the Seahawk/February 22, 2DD1
13
Film Club to write, produce, direct and film movie
MEGAN O’Brien
Features Editor
The UNCW Film Group is presently
working on a short film tentatively titled
“The Lives and Deaths of Clowns.” The
film will be written, directed, filmed and
produced entirely by students.
“It’s a farce, or a black comedy, about
clowns who go into occupational
therapy,” Film Group President Daniel
Cloud said.
The group recently received $687
from the Student Government Associa
tion to buy film stock, which Cloud said
“probably won’t be enough for us, be
cause our movie is going to be a little
more complicated than when we initially
madf the proposal.”
Instead of using the SGA money for
film stock for the current project. Cloud
said they will go ahead and buy stock
for the group’s next project and film
“The Lives and Deaths of Clowns” on
digital video. “That’s far cheaper,” he
said. “It’s like $20 for a DV tape. We’ll
either rent the equipment or we may be
able to borrow it from the university.”
The quality of digital video is com
parable to that of a television broadcast.
However, students will not be able to get
the experience of working with the kind
of cameras professional filmmakers use.
Cloud said that by using the DV, students
will miss out on “the fun and stress of
working with film. You can’t just re
wind and rewrite film. You pay for your
mistakes.”
The script, written by freshman Cory
Howard, is-27 pages long, which trans
lates into about a 30-minute movie.
Cloud said that in the future, he would
like the group to make shorter films, only
about 5-10 minutes long.
The major positions for the film were
awarded based on experience. Vice-
President Evan Vetter will direct the film
because he has had hands-on experience
in filmmaking. He operated a camera
on a documentary last fall and worked
as a production assistant on the set of
“Summer Catch” last year. He has never
directed before, and said he is a little
nervous about taking on all the respon
sibility a director must shoulder. ,
“I’ve had plenty of classes, so I’ve
had some experience from a theoretical
standpoint,” Vetter said. “I’ve worked on
movies, so I’ve been able to watch
directors...but none of that is a substi
tute for real experience.”
A film takes hard work from many
different people, all of whom have a
stake in the film. Vetter said that if the
ultimate product “is something that’s not
worthy of their effort, then I'm not do
ing my job.”
Part of the group’s problem is find
ing the money with which to produce
their films. They are soliciting local
businesses to underwrite the movie and
Cloud is trying to decide how they will
raise funds in the future. He said they
may hold a film festival, but that the most
important thing is to get this film made.
“We need to have a product to sell to
get money, but we need money to make
a product,” he said.
Once the film is made, they can enter
it into independent film competitions or
submit it to Atom Films, a company that
markets independent short films over the
Internet and pays the creators for the
film’s use.
fn the future, Cloud would like the
Film Group to join the Student Media
Board, The group would then receive
funds through the Media Board rather
than the SGA. In order to get on the
board, the group must show that it can
be financially self-supporting and well-
organized. They have approximately
two years to work on getting a position
on the board.
“When it gets down to the nuts and
bolts the board is interested in seeing a
business plan and a product,” Student
Media Coordinator Bill DiNome said.
“We’d like to see them succeed but
whether they do or not is entirely up to
them.”
Andes, from page 1 1
The group is having just as much fun as the
audience, which is obvious as they make
jokes between songs and eagerly invite par
ticipants to the stage.
The last event in the Arts and Action se
ries will be an energetic performance from
Leahy, an Irish group of nine brothers and
sisters. On March 31, Leahy will Bring folk
music and step-dancing from Celtic, Cana
dian and French Canadian influences, to
Kenan Auditorium at 4 and 8 p.m. The na
tionally known group that has toured with
Shania TXvain and the Chieftains will finish
off the semester with promises of a lively
mfuiiiimiLc. , , *
^UANCE, FROM PAGE 1 1
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