Point Park University

Point Park is a terrible school. The administration is amazingly stupid. They have repeatedly lost my paperwork and sent things to my mailbox months after it should have been sent. The food is bad even by college food standards. It's even bad compared to prison food standards. Unless if you are going there for dance or theatre then it is a waste of money because you will receive an inferior education.

Point Park's Cinema Dept. does a really good job teaching story mechanics and film theory, combined with a great history of film background. Junior year and above is all HD! Hands on cameras in second semester of Freshman Year!!! I'm coming out with 20+ films over 4 years.

"First off the formats that are listed are inaccurate. You shoot on mini DV freshman year, then by sophomore year you shoot on true progressive scan High Definition. They concentrate on narrative and group cooperation. The cinema department is great for the most part, even the teachers who aren't as good have something useful to say. Hard work here will get you far, just like in the industry."

I chose Point Park because it was close to home at the time. It was a horrible mistake. Not only is it a very expensive school, but the film classes are a complete joke. Most students are weird artsy film students who feel they have to make films in order to express themselves and their deep emotions. Most of the classes are taught at Pittsburgh filmmakers, which is a good five or six miles away, so if you don't have a car, you rely on buses or shuttles. I had to share a shuttle everyday with a couple "film" students who decided they didnt like showers. The teachers for the most part were a complete joke. I had a teacher show up every day in ripped sweat pants and a dirty shirt, no joke. Although I am sure they could teach film like a text book, I don't believe any of them have ever done any real film work. One teacher boosted about being an extra in a film six years prior. It was also the running joke that students only take film classes if they want an easy major. Honestly, a complete waste of time. The Cinema dept was a little better. Its selective, and teaches more along the digital, current technology of the business.