The FilmFest committee will conduct three workshops and a 24-hour film festival this fall to give students filmmaking experience before the short film competition in the spring.
“We are trying to equip students before the spring so they are well prepared,” said Christina Johnson, senior English major from Dallas and FilmFest co-chair.
The workshops and new fall film festival are designed to “get their feet wet” to see if FilmFest is an event they want to do in the future.
“This helps teach them how to make sturdy stories that will be displayed at the Paramount in the spring,” Johnson said.
The first workshop will focus on teaching students about directing films and will take place from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday in Mabee Library Auditorium. The workshop’s goal is to help students learn the basics about filmmaking, said co-chair Sandra Amstutz, senior electronic media major from La Feria.
“This is a time for first-time filmmakers to come and learn the basics of making a film,” Amstutz said. “We’ll talk about using a camera, plotting a story and kind of explain how FilmFest works.”
The second workshop will feature Kris Young, a professor at UCLA and a professor of screenwriting at the L.A. Film Studies Center. He will address questions students have about screenwriting from Los Angeles via Skype. This is the first time ACU FilmFest has invited someone from LAFSC to speak to students, Johnson said. She hopes that since ACU does not have a screenwriting class, this will be a new avenue to help students get involved.
“He will teach what is the concept of a story, and he will also answer any other questions students have,” Johnson said. “Anything about what’s selling now as a script, guidelines for writing a screenplay and how to be a Christian in the film industry.”
A 24-hour FilmFest will take place Nov. 6 to allow students to practice what they learned in the workshops. There is no theme or time-limit for entries, and admission to the event is free. Rules and guidelines will be posted at midnight Nov. 5, and students will have until midnight Nov. 6 to create and submit their entries. The films will be available for the public to judge, and prizes will be awarded.
“This gives people who have never participated in FilmFest a chance to see what FilmFest is like without having to fully commit,” Amstutz said. “I think a lot of people don’t participate in FilmFest because it seems intimidating, and this gives them a chance to get their feet wet before they commit.”
More information about the workshops and the 24-hour FilmFest will be available in October around campus and on the ACU FilmFest Facebook fan page. The date and time for the third workshop, which will focus on producing, has not been released.
