UCLA Film School Review

The most logical destination for many future filmmakers is Los Angeles. There are a number of excellent editing film schools in the area, but the school to receive the most acclaim for its film and video curriculum is the University of California, Los Angeles. The Princeton Review ranked UCLA’s school for Television, Film, and Television (TFT) in first place out of 500 national programs. If, for some reason you find the Princeton Review’s opinion to be questionable, then you might want to consider the US News and World Report’s analysis which has ranked UCLA’s film school/television program in the top three for the past few years.

Alumnae of this school have gone on to win Emmys, Oscars, and Tony’s. With that said, it is obvious that admittance into this editing film school is highly competitive. In 2003, they admitted 310 students out of 3,688 applicants. Therefore, it is imperative that applicants display an attitude towards academic excellence as well as an appreciation for the aesthetics of their proposed major.

One unparalleled aspect of their film program is that this program is combined with those on the television and theater tract. No other university in the United States combines the curriculum of live-action theatre, multimedia, and video in one school. The Theater, Film, and Television (TFT) school is integrated so that students with like-minded artistic goals have the opportunity to learn, and have experience in, similar fields. The ideal result of this experiment is that the students of this program will not become cookie-cutter graduates of a mundane film school; instead, UCLA strives to have film graduates who are artists with an eye towards aesthetic innovation in film and television.

In the TFT, it is important that students receive a historical, theoretical, and aesthetic appreciation for film. Thus, the UCLA Film and Television archive is available for students to explore the rich history of their field. Additional concerns of this school are that students remain well rounded by receiving a strong foundation in the liberal arts.

The film program offers concentrations in three areas: critical studies (criticism of film, television); production (pre- and post-production of film, animation, and multimedia); and film and television writing. This concentration will be pursued during a student’s final year, however the concentration must be chosen in the spring quarter of their junior year. Those interested in film editing will take classes that revolve around film production, a class on film post-production, and a technical lab.

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Film Program at University of Michigan

The film program at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor is one which places a significant emphasis upon the theoretical aspects of the craft of film making. This approach is generally seen in national film programs at other universities, but it tends to wane as students progress in their studies. At the University of Michigan, this approach is maintained during a student’s full four years at the school.

For their introductory courses, students have a choice between the Art of Film and the Introduction to the Moving Image. Both classes will teach students to appreciate the aesthetics and theoretical concerns of historic film makers. Students will also gain an appreciation for the modern storytelling.

After this broad introduction, students will continue to study critically acclaimed films in courses which cover both American and International films. The final class in this cycle of criticism is Film Theory and Criticism. This class analyzes film criticism and the various approaches predecessors have taken towards this medium.

The hands-on portion of the curriculum begins with the Introduction to Film, Video, and Television. In this class, students gain experience with every level of production. Students are expected to utilize their critical studies background during this experience. Their critical background will help them to identify artistic methods and innovative expressions to make their films exciting.

Students who are enrolled in the program have access to resources which will help them along their journey to producing high quality 16mm films. At the Frieze Building, students can use the 30 X 45 sound stage, film editing suites, and audio production and mixing studio to complete the post-production on their films. These editing suites house multiple Avid machines.

To ensure that students have some grasp of the film world that is awaiting them, the University of Michigan initiated the James Gindin Visiting Artist Series. This program brings industry professionals to the campus to lecture students on their climb to the top of their field. With this series, these professionals will also work closely with students to give them feedback and pointers which the students can later use during the making of their films.

During the final weeks of the school year, there is a screening of the best student work produced that year. This screening is a major campus event which draws a diverse audience. Here, students are allowed to view and digest their peers opinions of their creative output.

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NYU Film School

The film program at the famed Tisch school at New York University (NYU) is one of the most competitive programs of its kind in the nation. It is competitive for good reason. Their film-making facility is counted amongst the largest on the East coast. Running this enormous facility requires 11 staff members and over 50 assistants. With a film-making facility of that magnitude, it is only reasonable to assume that the film program in the Tisch school would be equally impressive when compared to other film schools.

The Todman Center for Film and Television houses a 2500 square foot film and television sound stage where students can rehearse and shoot their films and/or television programs. Rehearsal space at the Todman center is used well over 1000 times per year for student casting sessions. In separate facilities, you will find two teaching sound stages where students are trained to professionally film their scenes.

The Production Center might resemble heaven to those interested in editing. The main goal is for students to achieve a professional-looking film utilizing industry-standard equipment. This post-production area houses Steenbeck flat bed editing machines, Beta-cam SP, Pro Tools, Final Cut Pro, and Avid Media Composer, XPress, Xpress DV, and Symphony. The post production area is open for long hours from day to night, but the service hours stretch to 24-hours during especially hectic times of the school year.

The Tisch school also incorporates many editing classes into their curriculum. There is a post- production colloquium which focuses mainly upon the objectives of the editors. Students will learn about the editing process during class sessions in which they will deconstruct film clips with their peers. They will also learn to approach a the editing of a film from an aesthetic as well as a cost-effective point of view. This class is enhanced with guest speakers who will communicate their own challenges and successes in the editing room.

The first full-semester class which focuses on the art of editing is “Film Aesthetics: Editing”. In this class, students will explore the theoretical and aesthetic processes of film editing in classic and modern films. The course will also contrast common methods of editing used in narrative, experimental, and documentary films. This analyzation will help students to readily identify the ways in which editing can highlight or influence the viewer’s perspective on the subject matter. This class can be followed by more advanced classes in editing.

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