Los Angeles Film School
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| Los Angeles Film School | |
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| Established: | 1999 |
| Type: | Private college |
| President: | Diana Derycz-Kessler |
| Location: | Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Campus: | Urban |
| Website: | www.lafilm.com |
The Los Angeles Film School or LA Film School was founded by Hollywood professionals with the goal of balancing the practical with the academic. The LAFS is located on Sunset Boulevard, near Vine Street, in Hollywood, California. LAFS offers a one year, "hands on", immersion program, educating students in the science, craft and theory of filmmaking.
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[edit] History
The Los Angeles Film School opened its doors to its first class on September 8, 1999. The school is located at 6363 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
Before becoming the home of The Los Angeles Film School, the building at 6363 was an RCA recording studio where it played host to artists such as Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones, John Williams, Eartha Kitt, The Monkees, Jefferson Airplane, and Henry Mancini, among others.
In 2001 Diana Derycz-Kessler, a Harvard Law graduate, took over its management.
[edit] Academics
The school teaches Producing, Directing, Cinematography, Editing, Production Design, Sound Recording and Design and Screenwriting.
The school stresses practical learning, giving video cameras to students the first week of the program, with which they create their first short film: a single set-up, minute long story. Students continue to produce increasingly more involved short film exercises, culminating in a thesis film project. Any student who wishes to make a short film as writer and or director will have this opportunity at the LAFS and every effort is made to give producers, editors, cinematographers, sound and production designers an opportunity to practice their craft on a student film production.
The school stresses technical education and is equipped with 35 and 16mm film cameras, digital and High Definition digital Cameras, multiple AVID editing bays and advanced sound recording and mixing systems. The school is known in particular for its use of the High Definition digital format and its commitment to educating future cinematographers in the art and science of lighting for and using HD Digital Cameras. Students have 24 hour access to all post production facilities. The school has a 3800 square foot soundstage, with a two wall hard cycloramas for creating virtual sets, availble to be used with the schools cutting-edge Sony F-900 and XD PWF-350 High Definition cameras as well as film cameras including Arriflex 35BL's and 16SR's. Student films are screened in a 345-seat, stadium style, THX certified, Dolby Digital Surround EX, wide-screen motion picture theater equipped with both film and digital projection. Editing students utilize a dozen Avid Media Composer Adreniline and Nitris non-linear editing systems while sound design students use four Digidesign Pro Tools Mix workstations and finish on a 96-input Solid State Logic Axiom digital re-recording console (a first in the academic world). There is also a well-stocked equipment room of traditional filmmaking essentials-lights, dolly's, C-stands and much more. Students film on location around Los Angeles and in production areas at the Sunset campus.
Each month, The Los Angeles Film School’s Immersion Filmmaking Program offers students the opportunity to immerse themselves in a full-time hands-on training program, with courses focused on classroom environments as well as practical training courses which focus on hot set film production environments and hands-on post production environments. [1]
[edit] Student Life
The Los Angeles Film School's campus is an urban one and does not have residential facilities. Instead, students either commute or rent nearby apartments. The program provides 1100 hours of instruction, with additional hours of out-of-class assignments and production.[2]
[edit] Faculty
Past and current LAFS instructors include Donn Cambern, editor of "The Last Picture Show" and "Romancing the Stone" (Oscar Nomination); Lawrence G. Paull, Production Designer of "Blade Runner" (Oscar Nomination) and "Back to the Future"; John Hora, Directory of Photography for "Gremlins" and "Honey, I Blew Up the Kid"; Salvador Carrasco, Director of "The Other Conquest"; Ariel Levy, Line Producer for "The Spy Who Loved Me" and "Oliver!" and Anna Thomas, screenwriter of "El Norte" (Oscar Nomination) and "Frida".
