I was talking to a friend yesterday about our college years and about the film school I went to way back then. So I thought I write a blog about it on this old filmmaking site.
I ended up telling him that I wish I had someone to shout at me way back then the words “Filmmaking is a Business!”. Of course I got into it by way of being charmed by the European Directors style of filmmaking. And of course, if I remember correctly, this was a required course for the film major back then and I had a great instructor, so naturally, I went on through film school with the delusion that modern filmmaking could be like that. No folks, in my opinion, the age of the auteur is bloody dead and has been for a long time.
The Internet may revive some of it via youtube and stuff like that (but will more likely just water it down with crap, here is a blurry film of my dog) Yes filmmaking is show business.
The art could have lived on in the “show” part, and remained a huge part of the film makers culture, but much of the show has been dissected out of it. Even modern day would be auteurs have a tough time getting their films made if they don’t fit some cookie cutter formula.
So I don’t really miss filmmaking that much. I think all the film schools and universities with a film major should just move their film studies into the business department and be done with the whole façade of pretending that there is any art left in it. Any studies of the old European directors should be moved to the history departments to be studied along with other lost cultures and kept far far away from the film studies (i.e. it should not even be a requirement.) All the prerequisites should be business things also, like sales, marketing, advertising and such. Heck there is little need to even learn to shoot and long as you can write checks.
Maybe some of the art form gets to live on in the documentary areas.
Anyway here is a youtube video for ya.
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