Students in a film/video class are gaining firsthand knowledge about the film industry by working with a Hollywood actor and cameraman to make a movie.
A crew of 23 Grand Valley State University film and video students are producing the short film, "Flickering Blue," for their six-week Summer Film Project. The star of the 30-minute movie is actor James Karen, known for such movies as "Wall Street" and "Poltergeist" and TV's "The Practice."
The students, who hail from throughout Michigan and Chicago, are shooting the film now through the end of June. Assisting them is another Hollywood professional -- cinematographer Jack Anderson, veteran of TV's "Mad About You" and "Third Rock From the Sun" and such movies as "Hook" and "Pretty Woman."
"I know of no college in the country, or the world, that has a summer program like this -- teaming industry professionals with students to make a film," Anderson said. "Cornell University tried it once years ago when I was a student there, and it was the best experience I'd ever had -- the reason I got into the business."
John Harper Philbin, an associate professor in Grand Valley's School of Communications and director of the Summer Film Project, began recruiting Hollywood professionals to the summer course last year to give students the rare opportunity to work with seasoned movie experts. Anderson came aboard in 2002, chosen from among 30 cinematographers from around the world who responded to Philbin's ad in trade magazines. Last year's student film, "The Freezer Jesus," went on to win the Grand Jury Award for Best of Festival at the 2003 Kalamazoo Shorts Film and Video Festival and will be featured in June at the Waterfront Film Festival in Saugatuck, Mich.
"Students grow by leaps and bounds during these six weeks -- 12 hour days on a film set is an intensive learning experience that you never forget," Philbin said. Philbin also teaches a follow-up six-week course, in which students edit the film and prepare it for public screening in the fall.
This is the first year that students worked with a high-profile actor. Karen's 55-year career includes recent television roles and dozens of films such as "Mulholland Drive," "Any Given Sunday, "Behind Enemy Lines," "Up Close and Personal," "Nixon," "Congo," "Wall Street," "Poltergeist," "The China Syndrome," "All the President's Men," and "The Return of the Living Dead."
This year's student film, "Flickering Blue" by Angelo Eidse of Canada, tells the story of a lonely 80-year-old man who turns off his TV and ventures out of his apartment on a walk through the city in an attempt to reintegrate into society. Many obstacles stand in his way. The film is now being shot at locations in Grand Rapids and downtown Lansing.
Grand Valley State University is a four-year, public residential university based in Allendale, Mich. (12 miles west of Grand Rapids) with an annual enrollment of more than 20,000 students (www.gvsu.edu).
Visit online at http://www.gvsu.edu/filmvideo/pages/summerfilm.html .
RSS