Just got a call form Columbia - I'm IN!!!!!
******ck yeah -
good luck to the everyone else.

hey birdie!

Congratulations!!!

thanks Steve,

you gonna go?

Yeah!

I wrote it in the other topic...

and added : "Who want to be my roommate?"

;-)

quote:

other topic...

sweet...
I'm 92% sure I'm going too.
I already live in New York and have roommates - but I'll let you know if a room frees up (It's in Brooklyn).

See you there

Birdman,

I take it AFI is out of the question?

Bandar, not 100%.
I'll wait to hear back. I thought my interview went poorly so I don't expect to get in - if I do I'll have to make some calculations... I'm also still considering Chapman (where I submitted a late application) and Tel Aviv University.
Columbia's deadline for notification is the April 16th which is super soon... i.e - I don't expect to hear back from Chapman or Tel Aviv by then... I also have really decided which is my top choice.
Every option offers something a little bit different - but it would be pretty difficult to say no to Columbia.

Hopefully we'll all hear back from AFI before the 15th. Good luck Bandar - if you don't get in there, there's really something wrong with them (your trailer rocks).

I'm glad, because I think you have a great shot at getting into AFI and you should weigh out your options carefully.

Thanks for the compliment on the film trailer! Keep us posted and let us know how everything turns out!

Bandar, just out of curiosity - as a former New Yorker - why didn't you apply to Columbia?

Hey Birdman,

I don't want to offend anyone on these forums but I will try to be as honest as I can be. The reason why I didn't apply to Columbia was for the following reasons:

A) Growing up in New York, I met a lot of kids that went to Columbia who were extremely cocky and pretentious. Way too full of themselves.

B) I don't like the fact that you have to wait an entire year before choosing what you want to specialize in. For people who don't yet know, that works, but I have a clear understanding of what I want to do.

C) They place too much emphasis on the written story rather than visual language. Most of the student films that come out of the program are full of dialogue and lack visual subtext (I've attended their Film Festival on more than one occasion).

And well, that's all. Don't get me wrong, I feel it's an absolutely great program but it's just not right for me.

Best,

Bandar

Hey Bandar,

thanks for your honesty. very helpful. I'm sure no one will be offended.

I like the first year, cause I think it's important for an independent filmmaker to have a strong understanding of all aspects of the process.

I wish I got to see some alumni movies. There's good wordy and there's bad wordy. I'd like to make that call myself. Any clue where I can watch some of them?

Thanks Bandar, you're a real sports player when it comes to this forum.

I wasn't offended a bit, Bandar. Actually, your B and C reasons are exactly why Columbia is right for me and after spending quite a bit of time on this board, I'm confident that next year's Columbia film students won't be cocky or prententious! Cheers!

Hey birdman,

I'm a current student at Columbia and I just wanted to throw my two cents in.

I was worried to death about attending graduate film school and having it be full of pretentious film students. But, I have been pleasantly surprised by the complete and absolute lack of pretentiousness here at Columbia. My fellow students are actually one of the most incredible parts of the program.

And I must also respectfully disagree with Bandar's opinion about CU films typically being too wordy. I haven't found that to be the case.

Perhaps Columbia's current film grads are the most amazing (and unpretentious) that that school has ever seen to date. This will, of course, only be rivaled by next year's incoming class of grad students.

As for what birdman78 said, I agree that there's good wordiness and bad wordiness, and Columbia probably knows how to select their students based on their skill for the former, not the latter. However, what Bandar was saying was that there was a lack of visual subtext--as in, most of the movies move forward via dialogue. I haven't seen any Columbia grad students' work myself, so I can't honestly say I agree with this, but I'd like to ask, how well is Columbia known for their Cinematographers? I don't know much about Columbia aside from the fact it's one of the top five.

Just wondering.... =)

BILLY - thanks for the encouragement, it's good to hear that the Columbians aren't a bunch of pretentious bastards... I never thought that was the case, although I expect the program to be a bit more cerebral and a little less hands on than the LA conservatory schools.

Bandar, again, thanks for your input - it propels good dialog which is important for me and other people in my position looking to do a final descision.

Billy, any resource for watching student films you're aware of?

I've seen films from AFI and Chapman - I'm kind of curious to be able to compare and contrast.

As far as I know Columbia is not well known for it's cinematography. They teach classes of course (One of the guys who interviewed me was a DP professor), but that isn't one of the disciplines students can choose to focus on.

In general I expect the films coming out of Columbia to be more script driven, and have less of a glossy finish on them.

You can either use fellow students as DPs, do it yourself, or maybe bring someone from the outside.

re: films moving forward primarily through dialogue, again, I haven't found that to be the case. That's just my take on it, though.

And as far as focusing on story at the expense of visual subtext, I don't think they should be mutually exclusive - a solid understanding of the former has really helped me make informed choices about the latter.

That being said, the technical side of things are definitely not a strength of the school. However, from what I understand, you actually can concentrate on cinematography.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BillyD,

BillyD, I don't think I ever implied that one should be at the expense of the other at any point, but if it seemed that way, I apologize! I am in complete agreement with you about the two--how the writing and the visuals should work together to maximum effect, in harmony.

I am also curious about watching Columbia thesis films. I too have seen work from AFI and Chapman, as well as Tisch Asia. From all this, I really believe passion + creativity + a well-told story can overcome many a technical deficiency. =]

BILLY: What in your estimation is the difference between Columbia's graduate film program and NYU's? I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter. Thanks in advance!

Anybody here made any decisions about where to attend?

90% sure I'm going to Columbia (most likely going into screenwriting). I also applied for the NYC teaching fellows because I'm really interested in teaching in NY.

For all those interested, I found a blog from a Columbia MFA student: http://www.jonathanjohn.blogspot.com/