Every summer the film program at SFA puts on a full length original feature production. Many of the film students are involved and the set is run just like a professional movie set. This gives the students the experience they need for when they leave college and enter the world of actual movies.
One such student is Hannah Patton, a sophomore, who participated in the movie and the premiere. Patton worked as a grip on the movie set which means he dealt with equipment and other things. At the premiere for the movie last Friday, Patton attended and helped out with serving.

The premiere, which was held at the Cole Art Center downtown, was a great success. Wine and food was provided courtesy of Professor Arscott of the cinematography building, and live music was performed by the lead actress in the movie.

Overall, around 200 people attended the three viewings and good things were said about the film at the end. “I really loved that it was held in high esteem by the audience,” said Patton. “It makes me really happy that everyone enjoyed the hard work we put into it.”

The film, which took over nine months to edit, was the symbol of the students’ hard work. “We put so much into this movie,” said Patton. “I mean, seriously, we put our blood, sweat, and tears into this thing so it feels really good to be appreciated for it.”

Patton spent over a month in the hot sun last summer working on this production. “At first you’re just like okay whatever, its not that hot, but then after a week or two you just want to die,” said Patton. “We went through about a hundred water bottles a day. It was dreadful.”

Another complication of the production was the long hours. “Oh my God, the days lasted twelve hours,” said Patton. “And it wasn’t always at the same time every day. Sometimes we would start filming at seven in the morning and end at seven that night but other times we would start filming at two in the morning and end at two that afternoon. My sleep schedule was so off after that.”

However, all of that hard work and lack of sleep paid off in the end. “I definitely learned a lot and gained a lot of experience,” said Patton. “All of the lessons I learned on the set have helped me out a lot on the sets of my own short films this semester and last semester. With filming you cant just open a book and learn how to make a movie. You really have to go out there and work on a set to gain that kind of knowledge. Some things you just cant learn in class.”

As for the premiere, Patton was very excited to attend it. “It was really cool seeing the final product of all of our hard work,” said Patton. “I loved being able to actually see what I worked on. I did not, however, enjoy being a server of food for the attendees that night.”

Patton plans to continue her work next semester. “I will not be a part of the production crew for this summer,” said Patton. “But I’m still continuing on with film in the fall and I can’t wait to make more short films. Hopefully the next summer I’ll be able to work on the set but we’ll see how that works out. As part of my degree plan, I’m required to work at least two summer features so one of these days I’ll have to do it.”

Hannah Patton Interview

hackneywr@titan.sfasu.edu

Every semester at SFA, the film program in the cinematography building welcomes new students into their film classes. The classes are split up into different levels: the AB level, the CD level, and the EFG level, with AB being the lowest and EFG being the highest. One such group in the AB level is working tirelessly to make great short films.

Victoria Stone, Sophomore, is part of the Green Group in the AB program and is currently the director for her group’s short film they are working on at the moment.

“I didn’t start taking film classes until last semester,” said Stone. “But I always loved film. I’ve wanted to major in cinematography since I was in high school, so I’m really glad I’m getting to do it now.”

Stone loves movies and calls herself a bigger fan than most. “I have about 200 movies in my collection,” said Stone. “Pretty much every time I go to the store, I get a new one.  I just love seeing the different styles of film utilized and I love picking up some new ideas for the films I work on.”

Currently, Stone is directing one for her film class. “The one I’m directing now is called ‘Two Girls, One Outfit’”, said Stone. “I didn’t write it but I loved the idea so I really wanted to direct it. It’s pretty much what it sounds like. It’s about two girls who are getting ready for a party and they end up coming out of their bathrooms wearing the same outfit. They get in a girl fight and all that and hilarity ensues. It’s a comedy.”

Stone says the team she works with is very cooperative. “We all get along great,” said Stone. “We all are very passionate about film making and really want to make the best short films that we can possibly make. The way we cooperate is that we each get a turn being each one of the positions on a crew. So we’ve all been a camera operator, a boom operator (which is the audio person), a director of photography (he’s the one that plans out all of the shots), an editor, a writer, and a director. Right now it’s my turn to be the director so I’m really excited about that.”

Another great aspect of the film program is that the students are able to try their hands at different types of films. “We had four projects due this semester and each one had different requirements,” said Stone. “The first one we had to make a 30 second commercial. That was to teach us how to create a story in a short period of time. The second one we were required to have a certain type of lighting. That taught us how to correctly light a scene in a film and create a certain mood with the lighting. The third one we were required to have a certain amount of locations. That taught us how to create a lasting story.”

Stone has high hopes for her future. “Ultimately I would love to go into art direction because I love drawing and I love setting up the scenes in a film,” said Stone. “I just feel like that’s what creates the mood in a movie. Like in Harry Potter, if they didn’t have all of those props and colors, the mood would’ve been completely different. For now though, I’m just going to focus on getting through all of my classes and getting a degree. The whole art direction thing is years in the future so I just need to focus on getting this film done first.”

hackneywr@titan.sfasu.edu