The Wikiversity Film School is a preparitory school for high school and college students who plan to go to film school. We teach you software that film schools do not have the time to teach you. We teach all the things that regular film schools expect you to know BEFORE you get to their film school.
8% chance of acceptance
USC undergraduate department has 800 applications per year but they only accept 50 students. Almost everyone applying to the undergraduate department already has filmmaking experience.
Different Goals
When you go to USC, they will teach you how to do production and how to work together as a team.
At Wikiversity Film School, we teach you how to "Do It Yourself". And we do not teach production. Instead we teach everything else.
Computer Software
The major thing that you will not have time to learn at USC is how to use all the possible software for working with film pre-production, production and post production. You have to learn this on your own time... preferably before you get to film school.
Therefore, Wikiversity Film School tries to introduce you to all the possible software you will need when you make your own motion pictures.
Only Narrative
Wikiversity Film School only covers narrative filmmaking. This is not laziness. Documentary filmmaking, corporate video, event video and multimedia are totally different technologies. None of these technologies overlap.
Incompetent Instructors
Many incompetent instructors will ask narrative film students to learn documentary filmmaking. Because the entire technology (filming, sound, and music techologies) are totally different, not only does this waste the students time and money, it gives the students incorrect training.
Schools that give students the opportunity to learn about documentary filmmaking is good. But to try to teach narrative filmmaking students by assigning them assignments that teach them incorrect techology is criminal fraud. It prevents you from learning what you need to know.
No Production
Wikiversity Film School does not teach production. It just is not practical to study live-action film production from a distance. This requires hands on experience which is not possible over the Internet.
Instead, we teach the technologies you need to know before you start doing your production classes in film school.
Required reading
Besides the technology of filmmaking, there is also the economic side of filmmaking. That you learn by reading. ALL
filmmakers (and that means all movie directors) in Hollywood read "Weekly Variety" (print edition - weekly, not daily) and young directors> also read "Backstage West" magazine (weekly print edition).
People outside of Hollywood also read "Cinefex" just to learn the names of the people who work on different movies and where their companies are. "American Cinematographer" is also useful.
The first two magazines will cost you about $300 to $400 per year. Try for student discounts. (Buy just one copy first to see if you like these.)
You will never become a director in Hollywood until you know who everyone is. Trade journals are very important (like the four mentioned above). Fan magazines are useless since all their stories are made up or not accurate enough.
Trade Journals
Before you become a filmmaker, you need to learn to read trade journals
A trade journal is different from any other kind of magazine. A trade journal is an educational magazine written by people in the industry for their colleagues, not fans of the industry.
1. Variety's editor used to run a major motion picture studio. Most of the major articles are about the business of creating motion pictures. (Fan magazines like "Vanity Fair" only write fun stuff. In Variety, the stories usually are factual.)
2. BackStage West is written by actors as a guide to other actors on how to get jobs with directors. This is very useful information for directors as it also lists every non-union job in Hollywood for that week both acting and crew for both stage and screen.
3. Cinefex is written by people who want to learn about the business of doing the special effects in Hollywood. The advantage of this publication is they list all the names of the companies and the individuals who are involved. It also tells how special effects companies get hired by directors for actual jobs (motion pictures). This is very useful information for directors.
4. 'American Cinematographer is written by cinematographers in Hollywood to help educate beginning cinematographers. Now with smaller and smaller cameras, the director can also be the cinematographer so this magazine is very useful.
Books are too old
Books about filmmaking can be useful but the average book takes 5 years to write, get published, then distributed. In this industry, as with any other relying heavily on new technology, some of the information and techniques found therein may be outdated.
USC Film School
Undergraduate and graduate
USC offers both an undergraduate 2 1/2 year program and a 3 year graduate degree program.
LA Film School
One year apprenticeship
LA Film Shool offers a one year internship style program to get in working in the industry in the LA area.
This page is only a rough draft
