Fourth-year acting student Ben Goldsmith (top), third-year acting student Steven Arce and third-year theater student Jessica Felix star in “Chips,” their submission for Campus MovieFest.
(Courtesy of Jessica Felix)
Even with a jam-packed week of midterms and a weekend full of Halloween festivities, there were still a generous amount of students who took part in the annual Campus MovieFest.
Participating students picked up equipment Oct. 27 and had six days to complete a five-minute film, with a showcase of all the films on Nov. 11 in Ackerman Grand Ballroom.
Third-year applied mathematics and English creative writing student James Simenc said that the strict time constraint made him a bit nervous.
“I’ve been around film stuff before, so I know how much work goes into five minutes. There’s a lot of stuff going on right now, but I think it’s doable,” Simenc said.
Simenc and his team worked on “Good Night,” a drama about a brother and sister who have not seen each other in several years but eventually move to the same city and attempt to reconnect as adults.
“I wanted to come up with something we could do well within our means as far as location, the actors, age range and where we could film it,” Simenc said.
Simenc said he hopes that the audience feels a bit distraught by the end of his film.
“My film has a melancholy ending, and I would mainly be thrilled if the audience felt a little bit saddened at the end. If I could have just that kind of basic response, I’d be happy,” Simenc said.
While Simenc said that the little time for them to shoot made him a bit anxious, Jessica Felix, a third-year theater student, thought otherwise.
“Everything went smoothly, except on Sunday, we could only film at Enzo’s from 10 to 11 a.m., a lot earlier than anyone wanted to be up, and Saturday night was when all of the Halloween parties were happening, so that was a bit painful,” Felix said.
Felix and her team worked on “Chips,” which is about three friends who spend the summer earning money to go to a music festival.
“(Making money) comes easier for some than others. Jealousy, angst and tenderness come into play, leading them on a journey of emotional growth. I thought it’d be fun to make a film with fun and relatable people. They’re your average, sexually frustrated, college dorky kids,” Felix said.
As this was her first time creating a film, Felix said she learned a lot about using the equipment and obtaining permission to use business locations to film.
Felix also said that the provided music did not meet her standards.
“It’s not the best quality and … I didn’t find anything satisfactory on there. Since the film that I’m doing has a lot to do with music ““ I have friends of mine who are DJs ““ so I’m talking to them and getting them involved,” Felix said.
Students who had difficulties creating their films could speak with technical assistants in Kerckhoff Art Gallery. Ramsey Yount, the video manager for Campus MovieFest, said that participants usually came in with questions about importing footage and other concerns about editing their film.
With submissions due in less than 24 hours, Simenc said that, after working until 4 a.m. on one occasion, he was experiencing minor technical difficulties.
“We had background noise from lights. Other than that, I’m happy with it. I am afraid that I was maybe too subtle with certain things in the script that might not come through. I’m pretty confident,” Simenc said.
Felix’s main concern at this point was the time limit, preventing her group from using footage she thought would have made the film better. Felix also said that she was glad to see the finished product.
“I guess seeing it all come together now ““ I wrote the script back in August ““ and seeing that vision of mine coming to film … in real life is beautiful,” Felix said.