Last week, I attended a mini film fest on our campus (Truman State University).
It was a cool event. The Residential Living office gave 7 video cameras
to seven teams and sent them off. They had 3 weeks to shoot a 3-8
minute short. They premiered last Friday night to a group of mostly
students (and me) at the late-late hour of 11pm. I struck up a
conversation with folks around me, who happened to be one of the
filmmakers who later won the award. His name is Brian Rose.

Anyway,
it was a great idea. Most of these were edited, a number had some
interesting special effects. Brian’s piece – a sort of expose to music
about the prices of items on campus and the spending of the Student
Senate – actually had some stop-motion animation in it. All in all, I
felt all the pieces were a couple notches higher than what I expected.
One was a strange, surreal piece in mostly German with English
subtitles. They all seemed to focus around making fun of the typical
elements of college life — demanding professors, getting to class on
time, turning in papers late, etc. But it was obvious a lot of heart
went into it.

I’ve been dialoguing with Brian since then. I
learned he finished shooting his first feature and is currently editing
it. The concept sounds interesting, and it’s a silent movie, so not
having the sound issue should make editing a bit easier. But he also
shot a number of elements in 16mm and Super 8, so it’s a bit more than
your average miniDV movie. Keep tuned here for details. Maybe I can
convince him to throw up a trailer or some shots for you.

Anyway,
it’s good to see the independent film spirit alive and well on campus.
There are a few more resources now than when I was a student a short 5
years ago. Better equipment, a film club, and events like this. It’s
pretty exciting, and I’m hoping there’s still room for an old guy like
me (27? I sure don’t FEEL old yet…) can still tap into the system and
make some positive contributions.

If you’re interested in what I
was up to in my college days, you might want to search around the site
for Dumping Jenny, our first feature film back in 2000.

I just finished reading this article from the LA Times, which was filled with heartening quotes, such as this one from Amy Pascal, Sony Pictures Vice Chairman:

"It’s
really easy for all of us to blame the condition of the theaters, gas
prices, alternative media, the population changes and everything else
I’ve heard myself say. I think it has to do with the movies themselves."

 This
is the third article I’ve read already wherein studio execs have been
"fessing up" to lackluster movies as being responsible for poor
earnings this season. I have to admit, the last movie I saw in the
theater was Skeleton Key,
which — although a nice little film — was nothing special. The main
reason I went to see it was to get a glimpse of my dear New Orleans
just before it went underwater. Plus, I have a profound weakness for
voodoo-centered movies, and the script we’re working on right now
(Amelia’s Ring) deals with voodoo as a central theme. Maybe the
creepiest part of the whole movie, however, was seeing that grand
tracking shot of the main arterial New Orleans highway that goes over
miles and miles of water, after seeing it only the night before,
crumbled and broken.

But yeah, how about those crappy movies? I heard The Wedding Crashers was pretty funny, and The 40 Year-Old Virgin
has been bringing in the crowds, but I don’t usually see comedies on
the big screen without a really good reason. I will admit, we saw March of the Penguins twice (once on our own, and once to bring our family along), but otherwise I’ve either been renting or watching classic movies.

Sin City
was pretty good. I appreciated it stylistically, and it was true film
noir at a time period when other films merely nod at the noir style
without taking it all the way. The plot was okay — 10 points for
imagination — but the use of almost monochromatic film stock, with
highlights of color along the way, was really something to see. Bravo
to Robert Rodriguez,
who usually does everything right, for ringing in the originator of the
material as a co-director. In fact, he had to resign from the
Director’s Guild of America to do it, which got him knocked off another
film, A Princess of Mars,
and may have some bearing on his future career. That’s unions for you.
With his reputation, however, I doubt the move will prove to be be
anything less than freeing.

Unfortunately, our cinema in town had an electrical fire, which prevented me from seeing The Corpse Bride until it reopens next week. And I’ve been waiting for years for the new Wallace and Gromit movie so you can bet I’ll be first in line for that one.

By
the way, I’m running a draft of Amelia’s Ring through Dakota and a few
friends for feedback. I’ve also been talking with a few film
enthusiasts on campus, scoping out their interest in helping out with
this fall’s shoot. In a day or so, I’m going to let you in on an
interesting little film festival I saw on campus this week.