WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2003
STUDENT FILMMAKERS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 9A
Film
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
Kelley Weiss/Kansan
Patrick Rea, Lawrence resident and University of Kansas graduate, records a newscast for Channel 6 News. Rea, a part-time camera operator and floor director for Channel 6 Productions, recorded the 6 p.m. broadcast Friday. He said he worked at the news station because it gave him valuable experience for making films.
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Chris Blunk, Omaha, Neb., junior, shoots his walls in Patrick Rea's film, The Walls.
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Gallery Student Film Competition at Auburn University.
Rea isn't rushing his Hollywood career.
"It would be a big mistake to run out to L.A. right out of college." Rea said.
While in Lawrence, Rea is trying to learn from his mistakes as a filmmaker. He said he also liked benefiting from the community aspects of filmmaking in Lawrence. He once wanted to use the Crafton-Preyer Theatre in Murphy Hall for a shoot. What normally would take weeks of preparation time, and hundreds, even thousands of dollars in Los Angeles was just one free phone call away from Rea.
"I'm about ready to start tackling some longer, bigger projects." Rea said.
Until this summer, the longest film Rea created was 15 minutes long. His next project, will be an 80-minute feature called The Empty Acre. It is a supernatural story set on a farm in the Midwest.
Rea said the project was similar to the film A Cry in the Dark.
"I want to see him move past mere technical proficiency and really tackle something on a more serious level," Jacobson said. He said he thought Rea's project this summer would accomplish that.
Rea will spend most of the summer writing The Empty Acre. To improve the film's quality, Rea said he might seek funding from outside sources to pay for the film.
"That may take us a whole year, but we're patient," Rea said.
Shooting will tentatively begin in late summer or fall and postproduction could last until spring. The amount of time it takes for Rea to complete the project doesn't matter. He's willing to make any sacrifice to become a professional filmmaker.
Almost Famous
Wichita junior Dara Barton faces a computer screen in a Baldwin City farmhouse, staring at the Final Cut Pro computer program.
She carefully edits the video for one reason: to get to Hollywood.
She slowly manipulates the video stream and audio clips, splicing together footage for a commercial produced by Isoar Productions.
Barton can't wait to get there. If she had her way she wouldn't be pursuing a degree in film studies, she would have already packed her bags and left for California.
"I would like to get a job with a fairly well-known production company. I'd like to just get my name out and meet the right people," Barton said. "If an opportunity to act presents itself, great. If not, I am happy to continue to work in film."
In five years, Barton said, she wanted to work at a studio and act as well.
Charlie Parker, 18, of Olathe, plays a lovable role in Dan Ryckert's film, The Aviator.
She also likes video editing, the process of taking hours of footage and turning it into a cohesive vision.
Barton's passion for film began when she was young, watching her mother watch movies. She remembers having an especially good time when her mother took her to the theater to see *Bird on a Wire*. Though Barton doesn't consider the movie a work of genius, she never forgets the fun she had with her mother that day.
"I love how a movie can affect people," she said.
"There have been a couple of times where I've worked on projects, occasions where I am not taken seriously." Barton said.
As one of the few women majoring in film at the University, Barton sees herself as a minority.
One class project especially frustrated Barton.
"They didn't believe I was capable. They were really shy handing me the camera," Barton said. A few days into shooting, the crew was short-handed, and Barton found herself behind the camera. She said she more than proved herself, and the crew respected her work from then on.
In classes, Barton said, professors don't give her or other female students special treatment.
John Tibbetts, associate professor of theatre and film, agreed.
"I think the whole film studies area transcends conventional gender roles," Tibbetts said.
Barton has taken classes outside of the film-studies curriculum, such as Acting I and II, because her ambitions go beyond production.
Tibbetts taught Barton's Film Theory class and he spoke highly of her writing.
"I don't think the film department is given enough credit. The classes are more difficult than I thought it would be,"Barton said.
"I'd love to see her get involved
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Blake Jones, Olathe freshman, plays a former president in The Monroe Factor.
in a production company or in some aspect of the entertainment business." Tibbetts said.
The film student estimated that she spent one-half to three-quarters of her day working on or thinking about movies.
Barton said she learned many lessons from her film classes. She notices camera angles, the use of color and mise-en-scène, which is the total visual concept of a scene. She also learned to appreciate art-house films.
This summer Barton will work in a production seminar class with Jacobson, the film professor. Although she could graduate in December, Barton plans on staying in school so she can take an internship in Los Angeles in Spring 2004.
At Isoar Productions Barton edited video for a commercial for La Familia, a Mexican restaurant, she appeared in a commercial for the Custard Cup and she helped edit and shoot All in Good Flavor, a local cooking show. If she's not helping Isoar Productions she's either at the movies or one of her two film classes.
Barton will wait as long as necessary to get the dream internship
The Freshman
Eight Hashinger Hall residents pack themselves into an eighthfloor room. Four sit on the floor, two on the bed and a two others stand against the back wall. They all gather to see Olathe Freshman Dan Ryckert's latest comedy, Harold.
"I write, direct, edit. I pretty much do everything," Ryckert said.
When the 20-minute film ends the students straggle into the eighth-floor lobby shouting exclamations of praise to Ryckert. Ryckert smiles, nods and waves.
He has created, with little assistance, 30 to 35 films since he was 17 years old. Most of these films can be seen on www.studentfilms.com.
He's a child of television.
"I Since I was really young I would get overly into certain shows." Ryckert said.
His favorite shows are The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Simpsons.
Ryckert said the ridiculous humor of these shows could be seen in his films.
"Its just a huge conglomeration of those influences mixed in with my own way of doing things," Ryckert said. "I write these really absurd circumstances."
In one of his most recent films, The Monroe Factor, former President James Monroe travels into the future to the University campus. He arrives in Hashinger Hall and he hangs out with students leading up to an intentionally comedic, cheesy ending, in which Monroe kicks his heroin habit to save Hashinger Hall from a fictitious preppie dorm.
Ryckert pays for his films with the money he earns from his video production studio, Nothing Official Productions. He makes wedding, graduation and home videos for his clientele.
Four films in Ryckert's growing portfolio are about 20 minutes long, the rest are shorter than five minutes.
A 15-minute movie took about a month to a month and a half to create, he said.
Ryckert said it took him a long time to make a movie because he was so meticulous.
"When you make a movie you have to watch it, like, 900 times, while you're editing it," Ryckert said.
Ryckert has already developed an audience. The students who pack into his room for Harold have seen all of Ryckert's films. When Ryckert completes a film he usually spends all day screening it with friends and fellow Hashinger Hall residents.
He's also caught the attention of a few teachers at the University.
"I saw a tape of projects he did in high school. I thought they were pretty outstanding, especially for high school," said Rodney Hill, an instructor and doctoral student in film studies. "Dan has a very good visual sense."
Hill taught Ryckert last semester in the Intro to Film Medium course and said Ryckert stuck out among the 250 students in the class.
"I think his enthusiasm is what has struck me the most," Hill said.
Ryckert has begun to spread this enthusiasm to others. His younger sister Kayla, who has appeared in several of Ryckert's films along with her twin Katie, has already taken an interest in filmmaking. The 10-year-old has even given Ryckert advice on how a scene should be shot.
Ryckert is happy to pass his passion for film to his sister. He loves this stuff.
— Edited by Andrew Ward
kansan.com News Now
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