Lights, camera, action! It's that time of year when movie magic takes over the atmosphere at U.Va. It's Salmagundi season.
"The Salmagundi Film Festival is the mother of all tie-dye t-shirt collections," third-year College student Leslie Buker said. "Every film is like a star burst and together they make one crazy collage." Salmagundi is an annual student film festival that takes place in Newcomb Theater April 15 and 16.
For all you curious minds, here's how the festival works. Submissions are accepted from any student filmmaker in the Commonwealth. Once the submissions have been sent, the best are chosen to be screened in a two-hour Salmagundi Shorts program. Then, a panel of judges comprised of local filmmakers and U.Va. cinema professors decide which of the 15-minute-and-under films are worthy of a variety of different awards, including an audience award and the Barry Sisson Narrative Film Award. In addition to Salmagundi Shorts, other feature-length student films will be shown.
FilmMaker's Studio, a University Contracted Independent Organization, organizes Salmagundi.
"FilmMaker's Studio is a student organization dedicated to fostering the growth of the film community here at U.Va," second-year College student Han West said. The group produces student films and supplies resources to student filmmakers.
"FilmMaker's Studio is both a resource and a community," third-year College student Kevin Wu said. "We try to provide what we can for anyone interested in filmmaking, whether it be a camera or a jolt of inspiration."
The group has proved to be a key player in creating a filmmaking-friendly environment at U.Va.
"The filmmaking atmosphere is growing at a phenomenal rate," said Buker. "More than ever, there are tons of people working on projects, and there are lots of new avenues to display finished films."
Members of FilmMaker's Studio said they are ecstatic with the direction student filmmaking on Grounds is moving.
"Student films are about to jump to the next level and it's exciting," second-year College Student Rom Alejandro said.
FilmMaker's Studio has worked on several large-scale projects this year, including Playdate, She Likes It and Sticks and Stones. Currently, they're working on Loss of Life, a film written and directed by West.
"Loss of Life is easily the largest film production ever undertaken here at the University, so setting that precedent in itself is exciting," said West.
Working on a film this large has been quite the learning experience for FilmMaker's Studio.
"Making this movie has been incredibly time consuming and stressful," West said. "But the production is just a larger and more complicated version of what I've always loved doing: making movies."
West described the film as a dark story that draws a parallel between the Fall of Man and the first-time heartbreak. Though the filmmaking process has been a long and stressful one, West said he is enthusiastic about the end result.
"I have been incredibly pleased with the footage, and I hope that when the film is released, audiences will appreciate both the story and its visual appeal."
A rough cut of Loss of Life will have a special focus group screening at the Salmagundi Film Festival.
Members of FilmMaker's Studio said they hope Salmagundi will be the giant stepping stone in taking student filmmaking to the next level at the University.
"We want to make Salmagundi the student film festival in Virginia," said Wu.
The CIO is happy with the transformations that have improved the filmmaking experience over the past few years and look forward to the future.
West put it best when he said, "We are active, motivated and will only be making more and more noise on Grounds."
A DAY ON-SET
We all know that it takes a lot of time, effort, and energy to make a film. But what exactly goes into making a film? Loss of Life director Han West gave tableau the run-down on a typical day on-set:
"When I first get to set, I check in with our producer (Gretel Truong) and unit production manager (Leslie Buker) to make sure all the crew is in attendance and the equipment is there and ready to go. I also find out when lunch will be -- on set, the second meal of the day is always called lunch, even if it's at three in the morning -- so I have an idea of how long I have to shoot before we take our first break. Usually, the art department has been dressing the set several hours before I arrive, so I go to the set to check their progress with the art director (Sebastijan Jemec) and add any additional decorating details or changes that I want. Our first assistant director, Rom Alejandro, affectionately calls [these changes] the 'Gilliam touches' after a particularly visually obsessive director.
"Then, I meet with Rom and our script supervisor (Andrew Mausert-Mooney) to go over the storyboards and shot list for the day. I also let our director of photography (either Lin Qiu or Konstantin Brazhnick) know what the first setup is so he can go ahead and begin getting the lights ready.
"When I finish with Rom and Andrew, the actors have generally arrived on set -- they always come about an hour or two after crew -- so I meet with them to go over their lines while they have their makeup done.
"Then, I head to the set with the actors to block out the scene -- telling them exactly where to move and stand so that they are framed exactly right on camera -- so that our first assistant camera (Nate Whelden) can make marks on the ground for them. If we are doing any GlideCam (steadicam) shots, I go over with our camera operator (Johnny Taee) what kind of motion I want the camera to have and where exactly I want him to frame the actors as he's moving around.Then, assuming no additional problems, I head to the video assist monitor, and we roll cameras.
"I usually limit myself to two takes per setup, unless there is a shot that I absolutely must have done right -- on Loss of Life we have done up to eight takes for one setup. One thing I've learned is that the longer you stay on a particular setup, the more likely the shoot is going to lose pace and the cast and crew and I will begin to lose focus. With shoots that last up to 14 hours, it is critical to keep everybody motivated, especially since no one is getting paid and they are all there on their own time.
"We break for lunch for about 20 minutes when (hopefully) half the shot list is done, then we go back at it. When the shoot is done, we send the actors home, and then it's usually about an hour of cleaning and packing up for crew -- this is called "striking" -- which I help with in any way I can so we can get people home quickly.
"And that's a wrap ... on the perfect day."
For information on this weekend's Salmagundi Film Festival feature-length films and Shorts program, visit www.uvafilm.com.
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