Google “Which filmmakers did film school?” – and you’ll find a long list of articles about, and Top 10-lists of filmmakers who never went to film school. Is it cooler not to have to go to film school? Well, definitely if it strokes your ego to claim you did it all by yourselves.

Admitted, there are things you cannot learn at school. Like FAILING (in the real world), which is probably the most important experience you need, to build resilience in an industry as fickle as ours.

So, then what can you learn? Well, about everything else.

I had my first teaching experiences in my twenties. I love teaching, and since 2008 I have been lecturing and consulting frequently at half a dozen film schools, in Australia and internationally. (I also run my own screenwriting courses)

During this time, I have learned a lot about what students do and don’t pick up from my and other courses.

I won’t look into the cons of going to film school – Peter Jackson took care of that. So, instead, let’s look at all the great reasons why you should choose a formal film education.

Here are 10 things you will achieve at film school:

1. Re-Invent The Wheel (or not)

You will learn the origins of film, and modern filmmaking techniques. This will help you adopt principles and practices. Did you know where our screenplay format comes from?

But sometimes you don’t want to reinvent the wheel. It’s great to learn from other people’s mistakes.

It’s not so smart to make those same errors others have made before you – a thousand times over. Why not move to the next stage? Raise the bar, and move forward faster!

Even if you don’t accept ‘the rules’, an awareness of the principles of good storytelling, and successful filmmaking will help prepare you to see the light.

2. Find Your Place In The Industry

So many students start film school, not really knowing what exactly they want to do. This is completely normal. There are so many different roles and responsibilities in the world of story development, film production, and digital post-production! How can you know what you love until you’ve heard about it?

Other students can’t make up their mind… Do they want to write – or direct? The best way to find out, is to just do it. At film school you have nothing to lose. You simply step into the shoes of whichever job you’d like to try.

By emulating the experience, you’ll soon find out for yourself if this is what you want to spend your working life doing.

3. Learn In A Structured Way

Sure you can go on the web and Google everything you need to build a career.

But others have been there before, done the hard work, and facilitated the process for you. At film school you get a comprehensive overview of what may otherwise seem a daunting underground world of people and systems.

When you start looking at things with an analytical mind, you will find ways to save time, or to do things more simply. This is where film school is invaluable.

Why would you spend years finding out by trial and error, if you can go straight for the kill?

4. Access The Pros

If you were to hire me directly for advice on pretty much anything, I will charge you more than any school pays me.

Your share of that fee is absolute peanuts, compared to what I would charge you directly. If your film school fees seem high, just add up the value of access to people and materials. You will soon find out that most film schools are actually super cheap.

5. Find Yourself

I love schools and colleges. They are magical places. Here, information doesn’t flow just in one direction. Teachers are learning and growing, too. And we don’t all just learn about the craft of filmmaking, we learn a lot about each other – and about ourselves.

Thinking about stories forces you to think about people, and about what matters. It helps you see the world in a different way – and discover your place in it. Your interaction with your mentors and peers will also shape you in a way you never expected.

Only a very few of us will ever be able to socialise and interact on the same level, with as wide and diverse a community as is possible at film school. Your workplace will likely be more limited in numbers, and the type of people you’ll meet more homogenous.

This deep interaction with peers and mentors is immensely valuable. You’ll probably draw more experience and satisfaction from this, than from any of the classes you attend, or the tricks you learn.

6. Fail Safely

Once you’re out in the real world trying to make money, failure is expensive and painful. A bad script sent to the wrong people may burn your reputation forever. A poor film can tarnish your career. Any major failure in the industry can instantly annihilate your future (even though Hollywood is full of exceptions).

At school, making films is play. This is immensely beneficial in two ways.

First, this freedom will allow you to be creatively uninhibited, and you may well come up with your best work ever. Nobody will fire you or make you feel miserable because you’re not fit for the job. (Sadly, that’s what the real job world looks like for many!)

At film school, you are virtually completely free to try anything you like. How great is that?!

7. Collaborate

Collaboration is one of the critical skills for filmmakers, and increasingly also for screenwriters. The days when misanthropes could escape from the real world to become writers, are long gone.

I’m not talking about the fun, team sports type of collaboration. I’m talking about the high-stakes, extreme-pressure, problem-solving kind. This is also a skill that kids straight from high school don’t naturally display.

At the very best film schools, you are introduced to various crew roles during pre, production and post-production. This will help you better understand the challenges of other people on your crew. You may also be inspired to do your own work in a way that helps others, and makes the entire process smoother – and ultimately more successful.

8. Network

The best film schools hire people who are active in the industry, who themselves have extensive networks.

I have matched numerous students with each other, or with powerful industry people, as mentors, or in order to support their career.

Once you learn that marketing is just as important as making your films or writing your scripts, you’ll find out that building a strong network is half the way towards a successful career.

There is yet another important aspect to the networking potential of your films school…

Some of the people at your film school will break into the industry in a big way. If you treat them well during your time at school, there is no reason why they shouldn’t stay in touch. Big name filmmakers often go back to the people they know when they need help.

9. Challenge Teachers

The teachers may be challenging, but you should be challenging them, too.

Often the smart hecklers are a teacher’s favourite students.

To challenge teachers makes them re-think what they teach. As the market changes, course materials have to be updated regularly. And smart students with a critical/analytical spirit often help with this.

The last thing you want to do is just learn stuff by heart. Making movies is about understanding the process of storytelling. You will be surprised how many teachers have forgotten this – or never even understood it…

These people deserve some serious heckling.

10. Have Fun!

Yes, you are allowed to have fun at school.

In fact – You may have more fun making movies at film school than you ever will thereafter.

Imagine, collaborating on your own creative projects with a group of like-minded people… who are not in it for the money.

How can it possibly get any better?

Film School Fees

You’ll find film schools in every pricing bracket, from a few grand to a few hundred thousand.

If you can’t afford the big ones, try the more community driven film hubs. For writers, there are even some really cool, affordable online screenwriting courses. (more to come here soon)

When is the best time to go to film school? This is entirely up to you. Some are ready right after high school; others try a different career before they feel the creative itch. You’d be surprised how much people achieve at middle age, because their focus is sharper than most of the youngsters.

You’re never too old to learn. Some of my most devoted screenwriting students are in the same age bracket as Academy Award® winner David Seidler.

In terms of actual filmmaking experience – and don’t discard this as just a cliché –  you will get out of it what you put it. You need to understand this before you dive in – or you ARE wasting your time and money.

And to counter Peter Jackson’s argument, it suffices to look at the countless alumni of a few famous film schools to find a whole army of former film students who have achieved greatness and excellence in their careers.

Please share with us in the comments what you is the most important thing you learned at film school!

-Karel Segers

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!

You may argue that Blomkamp hasn’t changed the world with his film but I disagree. By watching the story through the POV of Wikus, we go through the liberating experience of seeing our hero transform. At the beginning of the movie, Wikus is racist or at best an ignorant fool. From the mid point he will gradually transform and show empathy for the aliens as he slowly becomes one.

Another reason to be awe-inspired by this movie is the fact that it was adapted from a short film.Writer-director Neill Blomkamp remade his short film Alive in Joburg and started a trend of filmmakers launching a concept via a short film, hoping to do a deal in Hollywood. So far, not many have pulled it off. As a matter of fact, I don’t know of any film in the two years since District 9.

When you adapt a short film into a feature, you pretty much have to make up the entire story from scratch. The only other instance of a successful feature based on a short film I know of is Twelve Monkeys. Do you know of others, please let us know in the comments.

Fun Trivia:
IMDb lists Sharlto Copley (Wikus) as playing an alien in the upcoming Men In Black III.
David James (Koobus) had a part in the South-African series Binnelanders.

So how did District 9 writers Blomkamp and Teri Tatchell structure their story? Let’s have a look.

spoilers galore

PROLOGUE – Wikus: archive footage & Interviews with entourage (10mins)

00:00 Tristar and QED International Leaders
01:00 Introduction by Wikus van de Merwe, at the MNU Alien Affairs head office.
01:30 Report on the arrival of the aliens and setting up of District 9.
06:00 Controversial plans by MNU to relocate the aliens to a new settlement.
07:00 Wikus appointed Field Officer to take command of the operation.
07:30 Tania, Wikus’ wife, tells of investigation launched against him.
08:00 Interviewees speak about Wikus in past tense. What happened? Is he dead?
09:00 Wikus challenges ‘the cowboys’ over too much ammunition.

This prologue immediately gives the film a fresh, quirky tone. Blomkamp uses hyper-realistic news footage and shows the space ship and aliens in a completely matter-of-fact way, much like the original short film. This works very effectively in suspending disbelief and setting up the world of the story.
It also creates tremendous mystery around the figure of Wikus. Is he dead or alive? He’s clearly racist, yet naive and well-meaning. Is he going to be our hero? Towards the end of the sequence, our empathy grows when Wikus finds himself in conflict with the war-mongering Koobus.
Why would we call this a prologue? Because we haven’t fully settled for any particular hero yet and all exposition refers to events in the past or events that are to be shown later. There is no story ‘happening in the now’.

ACT ONE

Sequence A: Violent relocation of aliens for weapons. (10mins)

10:00 Start of operation. Eviction notices to be served, backed up by military.
13:00 Wikus and military convoy enter District 9.
15:00 Wikus displays knowledge about the aliens and negotiating skills. Tries to avoid use of arms.
16:30 Nigerian gangs in District 9
18:00 Alien eggs found and destroyed. Wikus has little concern for the alien life.
19:30 (pov) MNU is into weapons research and aliens have superior weapons.
20:00 Alien executed from the air, “had a spade”.

Confusion about our hero continues: his ethics are debatable and he doesn’t look very smart. More antagonism arises with the introduction of the Nigerian gangs. Key strengths why we are interested in Wikus: he is excited, energetic and totally committed to his task, even though it may be dangerous (and stupid). Film audiences will always prefer a not-so-smart but gung-ho character (see how many comedic characters you can come up with) over a genius who doesn’t act.
Note that this entire first sequence is told from Wikus’ point of view (POV), except the brief interview segment about MNU’s motivations. The story doesn’t go into any other POV during the dramatic scenes.

Sequence B: The Fluid. (10mins)

20:30 (pov aliens) Aliens looking for fluid.
21:30 (pov aliens) 20 Years of work collecting the fluid, finally plan is ready.
22:00 (pov aliens) Cylinder must be protected, kept from MNU.
22:30 Wikus searches their shack.
23:30 Chemical lab found. Wikus finds cylinder.
24:00 Fluid in cylinder sprays on Wikus’ face. He takes cylinder in for inspection.
25:00 Weapons found, Wikus calls for reinforcement.
26:00 Wikus gloats at alien. The alien attacks Wikus, is being shot from chopper.
27:30 Wikus refuses medical treatment.
28:00 Christopher. Sharper. Refuses to sign paper.
30:00 Wikus threatens to take son away.
30:30 Wikus sick. Bleeds black liquid.

For the first time we move into the POV of the aliens Christopher and his son. See how this happens right at the beginning of a new sequence, after a climax. This way it interferes minimally with the building of tension. Look at other successful movies and you’ll often find that a first shift of POV happens at the beginning of a sequence, where the tension is relatively low. This shift of POV is essential to show us the aliens’ secret, setting up a strong conflict between their aliens’ goal (to hide the fluid in the cylinder) and that of Wikus’ (to turn everything upside down to find weapons).
Note how during the remainder of this sequence we stay in the POV of Wikus, yet meanwhile we do feel empathy for the aliens. The sequence climaxes with Christopher refusing to sign and Wikus being infected by the black fluid.
Structurally, this end of Act One is interesting: some people may empathize more with the aliens than with Wikus, because their goal is clearer, harder to achieve and at the same time simpler, more primal. The aliens want to return home and they have invested a lot in it. Wikus still only wants to finish his job, although the elements have been set up to make this harder and harder.

ACT TWO

Sequence C: Wikus’ deterioration, capture and escape. (12mins)

33:00 (pov aliens) Christopher can’t find the cylinder.
34:00 (pov) Nigerians kill and eat aliens to cure diseases.
35:00 Surprise party for Wikus at home.
35:30 Piet not happy: too many aliens died today. Wikus throws up again.
36:30 Wikus to hospital. He has grown an alien arm.
38:00 Wikus taken to MNU bio-labs: alien DNA, now subject of experiments.
39:00 “What are they doing to these prawns?” Confused and shocked.
39:30 Wikus used in weapons testing, able to shoot the alien weapons.
41:30 Wikus forced to shoot a captured alien.
42:00 (pov MNU) Body is to be harvested, worth billions.
43:00 (pov Tania) Piet lies to wife Tania and tries to convince her to forget about him.
44:00 They try to cut open his chest but Wikus escapes from the building.

Wikus, previously the hero of the relocation operation, now becomes a fugitive. He will increasingly empathize with the aliens as he has started his transformation to become one. In terms of character goals, the aliens’ objective is still clearer than Wikus’. They must find the fluid in order to return to their planet. Wikus doesn’t quite understand what’s going on with him. Only at the end of this sequence does he have a clear, strong goal: to survive.
This sequence, too, opens with a shift in POV: very briefly we go back to Christopher. Immediately after that, we shift POV again, to the Nigerians. The climax of this sequence feels like an early mid point as it acts as a massive reversal, with the world suddenly turned against our Hero. After this, the movie’s tone will be a lot darker.

Sequence D: A Fugitive, going back to the alien slums. (10 mins)

44:30 (pov) Piet informed of escape, Koobus leading the manhunt for Wikus.
46:00 Calling friends; they let him down. Hassled at takeaway, shot at.
46:30 (pov) “He became the most valuable business artifact on earth.”
48:00 (pov) The entire world’s attention and focus is on Wikus.
49:00 Wikus seeks refuge in District 9, the only place he can go to.
49:30 Queuing with other aliens for food from the Nigerians. Eating cat food.
51:00 Call from Tania: “I don’t want you to hold me again.”
52:00 Wikus attempts to cut his alien arm off.
53:00 Koobus and fleet of helicopters arrive in District 9.

This sequence offers little more than an extended chase, starting with Wikus’ escape from MNU and ending with his arrival at Christopher’s shack. The story doesn’t really progress much but the tension is kept high in a way that is utterly cinematic. It is significant that Wikus’ wife has given up on him when she says “I don’t want you to hold me again,” which is the start of her ‘shape-shifting’. The sequence ends on great tension, with Koobus and his men close on Wikus’ heels. This marks the story’s real Mid Point as from this point onwards Wikus will be working with the aliens rather than against them. Remember another blockbuster movie with aliens that had a similar reversal around the mid point?

Sequence E: Becoming an alien and teaming up with Christopher. (10mins)

54:00 Wikus hides out in Christopher’s shack. Begs him to help him.
54:30 Christopher sees Wikus’ alien arm and decides to hide him.
56:00 Secret bunker under the shack with ship to get back to the mothership.
56:30 Christopher can fix Wikus’ condition if they can get to the mothership.
57:00 They have to break into MNU headquarters and get the fluid.
58:00 Wikus’ transformation is accelerating.
58:30 Tania wants Wikus back. He is determined now to carry out the plan.
59.30 (pov Koobus & Piet) They’re locating Wikus to get him.
60:00 (pov aliens) Aliens compare their planet to Earth, looking forward to going home.

Wikus is at first selfish when he works with Christopher to get the fluid back: he only wants to get himself fixed. This first sequence after the Mid Point also sets up something that is typical for many successful stories: the Approach To The Inmost Cave. Wikus will have to return to the place that is most dangerous to him: the headquarters of MNU. This place will also become the Inmost Cave for Christopher when he sees the dead body of his friend.

Sequence F: Going into MNU. (10mins)

61:00 Wikus goes to the Nigerians to get weapons. They want his arm.
63:30 Wikus fights his way out, using alien weapons.
64:30 Wikus and Christopher storm into MNU headquarters.
67:00 Wikus finds the fluid. Christopher distracted by alien bodies.
68:00 Military come in. Shootout.
69:00 “think of your boy for fuck’s sake” Christopher wakes up and they escape together.

In the Approach sequence, the hero has to show how far he is willing to go in order to achieve his goal. Wikus has to shoot and kill humans in order to get the fluid, which underscores his further transformation to alien. In this Inmost Cave, where Wikus had faced death before, they find the fluid (a first Reward in Wikus Hero’s Journey).
In the climax of the sequence we see Wikus no longer just thinking about fixing himself when he encourages Christopher “Think of your boy…”.

Sequence G: Betrayed by Christopher. Tortured by Obesanjo. (10mins)

71:00 Christopher wans to save aliens first. Will be back in 3 years.
72:00 Wikus feels betrayed. Attempts to go to mothership on his own.
73:00 Koobus enters the shack.
73:30 Wikus fires up the ship and takes off.
75:30 Ship is shot down by missile.
76:00 Ship crashes down. Alien and Wikus captured by Koobus.
78:00 Convoy ambushed by Nigerians, Wikus taken.
79:30 (pov) Christopher’s son, still in the ship, is able to activate it.
80:00 Obesanjo tortures Wikus, wants to eat his arm to get his powers.
82:00 (pov) Son activates mothership, alien devices re-activate everywhere.

District 9 has three sequences between the Mid Point and the end of Act Two. I wonder if this is typical for darker films. In any case it seems like the Ordeal (or Crisis) is extended to an entire sequence of 12 minutes. When Christopher tells Wikus that he wants to help his alien people first, it feels to Wikus as if all is lost. Later – in a typical ‘Cave‘ moment – he is being tortured and nearly killed by Obesanjo. Christopher’s son manages to re-activate the mother ship, which opens the doors to Act Three (in the Hero’s Journey this moment is a second Reward, aka the Seizing of the Sword).

ACT THREE

Sequence G: Protecting Christopher – Wikus vs. Koobus. (10mins)

83:00 Wikus escapes with the aid of a robot.
84:00 (pov) Koobus interrogates Christopher.
85:00 Wikus steps into exoskeleton. Hears that Koobus wants to kill Christopher.
86:00 Wikus decides to rescue him and help him to the dropship.
89:30 Wikus covers for Christopher but snipers injure him. Christopher runs.
90:00 Wikus fights against the military.
92:00 Alien makes it to dropship and gets lifted up to mothership.
93:00 Wikus vs. Koobus
94:00 Wikus falls out of exoskeleton. Koobus approaches.
95:00 Wikus left at the mercy of Koobus.
96:00 Koobus about to execute Wikus when other aliens move in and kill Koobus.
97:00 Mothership begins journey back home. Leaves earth.

The climax brings all the forces of good and evil together in one explosive climactic battle – and a setup for the sequel. One could argue that Obesanjo should have survived Act Two as he could have further complicated the climactic battle. Then again, Koobus is strong enough as the ultimate villain as he was set up from the Prologue and it keeps things simple to have only one major Shadow character.

Sequence H: Wikus gone. Waiting for three years. (3mins)

98:00 Wikus left to await his fate.
99:00 (pov) Theories about Wikus’ whereabouts. Setup of District 10.
100:0 Tania receives a flower. Evidence that Wikus is still alive?
101:0 Wikus completely transformed into an alien.

Do you have any thoughts about District 9 and how it is structurally different or similar to other movies? Let us know in the comments!

Structural Analysis: Adrian Kok
Notes: Karel Segers