Imagine yourself sitting in the Reeves Theatre, five minutes before the movie The Three Musketeers comes onto the screen and your friends tell you, “Hey we are going to shoot a movie!” Personally, I thought they were joking and I didn’t take them seriously.
The next day, while eating lunch, my friends ask me during a casual conversation, “I need you to die in three weeks, can you do that for me?” Sure I was shocked but somehow I managed to ask, “Why?” Apparently my reaction was comical since they couldn’t stop laughing.
It is then when my friends Brittney Cox and Heaven Shull were kind enough to explain how they developed an idea for the Campus MovieFest. As explained by Heaven, “it’s this coming of age film about a young girl who is lost but finds herself with the help of demonic possession.” Brittney then adds “it’s our comical take on a horror movie.” After reading the flyers spread around campus, we immediately began planning the details for a fabulous, four-star film. First, Brittney and Heaven developed the script together. Afterwards, Kelsie Lee Kostakos (Heaven’s roommate) and myself helped plan out the scenes and develop a cast member list. “Great! Now that we know who is playing each character, we need to talk to the guys and see if they’ll agree to be in the movie.” After some convincing Tory Webb, Shaquille Glover, Terry Preston and Andrew Kennedy agreed to participate in the film.
Finally, after attending the CMF meeting and getting our equipment, we were ready to become movie stars. But what is a movie production without minor setbacks?
Day 1:
3:40 P.M. – 4:00 P.M.
Kelsie, Shaquille and I were scheduled to start filming. However, at the time, we were eating lunch and learning our script. Talk about preparedness right? Trust me, that was the least of our worries. While practicing, a male cast member cancelled, saying he wouldn’t be able to arrive. Not only were we behind schedule; we were one person short.
4:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M.
As we rushed back to my room to start with make-up, the rest of the cast warned us they were running late. As if we weren’t behind schedule already, they were going to be late.
While the make-up/hair process was occurring, we kept looking for a male substitute. We asked every person that passed by our hallway. So far, the only thing on our favor was the creepy weather and fog outside. Clearly, we were frustrated with our situation.
5:00 P.M. – 5:30 P.M.
As the cast members arrived, we began rehearsing the scene. Due to the lack of a cast member, we edited the script and changed most of the lines. Luckily, a floor mate of ours, Andrew Kennedy, decided to step in and help us. We were still missing cast members but once we added Andrew to the group, everything fell into place and we began filming.
5:30 P.M. – 6:30 P.M.
The first scenes we filmed took place at McKay. I participated in them and may say, I didn’t think it would be as funny as it was to film them. We spent an hour trying to get it right because we kept laughing during the entire scene. After a few failed attempts, we got our act together and managed to get it right.
Once we felt the scene was worthy of publishing, we moved to our next location, Smiley Hall.
6:30 P.M. – 8:00 P.M.
The following two hours were quite gripping, funny and memorable. The best scenes and bloopers were filmed at Smiley during this time period. From faking our deaths and covering ourselves with soap and red dye (a.k.a blood), we all had fun. I mean, who doesn’t spend their Friday night screaming in a hallway, running away from a killer? If that hasn’t happened in your life, you haven’t had fun.
8:10 P.M. – 9:00 P.M.
A creepy movie with out a scene in Plant Hall isn’t a creepy film at all. As we waited for yet another cast member to arrive, hunger began to strike. As seconds passed by, our hunger grew. As seconds turned into minutes, the scorching heat contributed to our mood swings. Turns out, after three long hours of filming, people get quite cranky.
Once we heard footsteps coming up the stairs, we couldn’t have been happier to see our dear cast mate had arrived. Exhaustion began to take it’s toll since we kept filming the same scene over and over again. Once it was perfect, we returned to Smiley once more.
9:10 P.M. – 9:45 P.M.
Back at the Smiley common room, you could hear everyone’s stomach growl. “Can we go to Stadium after this?” Tory asked constantly.” No, we are missing two more scenes,” replied Heaven.
As much as we tried to speed things along, it was hard when people walked over and interrupted the scene (unintentionally might I add.) Still, we didn’t lose time and once the scene was over, we went to Riverside for one of the final scenes.
10:00 P.M. – 10:30 P.M.
Have you ever been filming a movie and suddenly the sprinklers go off? Trust me, it’s incredibly entertaining. We managed to find a dry spot and continued our filming there. Thankfully, it was a short scene and afterwards we all went to eat.
11:00 P.M. – 11:40 P.M.
After dinner at Salsa Rico, we moved to Plant Hall for our final scene. We needed an extra and sadly, no one was available to help. Everyone was out during this time and there we were, tired and in need of another actor. Suddenly, as if by a miracle, a messiah on a skateboard passed by. Granted, he wasn’t a messiah but at the time, we saw him like that.
Upon seeing five people run towards him, he stopped midway. We kindly asked him and in two seconds, he was on board with the crew. And in less than ten minutes, our final scene was done. After such a long day, I can’t even describe how amazing it felt to wrap things up and go home. Little did I know, the best was yet to come.
Day 2:
After spending most of Saturday afternoon editing the film, Heaven and Brittney were adding the final touches. It was Sunday and we were all excited to have our movie done. Suddenly, every cinematographer’s nightmare took board: technical difficulties.
Our computer started acting weird and froze. After fixing it, we attempted to upload it to the Campus Movie Fest website, only to fail. The computer wasn’t connecting to the Internet. Just what we needed, another setback. We rushed to the nearest Starbucks and used their Internet and even though it took an hour, our movie uploaded.
After such a rushed and busy weekend, our work was done. I can’t help but laugh every time I see the movie. It was a terrific experience and amid all the stress I recommend it to everyone. Trust me when I say, you’ll meet a whole new side to your friends.
The finale will be held Feb. 23, in Vaughn Courtyard. The pre-show begins at 7:00 p.m. and it will feature DJ Dave. Not to mention, the artist for Party in the Park will be announced as well.
The top 16 films will be displayed and awarded either: the Spartan Pride Award (must encompass the UT community either in theme, dialogue or setting), the Spartan Design Award (film must exhibit a strong detail orientation either through costume, make-up or setting) or the Spartan Warrior Award (awarded to the standout performer of the evening and be either a director, actor, writer or editor.)
Depending on the awards and who receives first, second or third place; the prizes include an iPad, iPod Touch, iTunes/AMG gift cards, Beats by Dre, a Canon Powershot, a Flip Video CamCorder and a Digital Video Frame.
As you can see, Campus MovieFest will offer entertainment and free food. Whether you filmed or not, or know someone who participated in the event, I encourage you to go and show support for your fellow Spartans. I’m looking forward to the event and I hope you are too. Remember to get involved next time; who knows, maybe your film will wind up in Hollywood.
Xelmarie Medina can be reached at xelmymedina@yahoo.com.