Film school. The very utterance of such contrived contradiction brings a smile to art class cynics the world over. I mean, how can you “teach” film, let alone any form of art? How can art, something so fleeting, so subjective, be formed and molded through the constriction of an academic syllabus? Well, it can and it can’t. Couple that with the fact that many of history’s most honored and prolific filmmakers have never even stepped foot in a college and one might wonder if attending film school is even worth the time or the money it’s students are required to invest.
These days, it would be next to impossible to run your finger down the list of box office weekend figures and land on the rare film that wasn’t either directed, written, or produced by a graduate of the respective USC, UCLA, and NYU film programs. For the average Canadian film buff, however, the notion of a USC education is nothing more than an almost unattainable dream. For years, I worked on my tan and waxed my surf board, in hopes of one day heading down to the sunny hills of Southern California and following in the footsteps of previous Hollywood film school grads George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, and Robert Zemeckis. The problem with such a notion is purely financial. International students are required to provide proof of the fact that they are able to financially support themselves, over the course of their four years of study (over $30,000 per year in tuition). And that’s before they even enter the country, as current student Visa restrictions prohibit them from working, during the duration of their stay.
Damn.
With my tale between my legs, I turned to my own backyard and started on the long process of choosing a Vancouver-based film school. With so many to choose from, it became apparent that this wasn’t going to be easy. For about three days, I was convinced I was a future student of the Vancouver Film School. A week later, I was ready to pack up and head to Capilano University. But, hey, what about a degree from UBC? Considered that too. This see-saw continued for about a year or so. That was, however, until I was offered a full-ride scholarship to The Art Institute of Vancouver’s film program, after winning the award as “The Most Promising Filmmaker in British Columbia” at the B.C. Student Film Festival. After that, it’s safe to say that my future decision become a tad more apparent.
The moment I arrived on campus, along with about thirty other students, I felt as though I’d died and gone to filmmakers’ heaven.
The Pros
The moment I arrived on campus, along with about thirty other students, I felt as though I’d died and gone to filmmakers’ heaven. Within minutes, all of the students seemed to gravitate to one another, linked by their inordinate love of film and the filmmaking process. The problem lied, however, in the cold, hard fact that each and everyone of these students were at varying levels of knowledge and expertise, along the filmmaking spectrum. Because of this, The Art Institute has tailored almost the entire duration of it’s first few semesters to the beginners in the class. This, however, is to be expected and is really no fault of the school’s.
For an art school, The Art Institutes’s syllabus, class structure, and course material are, rather surprisingly, covered at an almost pseudo-University level. Every student is provided with an in-depth syllabus, detailing each and every class and all of the material covered in the course of the semester. Along with this, students are required to purchase textbooks and, throughout the course of the day are expected to attend various scheduled classes. But that’s primarily where the college similarities end. Most classes lack the constraints of a more conventional educational environment. Instead, they are structured in such a way that brings teacher and student closer together, in an almost commune-like setting. Students seem to always be willing to help one another and the friendly faculty, all of whom are working writers, directors, producers, and actors are also willing to lend a hand with production. This kind of comradeship benefits not only the school’s filmmaking environment but can also forms strong professional bonds that carry on outside the walls of the The Art Institute.
Over the course of the first few months, students were provided hands on experience with almost every aspect of film production. Classes in film history, editing, cinematography, directing, location audio, sound design, and compositing were coupled with more academic, business-oriented producing, accounting, and entrepreneurial courses. The faculty are all extremely knowledgeable and express a dedicated passion and commitment to the school’s students.
Although, to an outside eye, it might seem like The Art Institute suffers from an identity-crisis, the far-reaching spectrum of information offered by the school seems to have faired well for it’s alumni. The school does seem to place emphasis on not only feature film production but also contract video work, an industry where a significant number of it’s graduates are able to begin their careers. The downside of such a philosophy is that the school has broadened it’s teaching tools, in hopes of preparing students for both the contract and union-driven industries, which offers less specific knowledge and material.
Perhaps the most integral aspect of The Art Institute of Vancouver experience is that it provides it’s students with a safe filmmaking haven, hallmarked by the students’ freedom to experiment and, most importantly, make mistakes in a non-professional, stress-free environment. With the ability to extend and adjust your course load, students are able to manage the amount of in-class time with the amount of on-set experience outside the school’s walls. With an equipment room that is open morning till night, students are free to experiment with all of the gear and make as many projects as they like. A college or university education can be a useful tool to advancing one’s theoretical and academic knowledge of the art and business of the movies but a good rule of thumb is that however much one gets out of film school is in direct correlation with what one puts in to film school. The Art Institute allowed me the opportunity to organize and plan my own productions, outside of the course curriculum, and to use the facilities and equipment at my leisure. Remember, that no amount of class time can make up for the knowledge one acquires on-set and behind the lens of a camera.
When the dust settles, the vast majority of its students end up in the “Jack-of-all-trades, ace-of-none” camp.
The Cons
Like any school, the curriculum and philosophy of The Art Institute of Vancouver has its share of problems, primarily within the structure of its year-long syllabus. The school tries, perhaps, a little too hard to spread out a Bachelor’s degree worth of academia, in a little over eighteen months worth of courses. When the dust settles, the vast majority of its students end up in the “Jack-of-all-trades, ace-of-none” camp. The school is, for the most part, an experimentally-driven vehicle for aspiring film enthusiasts who aren’t quite sure of which industry job in which they wish to apply themselves. This can, however, be extremely valuable, as it can take years of failure and financial repercussions to see that one is more suited to something like the quiet, isolated creativity of the editing process than the hustle, bustle, and stress of feature film directing. That said, The Art Institute essentially caters to two specific film positions: the editor and the director. For those of you looking to get into either of those two positions, you will be immersed in a sea of artistic and technological knowledge. But for students looking toward a career in the camera or electrical departments, there are certainly better options. The Art Institute simply falls short in that category, as the limited exposure to professional equipment and advanced camera and lighting theory is aimed strictly at prosumers and low-level professionals.
If The At Institute wishes to take that extra step and propel itself past the other film schools in the Vancouver area, they need to slightly revise their syllabus and create a more career-specific outlook. For instance, the program should be divided into two distinct sections, the first being a very broad, all-encompassing look at the entire process of filmmaking. It’s safe to say that they do that very well. However, they need to develop a secondary portion to the program, whereby students begin a very career-intensive period of study that specializes in specific individual industry positions.
A significant downfall of the A.I. film program however is its inability to prepare students well for professional, union operated film sets. Within weeks of graduating, I began work in the locations department of the television show Psych and can safely say that I learned more in one month, on a professional film production, about the hierarchy and on-set etiquette of the movie business, than I did in my entire tenor at The Art Institute. Keep in mind, however, that I learned more about the “art” of filmmaking in one month at The Art Institute of Vancouver than I did in almost six months on professional sets. That said, a well-run film set is a happy and efficient film set and The Art Institute needs to better equip it’s students with industry standard practices, in hopes of improving not only the students’ ability to transition into the union but also to help them better operate their own sets.
Every day of the year, I ate, slept, and breathed filmmaking, allowing me to take my new found wealth of knowledge out into the field and simply… make movies.
The Verdict
Alumni of the prestigious Harvard Law program, graduating at the top of their class, can expect a sea of eager suitors, looking to take on that next hotshot lawyer. Such is simply not the case with any film school, let alone one north of the border. You’ve graduated with honors, brushed up on your list of movie making lingo, and polished off your latest masterpiece but find that places like 20th Century Fox, Warners Brothers, and Universal simply aren’t hiring. Such is the nature of the entertainment industry. Film school is merely a stepping stone to an almost endless parade of minor and major successes, disappointing failures, and a helluva’ lot of brown-nosing. Some cynics may argue that, once you’ve graduated film school, you’re idling in the same place you started. True, but without my invaluable period of study at The Art Institute, I probably wouldn’t know where to find the starting line. Looking back, it’s easy enough to say that my years at film school were amongst the best of my life. Every day of the year, I ate, slept, and breathed filmmaking, allowing me to take my new found wealth of knowledge out into the field and simply… make movies.
The Art Institute provided me with opportunities that likely would have taken years and even more money than I would have spent on tuition. I’ve made lifelong friends, as well as an abundance of professional contacts. Fresh out of school, I had several commercials, music videos, and short films that I sent out to various film festivals around North America, two notable local festivals being The Vancouver Short Film Festival and The BC Student Film Festival. I won several awards at the former competition, including being named as “BC’s Most Promising Post Secondary Filmmaker”. Over this last year, I’ve been working in a variety of capacities, as a permitee in the DGC’s program and as a contract editor and director. With the Art Institute’s guidance on the art of pitching (a skill the school stresses intently), I was able to secure a spot as one of the youngest competitors in the history of the prestigious Crazy8s Film Competition. This competition has harbored talents from Zach Lipovsky, Dylan Akio Smith, and Rae Dawn Chong, although I felt well prepared for the challenge, with the variety of skills I acquired at The Art Institute.
It’s far from a “perfect” program. But I doubt there really is such a thing. But as far as film schools go, I can and will definitely recommend The Art Institute of Vancouver to any film enthusiast looking for that kickstart to a long and enjoyable career in the movie business.
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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