Hey everyone
I know this is a little out-of-the-ordinary for a post... even on this topic
But I have recently developed a major interest in film-making, especially writing and directing
So my question for anyone that can help is... if you know any, can you make me some recommendations on good film schools (colleges) so I can start lookin around
Thanks

NYU.

SCAD: http://scad.edu/

I've been told they are excellent for all things art, especially film, editing, etc.

It ain't cheap, though. But, you get to live in beautiful downtown Savannah.

Mike

The University of Southern California, located in Los Angeles, has a very high reputation for its film school. Folks like George Lucas went there.

http://cinema.usc.edu/

CalArts is also supposed to be pretty good. The biggie, I'd have to say, would have to be UCLA. Because of its proximity to the hub of the movie industry, students get a lot of exposure and connections. The same could be said of CalArts and USC, but I believe UCLA is ranked #1 and the resources are tremendous there.

Where are you located? There are other smaller film schools... Columbia College in Chicago... The Art Institute.

You can find a list here:

Film School Directory

Thanks a lot for that list.
And actually I'm in Orange County so I'm within the proximity of UCLA

As a film student, here are the prestige schools, most of which have already been mentioned:

NYU
UCLA
USC
AFI (this one is specifically for filmmaking--I don't believe it teaches anything else)

Most universities have decent film programs. I'm lucky to live in Utah, since the University of Utah has many connections with the Sundance Film Festival and Hollywood. It isn't considered a great film school, but the film program is above par. That said, any film program will be difficult to get into. There are only a limited number of spots, and filmmaking seems to be on a new wave of interest, probably due to the digital revolution.

My recommendation? Pick up photography and learn the technical side of capturing an image. Read books about film editing (cross-cutting, line-of-action, etc.). But most importantly, learn sound. Sound is one of the crucial aspects of filmmaking which consistently gets put aside. The primary difference between a well-produced film and an amateur production is almost exclusively related to sound. Acting, direction, writing, set design, cinematography are all important, but the sound is generally the truly defining element. I realize that probably sounds dumb, but pick up a microphone, attach it to a boom pole, and try to capture dialogue. It is one of the most incredibly frustrating things I have ever done.

Haha I totally agree with you on that. We've had to make two movies for projects in english class, and the second time we basically had to delete all audio because it turned out so bad and do all voice-overs. Turned out the video was great once edited... sound well...
I'm doing a new movie, just for fun, so if you know any film festivals i would appreciate it

Sundance is probably out of the question--it has almost become a showcase just for Hollywood. There is Slamdance, which is a spin-off of Sundance and occurs at the same time. If you make Troma films, we have Tromadance. Utah has several local film festivals. Your state might as well. Just check around.