I say Hollywood because the school is generally leading students towards LA, not specifically the big studio systems, but to LA where they want you to learn the system and get to know the players. All films no matter the size will go through LA someway or another so even if you don’t have intentions on going there, learning the system will be beneficial and helpful in getting your film seen. There’s also a seminar led by an alumnus that is an agent that represents writers, directors, and other talent. He brings in different directors for TV and film, writers, producers, representation, studio execs & development people, and gives us an overview of how the film industry works. Then the school flies us to LA to meet and greet with several sucessful alumni and there’s an alumni gathering. They also take us to different places in LA, tour of a major studio, post-production house, camera and equipment houses, so we can see first hand the film industry in LA.

Then you graduate and then everything’s over.

A huge draw for this school is the overall cost. They pretty much pay for all the production costs of your film, film cost, lab fees, on-set and post production equipment. I realized once getting out of film school how fortunate I was because it was so expensive to rent even the smallest camera & lighting package. I can’t even imagine how much it’d cost to rent the package we got in school. Another strongpoint is that they have some of the best equipment available and it’s all for the students. Some of the equipment is a little bit older but they do what is needed. There’s a huge assortment of toys for the students and gives each filmmaker such an advantage.

Some may see this as a strength, the school is only 2 years, compared to nearly all other MFA programs, which are 3 years (and more). You can be out in the industry quicker.

The school truly stresses filmmaking as collaboration. So the environment is pretty positive and nurturing. You occassionally get those people who are gunners and selfish and believe they deserve certain things, but they usually learn to collaborate.

The way things are run on set and the development & post process is very similar to what is run on a major film. Graduates are able to work key positions on films right off the bat. Two classmates of mine and I worked as 1st AC, gaffer and key grip on a feature film a month after graduation. And I’m currently editing a feature film, so it’s not too different from what we did at school. Each set will be different but the principles and concepts we learned are the same.

A weakness of the school is the lack of time we have in developing our ideas for our shorts and the writing process. We jump from class to production and at times it leaves little time to write. Sometimes we have to come up with ideas in the middle of a production cycle which is very tough. After working a minimum of 13-14 hours on set, it’s very tough to focus and write with the little time you have left.

There’s not much of an evaluation system throughout your term in film school. By evaluation I mean, there’s not a time where the faculty or director of the program sit down with you and discuss your strengths and weaknesses as a filmmaker, or general improvements you need to make to be a stronger director, DP or writer, etc…

It’s not in LA or NY, where most filmmaking is. It’s in Tallahassee, FL. It’s like an Austin, TX, but alot smaller and alot less diverse and cultured. It’s the capital of the state, it’s a huge college town, lots of white people, some black people and a tiny sprinkle of everyone else. The culture there is closer to a Georgia than it is when people think “Florida.” It’s hard to explain but once you’re there, you’ll know what I mean.

I put it in the upper tiers of narrative film schools. You will learn the basics of all aspects of filmmaking, which will help you as a director and it will . And all of the members of the faculty have worked in film industry, we have a couple Oscar winners. They are all here for the students and are usually helpful without egos.

~ by soham on December 19, 2006.