MAGGIE GILROY
Reverb Editor
While many students spend finals week drafting essays and studying for final exams, senior video production majors demonstrate their skills in a final screening of their work open to the public. The screening features the largest project of their college career: a 30 minute video capstone.
The capstones will premiere at a May 15 screening, which will feature five projects – four fiction films and one documentary.
The process in creating the fiction capstones begins in the Fall semester of the students’ senior year, under the instruction of professors Jane Jackson and Mark Kiyak. During that semester students create scripts, a portion of which are chosen by Jackson to be produced in the form of capstones. In the second semester students pitch their desired roles in the capstones and are then put into groups and assigned by Jackson to various positions including producer, director, photographer and editor.
This year, each capstone features dark, serious themes.
Caryl Frame, a senior video production major, is producing “Unforgotten,” written and directed by Myava Cuhel, and co-produced by Ryan Keib.
As producer, Frame was given the task of choosing a desired script, creating a “dream” production team, location scouting, coordinating schedules and giving input during post-production.
“With any job in particular there is high tension and high stress,” said Frame. “We all get along fabulously, we’re all great friends. [But] you’re working sometimes with two or three hours of sleep for an entire week, so tensions rise, peoples’ emotions start to rise. Peoples’ emotions start to take over and you have to be there and smooth everything over.”
The project has taught Frame how to work as a leader in times of high pressure and stress.
“You just have to go and tell yourself it is what it is and let things go,” said Frame.
There are three stages in the filming process: pre-production, production and post-production. The students are currently in the post-production stage. As I spoke to Frame she was finishing the “picture lock phase,” which consisted of locking the piece in its final images before handing it to sound designer and composer, Jefferson Piasek, to edit sound and re-mix audio.
While 30 minutes is much shorter than the two plus hours of a major motion picture, it is a much larger task than the 2-3 minute films the students are accustomed to.
“A lot of people don’t realize how much work goes into filming,” Frame said.
Each capstone featured performances by student actors and were filmed in locations throughout the community. Frame’s group filmed at the Edward Waterhouse Inn on Main Street.
Luke Haag, director of “Samantha,” filmed throughout the community as well as on campus. Haag’s locations included Upper Crust Bakery & Soup Co., Old Main and a local home on Eagle Street as well as Reed Library and a classroom in Fenton Hall.
“Samantha” focuses on a high school victim of domestic violence who is involved in a love triangle with two men. As director, Haag was required to have a vision for the film, which he described as the “screen inside your forehead.” Along with producer Alyssa Menard, he also was given the task of rewriting the script, location scouting, scheduling, casting, continuity, leading the shooting process and overseeing post-production.
Haag’s capstone also taught him to manage times and work with others in a high pressure situation.
“Obviously this is not an individual project,” said Haag. “You need to be able to work with your crew.”
While he was faced with many challenges, he now finds himself eager to do another film of this proportion.
“I would love to have the opportunity to make another movie,” said Haag. “You just learn so much in the whole process.”
Both Frame and Haag plan to pursue film following graduation next week.
“I think my dream job would be being in charge. I would love to direct,” said Haag. “I would love to direct movies, short films; you could definitely say my dream job would be directing films.”
The final screening will take place on May 15. The time and location of the screening has yet to be
determined.
“It was a long, stressful experience but it’s definitely worth it,” said Haag. “There was something really exhilarating about seeing all the decisions you make play out on a screen in front of you. It was definitely very satisfying.”