Will I need a camera for film school?

fetachi
Mon, 02 Jun 2014 22:05:41 +0000

I’ve got a good DSLR from an old flame (photography) that will suffice for my application portfolio.

See, it’s a recent thing that I’ve decided to get into film before my senior year of high school. More like screenwriting, but as I understand it, most screenwriters are directors as well. Spielberg said himself it’s the dreams that sneak up on you from behind that end up being the ones that come true. So I’m going with my gut which tells me film is the industry I want to be involved in.

Anyway, as I don’t have $5,000+ to invest in decent camera equipment and editing tools, I’m feeling as though I’ll be a fish out of water in film school.

I’ve taken a few summer “art camp” things at SCAD (not the school I want to go to) and most of the kids were incredibly pompous and were boasting expensive camera equipment that no doubt were paid for out of mommy and daddy’s good intentions and fat wallets.

As it is, not all of us are that fortunate.

Will I need to scrounge around for lost change under the couch to afford acceptable film equipment or does the college provide it?

I must have been mistaken about college. It seems like it’s no longer a place where you go to learn, it’s the place where you go to get a degree to get a job. At SCAD most kids seemed to already know, or be under the illusion that they already know what they’re doing. The photo. professor took it for granted that everyone had a DSLR and several lenses and had years of experience with Photoshop when in fact (though I’d had practice with photography with a really good point-and-shoot for years) I only had two years under my belt with a DSLR and only a month with Photoshop because I’ve had to pay for it myself.

Is it okay to come from humble beginnings (like artists in the past) or is it expected now that artists will be semi-professionals before the fall semester of our freshmen year of college even begins?