When it comes to studying the art of filmmaking, Austin, Texas, is becoming a good place to be one. And though there are some noted directors who have never attended film school, several still did. Among these graduates from film schools are Oliver Stone, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg.
There are 2 such Austin film schools which will be discussed here.
The first is The Film Connection Film Institute of Austin. This is an alternative style film school where you study on the job. A professional filmmaker will be appointed to a student to guide them in training your craft. The mentor/apprentice training environment will give you one-on-one experience, and give you one of the best ways to make the links you need to make in n the film industry.
You will learn with different classes, such as Film Directing Techniques, History of Film, Cinematography, Film Production, Film Editing, How to Write a Screenplay and How to Finance Your Film.
The other film school in Austin for our purposes here, is the Austin School of Film.
In there you will be taking courses in a more school-like ambience. Some of these courses include: Screenwriting Essentials, DV and HD Camera Basics, Sound Recording for Film and Video, and Digital Filmmaking.
Directing a movie is more than yelling "Action!" and "Cut!" A director is on overall charge of the movie. He or she decides who the cast will be, what locations and studios will be used for shooting, and the production schedule.
The producer will have more to do with the industry side of a film production. They hold the purse strings, so to speak.
A Film Editor will take the hours and hours of footage that is shot and put it together in a logical fashion. While the director will tell the editor which of the twenty-seven takes of a scene he or she wants in the eventual cut, the editor is the one who has actually puts it together.
The Cinematographer is the person who lights the set, and controls how the camera will film the picture. The director confers with the cinematographer on what the best angle would be for the camera to film. These are a few of the things that Austin film schools will tackle.
Here are some of the films made in Austin, Texas: Office Space, Miss Congeniality, Man of the House, Secondhand Lions, The Life of David Gale, Doubting Thomas, Slacker, Idiocracy, A Scanner Darkly, Waking Life, Spy Kids, Dazed and Confused The Wendall Baker Story, Grindhouse and How To Eat Fried Worms.