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Reel LifeBaylor students work on real film project
By Elizabeth Herring
Three complete strangers, each with a different journey, are suddenly
on the same road as they meet on the day that each of them is going to
die. Chris, Emmy, and Adonna are all lead characters in a movie, called
Endings, that was produced through Baylor's Department of Communication Studies.
Two professors, twenty-two undergraduate students, four graduate students, and about thirty actors endured the Waco
summer heat to create the film, which was directed and written by Chris
Hansen, assistant professor of film and digital media. (The crew for
the film Endings included,
left to right, Waco senior Taylor Rudd, first assistant camera; Hansen,
writer, director, and Baylor faculty member; John Franklin '89,
director of photography; and B. K. Garceau, a senior from Spring.)
Students who were selected to work on the project gained six hours of
upper-level credit for film and digital media. With class credit as
their only pay, they worked on the thirty-three-day shoot, during which
an average workday lasted eleven to twelve hours that could span any
time of day or night. Students rotated through different jobs based on
a questionnaire they completed about their interests.
"Working on this kind of project in school is important because I get a
larger role in production," said senior Taylor Rudd. "If I went to
L.A., the most I'd be doing is getting coffee. I'm doing a job that
would be unreachable at this age." Rudd was the first assistant
cameraman and worked closely with the cinematographer.
Students working on the film approached the experience like a real job.
"We treated it like a professional movie but kept in mind that it was
an educational opportunity for students," said Brian Elliott, the
film's producer and a senior lecturer in communication studies.
Elliott viewed the real-world experience as more important than the
college credit. A lot of people think they want to get into film, he
said, but Baylor students got to experience firsthand what it is like
to work on a film crew. They found out if it is their calling or if
they hate it, he said. "They get career experience and personal insight
into who they are, how they relate to people, and how they handle
crisis," Elliott said.
A few outside professionals also helped create the movie. One was John
Franklin '89, who owns a production company, Frame by Frame, in College
Station. Franklin was the movie's cinematographer--he ran the camera
and helped give the film the visual style the director was looking for.
When asked about working with students, Franklin said he had a great
experience because the students worked hard throughout the filming.
Every day on the set brought unexpected changes and obstacles. Even the
smallest details--like the way candy was stocked in a convenience
store--needed to be watched so the film had continuity. Hansen said
that, on a film set, anything can happen--equipment might break or
malfunction or actors may miss lines repeatedly. In such a stressful
environment, he said, it takes a collaborative effort between all
members to get a finished film.
During each twelve-hour day of the shoot, the crew would film one to
three different scenes, with each scene being shot from many different
angles. Every new angle required equipment and lighting adjustments,
Hansen said, so filming is time-consuming. "We're creating worlds with
every shot," he said.
Sometimes weather was a problem, too. Shooting came to a standstill
several times as the crew waited for a cloud to move so the shot would
not be too dark. They had to reschedule a shoot at Lion's Park in Waco
due to rain, because the park closes in inclement weather.
Many people in the Waco community and surrounding areas helped to make
the film a reality, Elliott said. The city allowed the crew to use a
bus and shoot at the bus station. Many local restaurants provided
lunches for the forty-member crew, and the city manager of nearby
Bellmead helped the crew gain access to a local funeral home and a city
park for scenes in the film.
The film will be in post production for at least eight months as a
student crew edits the film into its final form. Upon completion, the
film will be available for distribution and will be submitted to film
festivals.
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