Exclusively for our Supporting Members, this is the second part of our 1.5-hour interview with award-winning filmmaker and educator Tal Lazar.
FilmSchool.org is 100% advertisement-free ,so without our Supporting Members, in-depth articles and interviews like this one would not be possible. Supporting Members also enjoy access to private student clubs and forums, our database that tracks upwards of 4,000 film school applications, and the full Acceptance Data statistics for each film program that help demystify common questions about how to construct a winning portfolio, ideal GPAs and GRE scores, and much more.
You can access the first part of our interview here:
TL: When it comes to the creative portion of your application, it's important to understand that technical proficiency is probably not what the admissions committee is really considering. Much of the time, applicants mask their storytelling inadequacies with technical proficiency. I could look at an application and see a beautifully lit scene, but I also know that when you have a great gaffer, that gaffer will make the images look really good. And when you have a great cinematographer, that cinematographer will make the director look really good. It's actually very difficult to separate who contributed to what within a sample film.
The solution is not to make movies on your own, because we do want to see that you can collaborate. What we try to look for is your voice as a filmmaker, and that’s trickier. How do you show that you have a voice...
FilmSchool.org is 100% advertisement-free ,so without our Supporting Members, in-depth articles and interviews like this one would not be possible. Supporting Members also enjoy access to private student clubs and forums, our database that tracks upwards of 4,000 film school applications, and the full Acceptance Data statistics for each film program that help demystify common questions about how to construct a winning portfolio, ideal GPAs and GRE scores, and much more.
You can access the first part of our interview here:
Tal Lazar, Professor at Columbia University and CCNY, on Choosing the Right Film School (Part 1)
Tal Lazar is an award-winning cinematographer, producer, and educator who has studied and taught at some of the most prolific film schools in the world. In the past, Lazar taught at the American Film Institute Conservatory, where he also earned an MFA in Cinematography, along with Columbia...
- Alexa P.
- Category: Professor Interviews
How can film school applicants enhance their creative portfolio?
The solution is not to make movies on your own, because we do want to see that you can collaborate. What we try to look for is your voice as a filmmaker, and that’s trickier. How do you show that you have a voice...
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- Previous article in the series 'Tal Lazar (AFI Cinematography MFA‘09) on Choosing the Right Film School and the Beauty of Not Knowing': Tal Lazar, Professor at Columbia University and CCNY, on Choosing the Right Film School (Part 1)
