VCA film school has a "fine" reputation for producing award winning short-film students...and that's it! I am currently in my final year and I remember on the first day of orientation, the Head of the school says they will not censor content. The very next day, an old lecturer tells us the truth: VCA will make the students make films the VCA way. And that is placing heavy emphasis on dialog and character while ignoring the plot of the story. This is the "house-style" of filmmaking at VCA, and students who do not adhere to the house styles will be "encouraged" to do so by the teachers before they are threaten with low grades.
Basically, the teachers have a myopic point-of-view of story-telling: If they don't understand the student's story or they do not like the story due to personal preference, they will not hesitate to tell the students to rewrite drafts to suit their tastes.
This results in a "hot-housing" effect whereby students produce films based on a cookie-cutter model.
And for maverick students who risk not bending to the "VCA studio system", they will be jeered if their films fail. But ironically, they will be embraced if they win prestigious film fests, even if VCA hated their film in the first place.
Brown-nosing is common here, and the over-achievers are not necessary the ones who are good, but rather the ones who adhere to the "VCA studio system" and rub shoulders with the staff.
Right now, VCA is in a flux because it has been embraced into the University of Melbourne system like prey to a predator. The school is uneasy and angry with Uni-Melb for changing their name to VCAM. The identity of VCA is about to be swallowed into the field of academia. In a few years, when VCA is fully integrated into the Uni-Melb system, it will be more academic and less hands-on. Academic success will then be dependent upon actual grades rather than brown-nosing.
In short, if you want to make a personal film without having your vision diluted, DO NOT ATTEND VCA/VCAM. you'll be better off at AFTRS, UTS or RMIT. Besides, these schools teach technical skills in their curriculum (which VCA avoids because their equipment is outdated and their branding is based on training story-tellers rather than technicians). Technical skills increases your chances of finding employment upon graduation, while independent filmmakers (like those VCA produces on a regular basis) are condemned to a life of starvation and hunger...something that VCA conveniently avoids mentioning in their pitch to new students.
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Victorian College of Arts (and Music)
VCA film school has a "fine" reputation for producing award winning short-film students...and that's it! I am currently in my final year and I remember on the first day of orientation, the Head of the school says they will not censor content. The very next day, an old lecturer tells us the truth: VCA will make the students make films the VCA way. And that is placing heavy emphasis on dialog and character while ignoring the plot of the story. This is the "house-style" of filmmaking at VCA, and students who do not adhere to the house styles will be "encouraged" to do so by the teachers before they are threaten with low grades.
Basically, the teachers have a myopic point-of-view of story-telling: If they don't understand the student's story or they do not like the story due to personal preference, they will not hesitate to tell the students to rewrite drafts to suit their tastes.
This results in a "hot-housing" effect whereby students produce films based on a cookie-cutter model.
And for maverick students who risk not bending to the "VCA studio system", they will be jeered if their films fail. But ironically, they will be embraced if they win prestigious film fests, even if VCA hated their film in the first place.
Brown-nosing is common here, and the over-achievers are not necessary the ones who are good, but rather the ones who adhere to the "VCA studio system" and rub shoulders with the staff.
Right now, VCA is in a flux because it has been embraced into the University of Melbourne system like prey to a predator. The school is uneasy and angry with Uni-Melb for changing their name to VCAM. The identity of VCA is about to be swallowed into the field of academia. In a few years, when VCA is fully integrated into the Uni-Melb system, it will be more academic and less hands-on. Academic success will then be dependent upon actual grades rather than brown-nosing.
In short, if you want to make a personal film without having your vision diluted, DO NOT ATTEND VCA/VCAM. you'll be better off at AFTRS, UTS or RMIT. Besides, these schools teach technical skills in their curriculum (which VCA avoids because their equipment is outdated and their branding is based on training story-tellers rather than technicians). Technical skills increases your chances of finding employment upon graduation, while independent filmmakers (like those VCA produces on a regular basis) are condemned to a life of starvation and hunger...something that VCA conveniently avoids mentioning in their pitch to new students.