Student film festival kicks off Thursday
By MEGAN HARNEY
News Writer
This Thursday, the 13th annual Notre Dame Student Film Festival will premiere in the Hesburgh Library Auditorium.
All of the films shown are the projects of students in the Film, Television and Theatre department's film and video production classes. For the advanced classes, one film project dominated most of the semester. In the beginning and intermediate courses, students produced approximately four smaller projects during the same time period. This weekend's festival will include a mix from all levels.
While FTT professor Ted Mandell said that each film is original in theme and subject matter, one commonality these films share is "the quality of filmmaking [which] keeps getting better and better as the students learn from their peers."
The professors are "extremely involved in the process from an advisory role," said Mandell, but do not censor or restrict student ideas.
"[These films] are supposed to challenge the viewer," said Mandell, adding that the films are intended for mature audiences.
The student filmmakers who produced these short films were responsible for every aspect of production, including writing the scripts, casting, filming and editing. Some held auditions, seeking the help of students and South Bend residents for roles.
Maggie Moran, director of This Time, You'll Watch Me On You, auditioned 15 women for her lead role, won by Notre Dame sophomore Julia Dickinson.
"[Filmmakers] didn't necessarily limit themselves to actors between the ages of 18 and 22," said Moran.
Moran said that a student film undergoes extensive revisions. Many students went through eight to 12 drafts of a script, but spent the majority of their time editing the film.
"Editing is definitely where everyone has to work the hardest," said Matt Reilly, co-director of Lament, estimating that he and fellow director Brent Buckman spent 100 to 120 hours on this step.
While the course gave students access to and experience with high-tech production equipment, much of the work was done on their own time. These filmmakers also had to fund their own film stock and processing, which could run as high as $900 per project in the advanced classes. Working in pairs definitely helped keep the cost down, Mandell said.
"Working with film you have such a small window to get it right because of costs and because of time restraints," said Moran.
"Some students might say it's the hardest thing they've ever done at Notre Dame," Mandell said.
The festival runs Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday nights. All 13 of the featured films, which individually run from three to 15 minutes in length, will show twice each evening at 7:30 and 9:45 pm.. Tickets, which annually sell-out, are on sale at the LaFortune Box Office for $4 each.
All News Stories for Tuesday, January 22, 2002
