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Film School: Season 1
Red Envelope Entertainment // Unrated // Netflix-exclusive; not for sale // February 28, 2006
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Linksynergy]
In the Summer between high school and college, I took a film class at a local college where the final assignment was to create a short film. I had the visuals in mind, exact location set and thought filming went wonderfully...until I got the film back. The movie looked exactly how I'd imagined...aside from the fact that I'd somehow failed to notice that the group's bags and extra equipment had been left against a wall and were clearly visible in the background.
Documentary filmmaker Nanette Burnstein (whose "Kid Stays in the Picture" is still one of my favorite films of the last few years) focuses on the difficulties of film school in... "Film School", an IFC series that focuses on a group of film school students at NYU attempting to make a short film that will be shown and could be their stepping stone to bigger and better things.
The series starts off with a rather slow opening episode that attempts to introduce the different students when it should be devoting more time to set-up regarding film school, the program that these students are in and the realities of what they're facing. Still, once the first episode concludes, the series starts to get rolling, as students have to find their cast and crew and have to raise as much as ten thousand to finance their feature.
The financing element is one of the issues I had with "Film School", as I wish the series had shown and discussed a bit more about how students have to pay a boatload in tuition and then, on top of that, have to hit the streets asking people to...finance a student film. As we find out, this often means asking family and friends to get behind you or figuring out other clever ways to round up the money. We get some bits and pieces ("Rush Hour" director Brett Ratner appears in an interview talking about how he financed his early efforts and was $250,000 in debt at one point) about how the students have to quickly come up with the cash, but I thought this was an interesting enough element to deserve deeper exploration.
The remainder of the series focuses on the various steps involved within the production - casting, hiring a crew, filming, editing - and puts in some tidbits about the personal lives of the directors. In the case of Alrick, his girlfriend doesn't understand why his film project (about Amadou Diallo, who was killed by police) - which he appears to be working on day and night - has resulted in him seeing her less, and she threatens to leave him.
Those who found "Project Greenlight" enjoyable will also find a lot to like here. The young filmmakers all run into different difficulties, including the case of one student who, after everything seems to fall through, realizes - in a very emotional scene - that she has reached the point where she can't go any longer. Vincenzo, an international student whose dialogue is subtitled, despite the fact that I didn't think it was difficult to understand what he was saying, comes down to the wire in finding tuition money. Leah, who is making a film about her difficulties caring for her ill mother (who plays the mother in the film), upsets her crew when she films an intimate (but clothed) scene between two underage actors in their mid-teens and keeps protesting that it's not going to be a problem, despite their continued worries.
Overall, the series is mostly entertaining and informative, but my main issue is that I wanted more. With ten episodes and three filmmakers to follow during their production, I just felt as if aspects of the production could have been gone into in greater detail, such as the financing. Additionally, the biggest problem is a pretty surprising one - aside from some clips, we do not get to see the final films here (not even as an extra), which seems bizarre.
Still, for aspiring filmmakers or those already at some stage of their careers, this is an engaging and brisk series that shows the immense obstacles that often stand in the way of filmmakers looking for their big break.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Film School" is presented by IFC/Netflix in the show's 1.33:1 full-frame aspect ratio. The picture quality is perfectly acceptable for a series that appears to have been shot on fairly low-grade digital cameras. Sharpness and detail are mostly quite good, although low-light scenes can be a little murky at times. Some minor pixelation/noise is also present on occasion, but doesn't cause much distraction. Colors remained natural and nicely presented throughout, with no smearing or other issues.
SOUND: The show's stereo soundtrack is quite fine, presenting clear, easily understood dialogue and crisp background audio.
EXTRAS: Unfortunately, none. Commentary from the directors would've been great, or if their full films were made available to watch.
Final Thoughts: Although I found "Film School" to be enjoyable and entertaining, I still felt that the series could have either used a more narrow focus or more than 10 episodes, as the show could have gone into greater detail on aspects of production. I also find it pretty odd that the full films that the directors did aren't shown here.
Still, aspiring filmmakers and movie fans interested in the experience of young directors trying to make a career for themselves should consider checking this out. The catch is that, as of right now, it is only available as a Netflix rental, with no general release announced.
Documentary filmmaker Nanette Burnstein (whose "Kid Stays in the Picture" is still one of my favorite films of the last few years) focuses on the difficulties of film school in... "Film School", an IFC series that focuses on a group of film school students at NYU attempting to make a short film that will be shown and could be their stepping stone to bigger and better things.
The series starts off with a rather slow opening episode that attempts to introduce the different students when it should be devoting more time to set-up regarding film school, the program that these students are in and the realities of what they're facing. Still, once the first episode concludes, the series starts to get rolling, as students have to find their cast and crew and have to raise as much as ten thousand to finance their feature.
The financing element is one of the issues I had with "Film School", as I wish the series had shown and discussed a bit more about how students have to pay a boatload in tuition and then, on top of that, have to hit the streets asking people to...finance a student film. As we find out, this often means asking family and friends to get behind you or figuring out other clever ways to round up the money. We get some bits and pieces ("Rush Hour" director Brett Ratner appears in an interview talking about how he financed his early efforts and was $250,000 in debt at one point) about how the students have to quickly come up with the cash, but I thought this was an interesting enough element to deserve deeper exploration.
The remainder of the series focuses on the various steps involved within the production - casting, hiring a crew, filming, editing - and puts in some tidbits about the personal lives of the directors. In the case of Alrick, his girlfriend doesn't understand why his film project (about Amadou Diallo, who was killed by police) - which he appears to be working on day and night - has resulted in him seeing her less, and she threatens to leave him.
Those who found "Project Greenlight" enjoyable will also find a lot to like here. The young filmmakers all run into different difficulties, including the case of one student who, after everything seems to fall through, realizes - in a very emotional scene - that she has reached the point where she can't go any longer. Vincenzo, an international student whose dialogue is subtitled, despite the fact that I didn't think it was difficult to understand what he was saying, comes down to the wire in finding tuition money. Leah, who is making a film about her difficulties caring for her ill mother (who plays the mother in the film), upsets her crew when she films an intimate (but clothed) scene between two underage actors in their mid-teens and keeps protesting that it's not going to be a problem, despite their continued worries.
Overall, the series is mostly entertaining and informative, but my main issue is that I wanted more. With ten episodes and three filmmakers to follow during their production, I just felt as if aspects of the production could have been gone into in greater detail, such as the financing. Additionally, the biggest problem is a pretty surprising one - aside from some clips, we do not get to see the final films here (not even as an extra), which seems bizarre.
Still, for aspiring filmmakers or those already at some stage of their careers, this is an engaging and brisk series that shows the immense obstacles that often stand in the way of filmmakers looking for their big break.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Film School" is presented by IFC/Netflix in the show's 1.33:1 full-frame aspect ratio. The picture quality is perfectly acceptable for a series that appears to have been shot on fairly low-grade digital cameras. Sharpness and detail are mostly quite good, although low-light scenes can be a little murky at times. Some minor pixelation/noise is also present on occasion, but doesn't cause much distraction. Colors remained natural and nicely presented throughout, with no smearing or other issues.
SOUND: The show's stereo soundtrack is quite fine, presenting clear, easily understood dialogue and crisp background audio.
EXTRAS: Unfortunately, none. Commentary from the directors would've been great, or if their full films were made available to watch.
Final Thoughts: Although I found "Film School" to be enjoyable and entertaining, I still felt that the series could have either used a more narrow focus or more than 10 episodes, as the show could have gone into greater detail on aspects of production. I also find it pretty odd that the full films that the directors did aren't shown here.
Still, aspiring filmmakers and movie fans interested in the experience of young directors trying to make a career for themselves should consider checking this out. The catch is that, as of right now, it is only available as a Netflix rental, with no general release announced.
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