The short answer is no, you don’t need to go to film school. Film and TV isn’t like medicine, or law, or engineering where you need professional training and qualifications to even enter the industry. However, if your circumstances are right and you’re able to make it work financially, going to film school can be a great opportunity.
I spent a combined five years in some sort of part or full-time film education (which actually sounds longer than it feels), both at undergraduate and post-grad levels, and I’ve also run sessions and workshops at Colleges and Universities, so I perhaps have a broader experience of film school education than most.
Four Types of Film School Education
Full-time education at a Film School, whether that’s a dedicated film school, or within a Film or Arts department at a University or College; is generally either a 2-4 year undergraduate course, or a 1-2 year Post-Graduate course.
These courses will usually operate within the standard educational system of their particular country, with undergraduate courses frequently requiring some qualifications from ages 16-18 for entry, and Post grad courses often (but not always), requiring some kind of undergraduate qualification.
There are perhaps four distinct types of full-time course:
- General Film Course: This type of course is more focused on the study and discussion of film, than on practical production skills. Often called something like “Film Studies”, this is less of an industry-focused course, and will probably include people with a broad range of different career aspirations, both within and outside the industry. I did one of these but dropped out after a year, largely because I didn’t feel that I would learn enough practical skills to prepare myself for work in the industry.
- General Film Production Course: This is far more focused on industry training, giving students the opportunity to try a range of roles, working as a Director, Writer, Editor, Producer, or Cinematographer, getting hands-on with a range of equipment, most likely on projects of different scales across fiction and documentary, perhaps with TV-focused work included. Mostly done at the undergraduate level, although there are post-grad courses available too. This is a good general training ground which will start to teach you how the industry works, and offers a chance to try multiple production roles if you’re not sure exactly which area or department you’re interested in working in long-term. I did one of these courses.
- Post-grad Directing Course: These are generally only available at major film schools. Unsurprisngly, you need some experience to get selected and they can be very competitive. Unless you have a desire to move into directing long-term, not very relevant for an Editor. I’ve never done one of these courses (although I did apply for one once).
- Post-grad Specialisation: For those who know which department they want to work in, and usually populated by people with some experience in their chosen role. In terms of post-production, there are both editing-specific, and general Post courses (which usually cover editing, sound design, grading and VFX). There aren’t many of these courses available around the world, but there seem to be a growing number of them, and they do enable focused department or role-specific training. I also did one of these.
The Disadvantages of Film School
The first and most obvious drawback is that these courses are often quite expensive. Not only are you required to pay large amounts of money in course fees, but they’re often full-time, limiting the amount of time you have to earn money for housing/food/bills etc over the duration of the course.
The cost of further and higher education obviously varies around the world, and while we all know US higher education is very expensive, some countries have free or cheap university courses available, or at least offer scholarship programmes. Any decision to go into full-time film education will include finances as a major factor for the majority of people, it certainly did for me.
A film school education also won’t give you a ticket into the industry. Whereas education and qualifications in medicine or law will place you in a select group of people in an industry that absolutely requires professional training, a film school education will largely be met with indifference from a film and TV industry that generally values on-the-job experience far more than “academic” training.
The cold reality is that except on rare occasions (usually confined to a selection of those leaving post-grad courses, especially the more prestigious courses for Directors), however well prepared you actually are for a job in the industry, you’ll still have to prove it in much the same way as someone who has no experience, and you will still most likely have to start on the bottom rung of the ladder.
The Advantages of Film School
The first and most obvious benefit of a film school is that you will learn (if you’re doing the right course in the right place), a range of skills and develop practical experience in your chosen area or areas.
While it’s true that on-the-job training will provide you with a hands-on education and will teach you many soft skills that you may not learn at film school, a good film school will provide you with an intensive education where you will work on project after project in a more condensed way than if you were a new entrant to the industry struggling to string together runner jobs on film sets.
You will also have the opportunity to work with a group of talented, like-minded contemporaries, some of whom will become life-long friends and collaborators as you collectively work your way up through the industry.
Whether it’s Directors or Producers, Cinematographers or Sound Designers, I still get calls and emails from people I went to film school with, either looking to hire me on a job they’re working on, or forwarding my name on to someone else who is. Building a network is crucial to a successful career, and film school is a great place to do this. There’s a reason the phrase “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” is often heard spoken by film and TV crew, usually in frustration.
Film School Alternatives
An alternative to a multi-year film school course is to sign yourself up for short courses. Most dedicated film schools (ie not Unis of Colleges), run short courses from a day or two over a weekend up to an intensive 3 or 4-week course. Obviously where you are in the world will affect the availability of these courses, with major cities like London and New York obviously providing more options.
These can be quite expensive, especially for the multi-week courses, and especially if you also need to pay for accommodation in order to attend, but being so short they are more flexible than a multi-year degree. They’re also offered in a broad range of areas, from introductory “make a short film” courses to those focusing on specific roles and skills.
There are also online courses available which remove the geographic concerns. As an Editor in particular, much of your work will be spent at a computer, allowing you to do practical study from home in a way not available to a Director or Cinematographer. There are several providers of short, downloadable editing courses which only deliver remote courses (including our own Shaping a Scene course).
Informal Study
Although I spent several years studying in a more formal fashion, a lot of my education as an Editor has come not just from courses, or working as an Editor, but from my own informal education. Going all the way back to my interest in filmmaking as a teenager, I’ve read dozens of books on filmmaking, watched DVD extras and listened to audio commentaries, and in recent years have watched hours of filmmaking content on YouTube. I also made a number of short films with friends and other random people I met along the way, many as an Editor, but also some as a Writer/Director, or a Producer.
If you do go to film school, you should expect informal learning to also play a part in your education as a filmmaker. If you decide not to enrol in a film course, or for whatever reason are unable to do so, an informal education can still provide you with many of the things you would get from a film school education.
So, should you go to Film School?
Of course, you won’t learn everything you need to know for a career in film and TV at film school, and anyone who suggests that a film school education should replace what you will learn working for real is being disingenuous.
Film school is only ever going to be about kickstarting your education. It’s a way to put yourself into an intense learning environment where you will work on lots of projects, and if you’re at an undergraduate level it will give you a chance to experiment with different roles, and work on different types of projects.
One of the key decisions to make in your career is deciding which path you want to go down. If you’re just starting in the industry without any previous experience, you’re most likely going to start working as a runner. This will expose you to various areas of the industry, but won’t necessarily teach you much about the roles you could be working in in the future. Having tried out different roles while at film school may give you a better idea of which areas of the industry you want to work in the long-term.
If you’re sure that you’re already on the path for you, then a post-grad course focusing on your chosen role may be a good next step. I started an undergraduate course as a teenager because I had no contacts and no real idea how to work my way into the industry, nor did I have any skills to get work. Fast forward a decade and I was working as an Editor, but I still didn’t feel like I was ultimately on a path to where I wanted to be, nor did I have all the skills or the network I needed to get there either, so I applied for an Editing MA at a prestigious film school that I felt would give me a better shot at getting where I wanted to be.
Wherever you’re at in your career, think about the steps you want to take in the future, or the possibilities you want to open up for yourself, and consider how the different possible next steps could help you get there.
Whether you’re able or willing to go to film school or not, learning how to edit is a long-term pursuit and there’s no “right” way to do it, so what I’d suggest to you is to work towards finding the role and the specific area of the industry (feature docs, TV drama, reality TV etc.), that you really want to pursue and pursue it with as much energy as you can, whether that choice involves film school or not.
If you’re wondering if editing is the career goal for you, but would like to know more about what the job involves, check out the post on What does a Film Editor ACTUALLY do? And if you’re interested in learning more about how post-production works and what kind of roles are available, how about Job Roles in the Offline Edit, or What does an Assitant Editor do?
If you’re interested in editing scripted drama, then check out our course Shaping a Scene, which will teach you how to edit to a professional level through practical exercises cutting scenes from an award-winning feature film.