Florida State 2010

Chris, gaelusna, wyy, apex:

Anyone driving from the Northeast and want to make a couple of bucks/good company on the ride down?
 
Hey Ben,

I will most likely be flying down b/c I have a lot of frequent flyer miles to kill. However if that changes I will certainly let you know. Hope to see you there!
 
Ya, I'd help out, but I'm in Missouri and will be nowhere near the northeast. However, if anyone in Nashville, Chattanooga, or Atlanta needs a ride, I could oblige.
 
I went back and looked at some of the former FSU threads about the interview process to see if I could gleen anything about what to expect. I only found that the interview was intense and intimidating, but not anything on what sorts of questions to expect.

So I was hoping a fomer interviewee or current FSU grad student could shed some light on what sort of questions to expect. Thanks!

It's hard to answer a question like this, because the interviews are different for everyone. Aside from the standard, "why do you want to be a film student?" and "why do you feel you're right for our school?" they're going to ask specific questions based on your application.

My advice would be to review everything you submitted, because they may ask you specific questions about submitted material. If you have a film background or education, be prepared to name influences or texts you have read. If you don't have a film background, they'll still ask you a good number of film-related stuff, like "favorite movies, and why?" and "most hated movies, and why?" They may also ask you about your work history, and if they do, they'll want to know what you learned from your time in employment, amongst other work-related questions.
 
Thanks for the advice Jubs! I was planning on bringing my application materials with me to review. I was wondering if anyone received an email confirmation stating the time of their interview along with travel information. Ebonee said she would be sending it along a few days ago but maybe she's waiting until all interviews have been scheduled.
 
Sorry this is late Ben, but I'm driving from like two states over so that's a no go from me. I think I may be over there for Spring Break anyway depending on whether or not I get to schedule any other school interviews that week. But anyway, see everyone there who's going on the 20th.

I'm still waiting for that e-mail with all our info for the interview also.
 
Thanks for the reply, Jubs.

I also got a message from a former FSU interviewee and this is what he wrote me:

It's pretty nerve racking, yes.

There are three parts: the interview, the pitch, and then the group project.

It's basically you and 4-5 other candidates and they bring you into a room one by one. You sit in front of the department head and a couple of other faculty and they start asking questions like "tell us why you want to make movies" and "tell us about your favorite film and why it's your favorite."

My year, FSU required a few samples of your work and I sent in a couple of goofball student films that I shot. They were pretty much just comedy sketches and not films, so they asked me what I would have done differently to make the characters seem more real.

THEN they ask you to describe a movie you'd like to make. This is basically a pitch for a 5-minute short.

The final part is they bring in everyone else in your group and they give you some simple loglines and ask you (as a group) to choose one spend 20 minutes hashing out the basic story for the movie, which you then take turns pitching. The whole time you are doing this, the interview committee is just watching you and listening. When the time is up, you each take segments of the movie and take turns pitching the complete film to the committee.

It's pretty nerve racking, but when it's all over, you get to go on a tour of the facility and watch a couple of films that students have made in the past.

Hope this helps...
 
Here's something I got from an FSU alum. Hope this helps:


You probably know that they conduct the interviews because they receive an overwhelming number of great applicants and they hope that their enrollees "fit" the program and thrive there. Find out all you can about the school and convince them that you are a perfect candidate for the successful completion and matriculation. They value the success their graduates enjoy in the Film Industry (yes, it will be capitalized when spoken) so you should sound convinced and convincing with your plan to enter and conquer the movie business. Also, determine what you know and what you do not know about making movies--practice discussing what you know with humility and deference to the faculty members in the interview, and practice discussing what you don't know with great enthusiasm and curiosity to learn.

I will not tell you to be yourself (though it is usually good advice). Do develop the parts of your personality that seem instrumental in this:
There will be someone on the panel with a sense of humor--if you are at all funny, sharpen your best comedy. There will be an intellectual--you can't beat this person: listen to him/her, acknowledge his brilliance, ask a thoughtful follow-up if you have one. There will be a cynic, a Simon Cowell--do not give this person a reason to say, No. He will accept nothing less than direct, polite, smart answers. If you are about to say something roundabout, rude or dumb, Don't.

At FSU they want people who learn quickly, they want high intelligence, dazzling personalities, confidence, startling creativity, fearsome leadership and functional collaboration.
 
I received a call the other day and definitely didn't realize it was such a big deal until finding this forum.

I was hoping to just do a phone interview, since I can't really get off work to fly down from PA. Does anyone know if they allow this for US candidates?
 
The final part is they bring in everyone else in your group and they give you some simple loglines and ask you (as a group) to choose one spend 20 minutes hashing out the basic story for the movie, which you then take turns pitching. The whole time you are doing this, the interview committee is just watching you and listening. When the time is up, you each take segments of the movie and take turns pitching the complete film to the committee.

Sounds like the Ayn Rand School of Film.
 
Hey, I know it's random, but if anyone on here has the date of the 13th as their interview, I was wondering if anyone would want/need to share accommodations. I know they sent out an email with this info on it, but if money can be saved by booking for a couple/three people, I think that could help everyone involved. If you're not interested, no big deal. Just thought I'd put it out there. I like saving money.

You can PM me on here if you want to discuss it more. Thanks, all!
 
I'm international student and just finished my phone interview. While it's already 4 o'clock in the morning, just so happy at least I can sleep now... While all the questions are quite basic like why FSU/ film you like and you don't like/ the film style which you'd like to replicate/ and lots questions based on my personal statement. while I don't feel I perform good. The dean did say that they are searching for interesting people but I don't feel I make him feel "interesting"... while if you do have a sense of humor, just be sure to show it off,I feel it may help a lot. Add oil to you all!!
 
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