<p>I understand that live-action film is not RISD’s strong suit and that USC and NYU are the major film schools in the US, but I wonder just how good is RISD’s film program?</p>
<p>I’m under the impression that the method of most film schools produces film workers (most of the working directors) or filmmakers (Spielberg, Lucas, etc) at best, while RISD’s concept (of learning film as a pure art form, along with drawing, painting, ceramics) is liable to produce more of the so-called film artists (Antonioni, Kurosawa, Fellini, etc. who are all painters first, by the way). Anyone from RISD can at least draw (I could be wrong), and a director with a background in art never thinks like one without. Even the French new wave, when renouncing the dependence on techniques, embraces the art tradition (though more in literature than in drawing, but art tradition neverteless). </p>
<p>Of course, here I’m only talking about the method (the concepts) of the schools, not the schools themselves, so RISD might very well be suffering from a lack of measure to accomplish its premise, and that’s what I’m really curious about. If anyone passing by who can share insight as to what RISD film students do, I’d really appreciate it.</p>