"Lights, camera, action!"
You might expect these words to be uttered on a Hollywood set with fake trees and even faker breast implants, but on Monday evening, you could hear them at the University. These famous Tinseltown words echoed in the halls of Newcomb and other prominent locations on Grounds during the FilmMakers Studio's "Xtreme Filmmakers Challenge."
Conceived two semesters ago, this 60-minute "high energy filmmaking event" challenges students interested in the club and filmmaking in general to produce a film with no prior brainstorming or planning.
"It is sort of a crash course to get a hands-on experience with cameras for those who are interested in filmmaking," FMS Vice President of Publicity Leslie Buker said. "It is open to everyone."
FMS President Kevin Wu pointed out that it is a way to get students pumped up for upcoming projects.
"This is a great way for us to get people excited," Wu said. "So many people who are here have never even held a camera in their life before, and this way they see what it is all about."
After arriving, the students were divided into groups of 10 or 11 and each picked a cameraman, director, star and, of course, the idea people. In certain cases the decision was made by the application of the always reliable rock-paper-scissors technique. Even though some of the positions were more prominent than the others, the participants said that they didn't mind.
"I guess it was bad luck that I didn't get to direct or something," first-year College student T.J. Rodigas said. "But I got to contribute a lot in the brainstorming, so it was good."
First-year College student Maggie Burne said she was glad to have many members to work with.
"It is hard to work within a group sometimes because you have to compromise to come up with something solid," Burne said. "But it is good to have many ideas to work with."
Following the division of labor among the members, a brainstorming session -- rivaling the Formula One drivers in speed -- focused on the workshop's yearly theme: "Nickels." Why? As an homage to the University's own long-standing traditions.
"The nickel has Thomas Jefferson on it," Buker said. "And we love Jefferson here, of course."
Though they said they found the topic challenging and at times tacky, the students were happy to have T.J. serve as their inspiration.
"I thought it was pretty cheesy, but at the same time pretty funny," Rodigas said.
Rodigas' fellow group member, first-year College student Zander Roberts, pointed out some other aspects of the nickel theme of their film.
"Giving it a theme makes it so much easier, especially when you have such a short time to come up with stuff," Roberts said. "It was a difficult topic -- it probably would have been easier to do a chess game or something."
Though a very hurried process, the brainstorming was nevertheless a fulfilling process, according to the participants who came up with diverse ideas such as bar chats, mimes and the random journey of a nickel.
"Coming up with ideas about what we would do and how we would do things was the part I enjoyed the most," Burne said. "It was fast paced and creative."
Once the groups settled on the subject of their films, it was time for the actual filming. One skit included a desperate person short a nickel for a phone call, harassing passersby only to find out in the end that she had a nickel in one of her pockets all along.
"Doing the actual production with the camera was great," Roberts said. "To be creative with shots is the most fun and the hardest part."
Wu agreed that the production process of a film is like no other.
"It is a funny experience where everyone has fun," he said. "For example, the director in my group is a documentary filmmaker, so it was strange but also very amusing to hear her yell 'action' and 'cut.'"
It was indeed a challenge for students to produce a film in 60 minutes, but the students said the time limit was valuable.
"It was not what I'd like to do because I like to plan things beforehand," Roberts said. "The shots we took hopefully will be continuous and follow each other, but overall it was a good exercise just to get things started quickly."
Wu said he believes that this quick introduction to movie making is beneficial.
"Of course this type of filmmaking is not representative of what we do at FMS," he said. "But it shows those who are just starting up how much planning and careful consideration you need to make a good film."
After surviving the final countdown, the participants handed in their finished work to the workshop administrators for a final edit. Though the students were expected to edit the film in a span of 90 minutes during previous semesters, FMS has decided to change its policy according to Buker.
"We changed it to 60 minutes because it usually doesn't hold people's interests in 90 minutes and we no longer ask them to edit," she said. "We do it for them now, since we know about the software."
The completed films will be shown on Sept. 20, and there are other filmmaking opportunities coming in the near future, according to Wu.
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