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INTERIOR:
CENTENNIAL FORUM
STUDENT UNION
Film aficionados sit quietly discussing if they’ll ever get their big break. They begin to gather around a stage set at the entrance to CFSU.
14 DAYS LATER
INTERIOR:
GALVIN AUDITORIUM
Students talk excitedly among themselves as the seats quickly fill up. The lights dim. The hall gets silent, all eyes intent on the screen.
FADE OUT.
Imagine making a five-minute movie in one week. Seven days to write, cast, film and edit. Does that sound daunting?
This year, Loyola was one of several universities chosen to participate in Campus MovieFest, a competition aimed at promoting the Scorseses and Spielbergs of our generation.
Loyola’s film society LUCine sponsored and organized the event, the first time the program has come to Loyola.
Participating students have one week to make a five-minute movie using equipment that CMF provides, including a camera, a MacBook with editing software and 24-hour support. This meant that all students had the opportunity to partake in the competition — not just film students or seasoned pros.
“I really wanted to put myself out there,” said senior Kimille Howard. The film and theater major worked on crew for the short film 10 Billion and Counting, one of 16 films presented in a special premier on Oct. 23. As a crew member, Howard set up lighting and ensured continuity for each scene.
Devin Ward, a senior finance and entrepreneurship major, added that CMF “is a cool opportunity for young filmmakers to get a start.” Ward wrote and produced Imposter, another film to make it to the top 16.
Howard and Ward represented just two of the over 63 teams made up of Loyola students, faculty and staff who registered for CMF on Oct. 13, which marked the opening of the competition. Of the original 63 teams, 27 submitted films the following week.
“Because of the time constraints, some teams couldn’t meet the deadline,” explained sophomore Avery Grant, an anthropology and human resource management major and president of LUCine.
Campus MovieFest first started in 2000, when four Emory University students began handing out students at their school with the necessary equipment to make a short film. Since then, the program has expanded to more than 50 colleges and universities.
Junior environmental science major Lilia Conroy, who also worked on the film, Imposter, had no film experience prior to CMF. “[We] came up with the idea, wrote it, filmed it in a day and then spent two days editing it.”
Although not an editor herself, Conroy explained the stresses that often comes with the process: “They shot a lot of film and really had to cut it down to five minutes,” she said. Despite the editing, Conroy and her group said that they had enjoyed the experience.
The filmmaking process for the Imposter team proved similar for the 10 Billion group. According to Howard, she — along with her film major colleagues, juniors Jimmy Borytan and Ben Sadjak — designated tasks on Monday, Oct. 12, picked up their equipment on Tuesday, filmed on Thursday and edited on Friday.
Adam Wiggins, a senior film major who lent his acting chops to yet another film showcased at the premier, said they had a great time shooting, despite the deadline: “The writers already had an idea planned out involving a phone and it happened that Campus MovieFest came at the same time,” he said. Senior, a film and philosophy major Trent Turner, who worked on the screenplay for the short, wrote a story involving a day filled with mishaps (including, yes, a lost phone) for a bumbling college student.
The film, Rough, Rough Stuff, took home the award for Best Comedy. Although the majority of students interviewed expressed enthusiasm for the project and its aftermath, some experienced a few difficulties.
“Some of the [CMF] equipment was of lower quality than what we’re used to,” said Howard. As a film student, she and her team had access to equipment from the Loyola film department itself.
Despite these reservations, students and admirers gathered on Oct.23 to view the 16 films a panel of students and faculty had handpicked for special consideration.The winner for Best Drama went to Avery Grant and sophomores Kevin Bannon and AlexaVogel for Homeless in Chicago, while freshmen Joe Peraud and Cameron Petti’s The Dame from Last Night won for Best Picture.
All three of these films, along with a Wild Card winner, will move onto the Western Regional Grand Finale next month in San Francisco. Viewers have until midnight on Oct. 30 to vote for the Wild Card winner. Think one of the 16 should make it to the final round? E-mail ShowMyMovie@CampusMovieFest.com to cast a vote.
All of the movies from Loyola are on the Campus MovieFest channel on YouTube.
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