WEDNESDAY,JUNE18,2003
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 9
KU grads cultivating film craft in Lawrence
Contributed photo
Ryan Jones, left, and Patrick Rea, both University of Kansas film graduates, are the primary writers editors and filmmakers behind SenoReality Pictures. The duo posted more than 20 of their films on their Web site, www.senoreality.com, launched last year.
By Amy Kelly
akelly@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
For Patrick Rea and Ryan Jones, KU film graduates, making movies does not require a backdrop of the Hollywood Hills — the Granada Theatre will do just fine.
While some film graduates buy plane tickets to Los Angeles, the duo has decided to cultivate their craft in Lawrence.
"I think that the Midwest has become fertile ground now," Rea said. "People are sick of L.A. For all we know, maybe we're starting something new out here and we don't even realize it."
Last Saturday, Topeka's television station KTWU featured many of Rea and Jones' films on the show Studio One.
Getting recognized by a station like KTWU had been a product of Rea and Jones' non-stop filmmaking since 2000.
Since meeting at the University, the duo has rarely taken a break from filmmaking.
Rather than making films for themselves, Rea and Jones decided to expose the public to the 20-plus films they have made over the years. In March 2002, the team created SenoReality Pictures, a venture that includes a Web site featuring many of the filmmakers' downloadable films.
Rea and Jones said although they learned essential filmmaking techniques at the University, their projects have been
more the result of independent learning.
"We got a lot of support from the teachers, but we had some of our own equipment," said Rea, who said that he was not disappointed by the University's film program.
"What you'll learn at KU is the theory, the history and the aesthetics behind filmmaking," Jacobson said. "On a set in Los Angeles or New York they'll teach you how to load a camera, but they won't teach you about montage or Alfred Hitchcock."
Matt Jacobson, asistant professor of film, said the University offered information that would not be readily available
working for a major studio.
For one of the duo's recent films, Cellular, the team looked to KU Filmworks for
access to film equipment that they would not have been able to use otherwise. KU Filmworks is a university organization dedicated to helping students become more acquainted with the filmmaking process.
When it comes to most of SenoReality productions, however, Rea and Jones create everything from the script to the sound effects of rustling leaves.
Those differences come together when the two toss around ideas for plots, which are often on the unusual side. Jones said audiences may not like the odder SenoReality films, but that was not the goal anyway.
The two excel in specific areas: Rea is primarily the writer and editor, while Jones is the special effects and sound man.
"You'll always remember how weird and twisted they are," Jones said.
The titles give some insight into the uniqueness of the team's films.
In Search of Inflata Boy takes viewers on a hunt for a dangerous beast wearing waterwings, while Mime Away advertises a product that disposes of, well, pesky mimes.
Jones said a huge bank account was not necesity. "In Search of Inflata Boy" cost them less than $7 - the cost of the digital video tape.
The biggest challenge was devoting plenty of time, Rea said.
"We had no social life," Rea said. "We just kept making films like an assembly line and we're still doing it."
— Edited by Jennifer Wellington
BUDGET SHORTAGE
Humane society donations slow, strays increase
By Kevin Wiggs
kwiggs@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The Lawrence Humane Society is filled with cats and dogs desperate to find a new home. However, workers at the shelter are feeling a sense of desperation of their own.
Midge Grinstead, executive director of the Lawrence Humane Society, said that because other shelters in the region had been closing, its shelter had been getting more animals. Grinstead also said that donations, which make up more than half of the shelter's $600,000 annual budget, were decreasing because of economic trouble. Last year, donations dropped by $64,000.
"We're still doing everything,but it's
wearing the staff down," Grinstead said. "We're scrimping on the things we can and the staff has been purchasing stuff on their own. We're lucky. They donate overtime. They're really going above and beyond."
The shelter, covered with paw prints at 1805 E. 19th St., began adding on a second building two years ago, just before the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11. After the tragedy, people stopped donating as much to the shelter. The second building was supposed to cost $400,000, but the building process encountered numerous problems, such as a fire and pipe damage, and needed an additional $50,000 to complete it, Grinstead said.
Grinstead is unable to hire any more full-time positions. The 10 full-time workers that ran the original building now have
"We all have to eat, sleep, and drink the shelter," Grinstead said. "None of us have a life. We can't call in sick, we're here every day of the year."
to run the additional building as well. To make matters worse, summer vacation has come for KU students, and with it comes another wave of forgotten pets.
"When the students leave town, a lot of them leave their pets because they can't take them home with them," said Erica Hegeman, an employee at the shelter.
A large percentage of school-year volunteers were students leaving town for the summer, Grinstead said.
The shelter has several fundraisers planned during the summer that make up the bulk of its donations.
The Humane Society will host the Picnic at 11 a.m. July 26 outside PETCO,3115 Iowa St. It will include a barbecue and dog washes.
The Pawsible Dream, the shelter's annual auction, will start at 6 p.m. on Sept. 26. It will be held at Liberty Hall, 642 Massachusetts St., and will include both a silent and a live auction, plus food and entertainment.
The Dog Days Carnival will be on Aug. 9, but time and location have not been determined.
The shelter always accepts volunteers. It also needs supplies, such as dog and cat food, paper towels and bleach.
For more information, call the Lawrence Humane Society at 843-6835.
— Edited by Ehren Meditz
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