For the first time in it's 17 years, three documentaries were screened at CSULB's annual Student Film Showcase at the Directors Guild of America, Thursday Nov. 8.
The event included 14 CSULB student films which ran for a total of two-and-a-half-hours. The reception that followed the screening consisted of the films directors, cast as well as an audience of professional in the entertainment industry. Together they nibbled on cheese, crackers and Baklava while discussing thier work.
According to the chair of the Department of Film and Electronic Arts, Craig Smith, the films are viewed by all the production faculty without credits and then ranked. The top ten films make it into the showcase.
"We have ramped up the documentary track within the production option," said Smith. "We have wonderful people teaching documentary films."
The first documentary showcased was My Leisure World, a 12-minute glimpse into the social lives of senior citizens by Jessica McCarty. Unlike narrative films which spend a lot of time on pre-production (writing, casting and directing), post-production is much more grueling for documentaries.
"All of it is based on actually going out there and shooting. Once you get out there, there's no control at all," said McCarty. "You're using real people in real life, trying to capture it the best you can."
One of the documentary filmmakers Eric Kim had over 300 minutes of film that he ended up cutting down to 11 minutes. His film Where Did Time Go? followed the story of Bellflower's lost time capsule from 1957.
"The documentaries were terrific. Where Did Time Go? was the most professional documentary," said Max Smerling of Lakeshore Entertainment who attended the event based on the "gorgeously produced" invitation.
Overall Smerling was expecting the student films to be better and was surprised that the filmmakers didn't incorporate more experimental techniques. He cited general problems with the writing and sound.
This statement was surprising considering the new sound lab and upgraded sound stage available to students due to a $560,000 anonymous donation to the department.
"The quality of work has always been good but our students have been disadvantaged because we didn't have the kind of equipment and the number of faculty that a USC or a UCLA has," said Smith. "Now we have supplemented our budget with outside money, a 1.4 million dollar outside anonymous grant. Sound is very important to film...you can hear the difference on these films."
The films are senior projects made by students with an emphasis in production. The entire process takes anywhere from one semester to a year and a half to finish, from the beginning stages of writing to completion.
Funding is also an issue. Gabe Micheal, director of the seven-minute film Smooch, worked three jobs and helped flip a house to pay for his film about a 10 year olds first kiss. The tagline reads "Is it love, or just a really big fart?"
The filmakers have to wear many hats ranging from producing to writing, directing and casting. Many of them said they enjoyed the entire process. McCarty and Mary Fecteau, who worked on documentaries, said that the people they met while filming was their favorite part of the project.
Through filming The Necessary Assasination of George Lucas director Ryan Bergez learned a valueable lesson.
"I loved writing it and essentially produced it at the same time, which I think in hindsight I would never do again...I would be paying attention to craft service that people were getting fed, whereas I should have been paying attention to what we were going to shoot next," said Bergez.
Another Student Film Showcase will is scheduled for December location and date TBA.
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