USC Critical Studies vs Chapman Production???

[Cinematical]

All those advance screenings? That's very nice.

I'm actually not all that sure what I mean by connections. I just know that everybody talks about it and I have a vague idea about it. My concept is "I know this guy and he might be able to help me get a job or internship on this set." I've been told by so many that much of the film industry is 'who you know' (though I'm guessing it's much more than that, aka hard work, your own films, luck...).

What is NYU like just as a university? Campus life? Housing? Student activities? Food? I've heard (I'm saying that a lot) that its more like a New York neighborhood than a traditional college campus, with Washington square park as an unofficial extension. Is this true? How does this affect general college life?

 

[titaniumdoughnut]

Yeah, it's pretty much like living in an apartment in NYC, and walking between 3 and 10 minutes to class every day (depending on which dorm you live in.) Classes are in big Manhattan buildings all clustered around Washington Square park in a several-block radius, and it is indeed an urban campus. Students are everywhere (on the street, in the shops and cafes, etc) but it's just like living in a big city that happens to be inhabited primarily by college students.

Campus housing is decent, but it's cheaper and better to get an apartment in your second or third year, and many people do. Food sucks (keep in mind, I'm a food snob, and I cook and spend way too much on fancy groceries - most people seem to like the meal plan) and if you have a kitchen in your dorm you can save money and live on better food making your own.

There is no campus life to speak of. The campus is indoors, in the lobbies and common-rooms of the buildings you go to class in - that's where you'll run into people you know and stop t o chat.

It's all quite nice though. I really like it. It's a mix of the real world, and college, with perfect proportions of each.

 

[Palm Tree Armada]

For the record, they also have this:

We also have this guy, who brings free advance screenings of almost every movie you might want to see to NYU, often with the directors or writers there.

at USC. It's a class taught by Leonard Maltin. Its mostly upperclassmen tho, because its the most popular class on campus.

 

[Cinematical]

I know what class you're talking about (at USC). On my campus tour we had a Critical Studies guy leading us and you mentioned just how popular it is. I really wish I remembered him, he gave us a card that I can't find...

Anyways, I'm pretty sure I'll have to take a trip back down to LA and also one to NYC. I've always like the city, but the closest large metro area around me is Seattle, and that's like a suburb in NYC (a very rainy suburb...)

 

[titaniumdoughnut]

Yeah, but ours isn't a class, and the theater seats around 250 people

 

[Cinematical]

Does Chapman have anything of the like? They do have a very nice theater.

Also, with all the discussion about film facilities, what about USC? Within two years the whole school is being rebuilt and revamped. Wont that rocket it ahead of anywhere else in the country?

 

[Cody Brown]

OK. I couldn't help but chime in.

First. Congradulations, you have been accepted to America's three top film schools. I would be curious to see your stats.

I am a freshman at Chapman in the film production program.

My class was the first to claim Knott's studio. It truly is an incredible facility.

When I was applying to colleges, Chapman was not my top school, it was around my 4th.

I applied to Columbia, NYU, and almost USC (I refused to go through with their ridiculous application). I visited all of them and I new, without any questionable doubt that NYU was the school for me. A lot of my love for NYU had to do with my irrevocable love for NYC, but in so many ways I just knew that it was a school absolutely perfect for me - it matched my mentality.

I was rejected.

I was more infuriated than crushed when I got the letter. It made sense in some ways, my SAT scores where average and my grades where just OK. My reel was the only thing that I really had going for me. (some resume stuff as well - I'd gotten press in LA Weekly, and a music video of mine premeired on PBS.)

I considered not going to college. I had an internship offer on the table from a really wonderful music video company in Hollywood and that seemed like the better option.

Chapman accepted me and it was honestly more like a smile and a shrug. However, I eventually decided that it would be silly to put off college when I knew that I would eventually go.

So after a summer working at an office in NYC, I flew to Southern California and entered the Chapman world.

It was exciting the first couple of weeks, just as college should be for any one new to it. The building amazed me(and still does), most of my film classes where very interesting, and I was meeting some very talented people.

However, everything that I was initially hesitant about, irks I had felt when I visited, seemed to be comming remarkably true. The town that surrounds Chapman is outlandishly stale. For someone who likes big cities, it's miserable. The non-film classes where typically unchallening. Most critically, the main campus at Chapman has an atmopshere more attuned for a hollister advertisement than a liberal arts university. To someone who saw that aspect of college critical to their more creative success, this was really frustrating. There are all to many instances in my classes where I feel like I, and maybe a few other students, are having a conversation with our proffessor about the subject, and other students are just kind of spectators drifting off, and checking their facebook.

The film side really has some interesting things going for it. There was this really unique and wonderful class I took first semester called Art of Story. Every week a different proffesor from the school would give a lecture on how a certain aspect of art tells a story. There where lectures on classical music, poetry, panting, ect. Some were bad, some where outstanding, many interesting. A lot of the other film courses are fairly straightforward but I know that their program is evolving. Hopefully they will really pu together some unique and provacative courses.

Anyway, those are just a few thoughts on the program. I could say a lot more but I really have to get back to my NYU transfer application. It's due in a couple days.

The only advice that I can really give you is to go on your instincts. If you fell in love with USC on your first visit there is a great chance that this love will live on whether you go there or not. If you go somewhere else you might kick yourself at every flaw you see in the program - this could lead to a really miserable mindset.

Good luck with your choices, in the end where you go is sort of irrelevent, talent will shine through anywhere.

-cody

www.codyb.com

 

[Cine]

Originally posted by Cody Brown:
OK. I couldn't help but chime in.

First. Congradulations, you have been accepted to America's three top film schools. I would be curious to see your stats.

I am a freshman at Chapman in the film production program.

My class was the first to claim Knott's studio. It truly is an incredible facility.

When I was applying to colleges, Chapman was not my top school, it was around my 4th.

I applied to Columbia, NYU, and almost USC (I refused to go through with their ridiculous application). I visited all of them and I new, without any questionable doubt that NYU was the school for me. A lot of my love for NYU had to do with my irrevocable love for NYC, but in so many ways I just knew that it was a school absolutely perfect for me - it matched my mentality.

I was rejected.

I was more infuriated than crushed when I got the letter. It made sense in some ways, my SAT scores where average and my grades where just OK. My reel was the only thing that I really had going for me. (some resume stuff as well - I'd gotten press in LA Weekly, and a music video of mine premeired on PBS.)

I considered not going to college. I had an internship offer on the table from a really wonderful music video company in Hollywood and that seemed like the better option.

Chapman accepted me and it was honestly more like a smile and a shrug. However, I eventually decided that it would be silly to put off college when I knew that I would eventually go.

So after a summer working at an office in NYC, I flew to Southern California and entered the Chapman world.

It was exciting the first couple of weeks, just as college should be for any one new to it. The building amazed me(and still does), most of my film classes where very interesting, and I was meeting some very talented people.

However, everything that I was initially hesitant about, irks I had felt when I visited, seemed to be comming remarkably true. The town that surrounds Chapman is outlandishly stale. For someone who likes big cities, it's miserable. The non-film classes where typically unchallening. Most critically, the main campus at Chapman has an atmopshere more attuned for a hollister advertisement than a liberal arts university. To someone who saw that aspect of college critical to their more creative success, this was really frustrating. There are all to many instances in my classes where I feel like I, and maybe a few other students, are having a conversation with our proffessor about the subject, and other students are just kind of spectators drifting off, and checking their facebook.

The film side really has some interesting things going for it. There was this really unique and wonderful class I took first semester called Art of Story. Every week a different proffesor from the school would give a lecture on how a certain aspect of art tells a story. There where lectures on classical music, poetry, panting, ect. Some were bad, some where outstanding, many interesting. A lot of the other film courses are fairly straightforward but I know that their program is evolving. Hopefully they will really pu together some unique and provacative courses.

Anyway, those are just a few thoughts on the program. I could say a lot more but I really have to get back to my NYU transfer application. It's due in a couple days.

The only advice that I can really give you is to go on your instincts. If you fell in love with USC on your first visit there is a great chance that this love will live on whether you go there or not. If you go somewhere else you might kick yourself at every flaw you see in the program - this could lead to a really miserable mindset.

Good luck with your choices, in the end where you go is sort of irrelevent, talent will shine through anywhere.

-cody

www.codyb.com

Nice review, thanks for advices. So as I see you weren't so happy during the time in Chapman University

 

[KtoI]

Originally posted by titaniumdoughnut:
I don't think a filmmaker would be at all happy in critical studies. A real film program is much more suited for filmmaking. I can't argue that strongly enough.

I hear ya! I got into this one school but not their film program *totally considering change production name to **** film school* and the wanked on me with "you can change your major to film school. It's like bro if I wanted to read about somebody else's film I'd go on imdb.

**still waiting for last rejection letter.**

 

[Cinematical]

Hey, I thought I'd put my stats up for simple review. These are what got me into the three schools (and not USC production).

SAT I:
Reading: 800
Math: 780
Writing: 730
SAT II
Biology: 730
World History: 720

GPA 3.83 (unweighted)
Full IB Diploma Candidate + 2 AP classes (got a 5 in A/B calculus junior year, 5 in IB Spanish, 6 in IB Chemistry)

Extracurriculars/creative stuff:
Shudokan Karate (11 years, achieved 2nd degree black belt), Drama (4 years), Had a published weekly online movie review column (1 year), worked part time for a bit as a pro-videographer, Worked as a community tutor (1 year), Made 3 completed independent films (budgeted and made myself, no school help), wrote a 36 page screenplay, wrote the school play in 9th

Those are the hard stats.

Another thing that must be factored into my decision of which college to choose is that I already own some video equipment. Good stuff too: JVC HD100u, Cartoni Focus System, Senheiser audio mic, and a Mac Pro to edit on, etc.. I will always have access to some good equipment, if not necessarily film quality, but enough that I can experiment and continue to grow. What I'm worried about in passing up a production program is not recieving the instruction.

I talked to a counselor at the Cinema Television school at USC the other day. She made the Critical Studies program sound great. She said that all the contacts and intership oppurtunites, and the diploma, are all the same with CS & production. The main difference is that in CS you can't take the intermeddiate and Advanced prodcution courses. The intermeddiate ones can be filled in with the production electives offered, in which apparently you learn the same things. SO the biggest difference is the Advanced course, which is when the senior projects are made. But, according to her, CS students still have the ability to work on those projects (AD, etc.) as well as work on any other on campus projects, AND get internships. She even said that CS students generally are able to do more internships because they're not occupied with the advanced course.

She also said that once in CS it's much easier to transfer into production becuase you can start to get to know the professors. Coming from her, this sounds very good.

Any thoughts?

 

[Palm Tree Armada]

Damn, cinematical, those are insane! Makes me wonder how I got into usc production when you clearly did a lot more work... I guess they really really liked my essay?

You sound like you've got your heart set on USC. Critical studies be damned, go for it. I personally feel that I learned more in my cinema studies class last year than i did in three years of video production at my school.

 

[Cinematical]

Yeah, I think I stressed too much in my essays how I want to be a director. I've heard they don't like that.

Does anyone know what the school looks at with transfers? It's at the end of sophmore year (for production). Do they look at just college grades, or do they go all the way back to high school?

 

[Cinematical]

I think NYU is out for me. They aren't going to give me nearly enough money to make them a viable option next to Chapman and USC.

So, now it is JUST Chapman and USC...

Should I gamble on trying to transfer into production? I almost got in the first time around, and I'm pretty sure I know what I did wrong (in my essay). Even if I don't get in, Critical Studies is nice...

Oh, the confusion!

 

[Winterreverie]

I'm reading a lot of good things about CHapman. But USC's campus as a whole could have Chapman's for breakfast. I guess it all depends on how much environment means to you.

 

[ajadler]

Cinematical, you don't know if you were very close or very far from getting into production... they don't release that information.

However, in my opinion, based on everything that's been said in this discussion so far, you should go to Chapman, then try to transfer to USC production at the end of sophmore year.

 

[mmrempen]

Actually, ajadler, that's not a bad idea at all. Chapman will let you make your films for the first two years, and then, if you like USC, you can make movies there without having to trudge through the GE requirements. If you do this, you'll have to be extremely careful making sure your credits transfer, or you'll drown in GEs anyway.

 

[filmstudentmom]

Have to pipe in on this one...
As the funder for this education, I think it's important to weigh in the fact that Cinematical has a 1/2 ride scholarship to USC, and $20,000 a year to Chapman. If he goes to Chapman, then transfers to USC, I'm guessing he would not get the scholarship for the 3rd and 4th year at USC. That's a lot of $$.

I say pick a school and stick with it. But, I'm paying for it, so I guess that just makes sense!

 

[Cinematical]

I've been getting told by multiple people in the industry that if one wants to work in hollywood one needs to be near or in hollywood (aka LA) and needs to be focusing on building contacts. This comes from an Oscar winner, a manager at a magor marketing firm, and multiple film school graduates.

Yet, I'm starting to think that if I really want to direct, I should just direct (sorry for my redundant musings, I'm just bouncing ideas).

Anybody know about USC's policy about ownership of films? I think they own any films you make with their equipment, but what about my own equipment? I would assume not...

And to everyone who has contributed to this thread, I'd like to thank you. You've all explained things I had never thought of and have been very helpful.

 

[Cine]

Is Orange County far from LA? Does anybody know?

 

[Winterreverie]

hardly. Like a 30-40 minute drive. Depends on what your looking for. LA the city or LA the concept. The concept includes Burbank, Culver City, Hollywood, Studio City. There are plenty of places in SO Cal to do film and only a few of them are actually in Los Angeles the city.