WWU Film Students Gain Experience in Community Productions

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Members of the Reel Fanatics Club at William Woods University gather before the First Flight Film Festival (left to right) Greg Smith and Tony Weed, advisers; Dillon Klein, Sally Bohlinger, Phoebe Bro

FULTON, MO (03/13/2013)(readMedia)-- Reel Fanatics, the film club at William Woods University, recently held a film festival designed to display the talent of novice film directors, actors and editors.

To give authenticity to the event, "The First Flight Film Festival" was held at B&B Theatres Fulton Cinema 8, where the audience viewed the newest advertisements, music videos and movies on the big screen.

Submissions from WWU students and alumni ranged from music videos that illustrated the heartbreak and despair rooted in the lyrics to short films summing up the dread of using the bathroom late at night by yourself.

"This was a great opportunity for our students to showcase the new technologies and new techniques they have learned," Tony Weed, instructor of broadcasting and film, said.

Awards presented at the end of the festival were:

• Best Advertisement to Dillon Klein of Oceanside, Calif., for "Taylormade Advertisement"

• Best Narrative Picture to Calvin Hawkins of Wentzville, Mo., for "Silent Scene"

• Best Experimental Short Film to John Couper of Columbia, Mo., for "Book to Film – 'The Giver'"

• Best Actor to Derek McCawley of Phoenix, Ariz., for "The Otherside Music Video"

• Best Actress to Jenny Morris of Overland Park, Kan., for "The Telescope"

• Best Director to Lincoln Purvis of Montgomery City, Mo., for "The Telescope"

Most submissions were class projects students completed under the guidance of WWU film faculty.

"Tony Weed and Greg Smith have helped us so much, and we are so thankful," said Shay Jasper, a Reel Fanatics member. "We're grateful to have such wonderful and dedicated professors."

Reel Fanatics members were delighted to take the reins of the annual event and transform it into a film festival in hopes to expand submission opportunities.

"It has been so great to actually see all our planning come together. We collaborated every Friday for the last three months to make this event what we wanted it to be," Jasper said.

Submissions were:

• "Tea for Two," "A Silent Short" and "Study Break" by Cal Hawkins;

• "Solitude of Happiness," "The Waiting Game" and "PS3 mock ad" by Derek McCawley;

• "The Telescope" and "The Deal" by Lincoln Purvis;

• "A Scene From the Giver" and "Coca-Cola mock Ad" by John Couper;

• "Skinny Love Music Video" and "Eharmony mock Ad" by Sally Bohlinger of Lake Elmo, Minn.;

• "Otherside Music Video" and "Taylormade mock Ad" by Dillon Klein;

• "Vans Mock Ad" and "Sony mock Ad" by Martell Washington of St. Louis, Mo.; and

• "The Midnight Game" and "Fountain Music Video" by Drew Arnett of St. Louis, Mo.

"The pieces were all of exceptional quality and really highlighted the skills the students have learned over the past year," Weed said. "Each piece was unique and thoughtfully put together. We are very proud of our students' work and were excited to bring them into the public eye."

Greg Smith, associate professor of English, added, "I'm pleased to see the film club growing in numbers this year, and I'm also very happy with the way our growing student membership has taken active ownership of the event and collaborated in terms of planning and promotion. The current communal atmosphere among the Reel Fanatics is animated and inspiring."

The club hopes the film festival will grow to such an extent that anyone from the community will be able to enter by next year.

"One of our goals," Cal Hawkins, president of Reel Fanatics, said, "is to expand our film department by gathering prospective film students from the local community."