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The least an MFA degree can do for you is be your credential to teach. Truth be told, it is not a guarantee of big bucks and Hollywood fame, although you could be headed that way if you do the right things during your three years of training. Graduates who have ended up making features typically come out of film school with their degree backed by the following: a good short film they wrote and directed and a good feature-length screenplay they wrote and expect to direct. If you want to direct, it would do you good to have both because the film is evidence of your talents, and the screenplay is evidence you can offer more than one short film.

If you are thinking about film school but you don't know what particular career you'll pursue afterwards, you may want to think again. Film students who dive into their graduate programs with only a general desire to be involved in movies can sometimes find themselves in positions where their eventual careers are not necessarily aided by the MFA. Unlike directing, fields such as sound, editing, cinematography, and producing are not too difficult to enter without the MFA. For example, an individual who completes three years of film school and then decides he wants to be a film editor could have chosen instead to land an assistant editor job and worked up the professional ranks during that time period. So before you spend your time and money on film school, take into account the various options available to help you reach your career goals.

Generally speaking, there are three kinds of film schools: industry, independent, and experimental. Industry schools, as exemplified by AFI and USC, are known for training students to mold themselves into the Hollywood structure and successfully persuade producers to shell out huge amounts of money to generate feature films. Independent schools, such as UCLA, Columbia, and NYU, teach students to minimize filmmaking to the bare fundamentals and then raise their own funds to make films apart from the Hollywood system. In contrast, the experimental schools (think Cal Arts or the San Francisco Art Institute) don't train students to fundraise or to make feature films. They focus on teaching the art of film to students and support students in developing their own art without much consideration of the business of film. No one type of film school is better than the others. What you choose when you apply is purely a matter of your personal preference. Just be sure you've done enough research to know the flavor of the schools on your short list.

Before you send out those film school applications, there are some things you can do to increase your chances of getting in and to place you at an advantage once you are there.

Take writing courses - A lot of film schools have discovered that to leave enough time for training in directing, editing, lighting, camera, and sound, they can't afford to spend time teaching students how to write. This conclusion has spurred many schools to accept only those applicants who already possess a strong ability to write. It would be wise then to develop your writing skills sooner rather than later.

Take acting courses - Enroll in acting classes, especially if you want to direct. Actors communicate in a language of their own, so to be able to direct them, you'll want to be conversant in this language. Let's be honest - audiences don't go see movies for their awesome camera angles. They watch movies for the characters and the storyline. The actors portraying the characters and carrying the story forward are the most significant elements in your film. That's why when it comes time to directing actors, you will greatly benefit from knowing how they think, how they feel, and how they work.

Make films - Some film schools request sample works from their applicants, so you will want to have a few films under your belt. If you know someone who owns a video camera or a super-8 film camera, you should ask to borrow it and make as many films as you can. Those home movies of your cousin's wedding or your last vacation don't count. You'll want to write a 5- or 10-minute story, find friends to act in the roles you've created, and then invite people over to watch the final product or enter your project into a public film showcase (see ROBOTMEDIA PRESENTS for opportunities to do so on the Cal campus). When you have your screening, you will probably find yourself critiquing what you see. Maybe there wasn't enough dialogue in one scene, making the situation seem mundane. Or maybe another scene would have looked better if you had shot it from a different angle. Make note of your changes and realize that's how you learn to make films - you figure out how to do it better next time. And if it all works the way you want it to, that next time could very well be in film school.