I did the 27 month, online, Digital Cinematography Bachelor’s degree at Full Sail. It is basically a film degree with the added focus of trying to prepare you for the realities of being an independent in your area.
For the most part, I loved my time there. At graduation I received the Advanced Achievement Award which is the top award (not based solely on GPA) given.
As a school that pretty much takes anyone who can find a way to pay, you have a wide variety of students there; some who probably shouldn’t even be there contrasted with others that are highly driven and very talented (and everything in between). One of the best VFX artists I’ve ever met, in my decade plus in indie filmmaking, is a friend that I met while I was there.
In my own case, after over a decade of the self-taught indie filmmaking side of things, I decided I wanted to see what the film school side of things looked like. I then set a dream goal of getting an MFA from AFI. To try for that, I needed to get a Bachelors first.
I first heard of Full Sail when I met Director Steven C. Miller at a filmmaker meeting around 2016 or so. He was a speaker and then we hung out and talked afterwards. We are still friendly to this day (saw him about a month ago). Steven is a member of the Full Sail Hall of Fame. This, as well as being able to knock out a Bachelors in under 27 months and (as a father) being able to stay home while doing it, eventually led me to the school.
You basically have a new online class each month. For some this pace doesn’t work, for me it was perfect. A LOT of your learning will demand you to be a motivated self-starter. A number of students had problems with the pace or with feeling instructors weren’t holding their hands enough. So, if you go, just be prepared to take charge of your own outcome.
With my experience I assumed I’d probably know everything that was taught. The reality was that I learned a number of things while there or, minimally, saw other approaches to getting things done.
There were a number of classes that I really enjoyed and some of the professors (like Randy Baker) are really great, knowledgeable, and make themselves available to students as much as possible. I also made a number of friends (even though it was the online program) from the program. We still talk daily to weekly and some of us have worked on each other’s film projects (editing, vfx, graphic design, writing, that sort of thing).
I recommend the program if:
1. You want to get a Bachelor’s degree in a short amount of time.
2. Your preference is to be able to stay home and get a degree.
3. You are a highly motivated self-starter.
Additionally, you’ll receive gear for your program (called a launch box). The Digital Cinematography program (when I attended) included a MacBook, lighting gear, and about a $10k FX6 package (camera, lens, tripod, etc etc).
