well, my only experience is on the animation courses, but I found Surrey to be a tad old fashioned, but at the same time, a bit too quick to dismiss 'other' techniques... when I asked about stop motion or pixelation they just seemed to dismiss the idea. Generally I didn't like the atmosphere of the place... it just seemed a bit closed. You're in a tiny town which is basically just a university town. I prefer to be surrounded by a diverse range of people, but that's just me. You're best bet is to go to open days for both and decide from that, don't apply to anywhere you've not been to.

Will,

Without wanting to tell you what to do, or complicate you decision, I would urge to seriously consider whether university is the best choice for you as a progression into a carrer in film.

I say this as someone who has a first class degree in film from the international film school of wales, as well as an art foundation before that.

My expereince has been that the industry ALWAYS wants expereince rather than education. I graduated three years ago and now work as a camera assistant, mostly on small productions. I can say with 99% certainty that my degree has never been a significant factor in getting me work.

I think it is important to realise that you will not be 'taught' in uni in the same way you are at school/college. You are very much left to research and formulate ideas off your own back. What a degree will give you is a chance to talk over a lot of ideas and read a lot of books. Also it give's you the chance to make mistakes and learn from them before you go out into the real world.

I think that you can learn all these things and a lot more be getting stuck in and working on as many shoots as possible as a runner, you can talk to a lot of people who have alot of collective expereince and learn from the successes and their mistakes.

There is nothing stopping you from reading all the same books that you would have read at uni, however you will be reading them with the perspective of an insider, which is a lot more enlightening.

There is nothing stopping you working on your own projects too, you will make plenty of contacts for crew from working in the industry.

whether or not you do go for uni, my biggest piece of advice would be to get an overview of the whole process of filmamking and then specialise as soon as possible (obviously it is important to really be sure of your path, but once you have found it, stick to it like glue). There are so many people coming out of film and media courses every year, you will be so much better of if you are already on a clear path.

It is easy to think that you will get a job by being willing to do anything and really flexible, however in my expereince this is a myth. You will end up with a CV that looks directionless, and people will not really know what jobs to put you forward for. As soon as I made a clear decision to follow the camera route, and ignored everything else, my career started moving twice as fast, and whilst I am still not taking home big bucks, I definately feel I am heading in the right direction.

On a slightly different note, have you considered the film course at goldsmiths, it is really important to establish yourself in london as this is where 85% of the industry is. I have worked on an MA film there and their kit is as good as anything I have used at the national film school or any of the others.

if you have any questions I am happy to answer them directly. filmfunk79?hotmail.com

hope this was of some help

Paul