Cinematic arts students gain valuable on-set experience filming new comedy

Throughout the month of April, 60 juniors in the Cinematic Arts, Zaki Gordon Center cohort have been developing their filmmaking skills in real time on the set of an in-house feature movie, “Life Sentence,” being filmed on locations near campus.

The two-year, immersive-learning cohort for the B.F.A. in Film Production & Creative Development and B.S. in Film Production & Content Development allows students to concentrate solely on filmmaking. In addition to creating their own short films and business plans, students earn at least one IMDb credit on a professional film project, typically during their junior year working on the spring feature production.

After being assigned roles and learning about them during the film’s pre-production phase, the students complete two two-week rotations in different departments of the film crew to give them multiple viewpoints and experiences on set. Department chair Stephan Schultze, the film’s director and writer, said the spring productions are designed to give students skills they can quickly bring into a career.

“Everybody is applying that growth and understanding on the set doing those jobs they’ve learned about (in pre-production),” he said. “They’re using every piece of equipment we use out in the industry so that they’re very familiar with the technology and the protocols before their careers. The whole reason we do this is because what they learn here will be employable skills that the students will get to take with them to immediately get employed upon graduating as they move into the industry.”

The film follows an engaged couple as they seek the ultimate adventure by marrying at a converted prison compound. Hilarity ensues as they get more than they bargained for.

Junior Gretel Lam spent the first rotation working with the first assistant director, and she spent her second rotation on the costume team.

“This experience has been so fruitful and life-giving for me because I’ve been able to be pushed and challenged in new ways while doing something I enjoy,” she said. “I’ve loved being able to try the two crew positions I’ve had for the film because it gave me a good balance of working on the set and managing the logistics of items like costumes.”

Lam said she learned invaluable lessons about being proactive and seeing the art of filmmaking as a collaboration between people with diverse skill sets.

“There is a lot of ‘hurry up and wait’ when you make a movie, so you may not be busy all the time, but you always have to be alert and as prepared as you can be,” she said. “This experience has taught me that even if my role doesn’t have something to do at the moment, I can look after the interests of other departments and see how I can help. Making a film is a group project; it’s not individual, and it reminds me of how we talk about the body of Christ with the different parts coming together to have the body function properly.”

As is tradition within the department, some of the crew leaders for the spring production were alumni who returned to share their wisdom with the current students. A small group of seniors also helped on the set.

“When I was a junior, I got the same experience of getting to learn from alumni on set, so I wanted to come back and help do that (for current juniors),” said Austin Peacock (’24), who was a boom operator for this year’s film. “Being back, I’m able to help the different students by showing them the ropes and sharing skills that will help them in their thesis films (they all create during their senior year).”