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entertainment
Capturing the reel world
Moviemaking is gaining interest in Lawrence. Could KU produce the next Fellini or Spielberg?
Photo by Hisham Aba Husayn, special to the Kansar
Brian Wicks, Irvine, Calif., freshman, films the cast of a short mystery film that is still in production. The student-made film is directed by Hishua Aba Husavim, Rhdad, Squid Arabia junior.
By Kevin Hoffmann
Kansan staff writer
Lon Teter's filmmaking career began with his parents' lack of technical knowledge.
"It all started back,when my parents bought a movie camera," said Teter, Wichita freshman. "They didn't know how to use it, so I began playing with it to figure it out."
Soon Teter began using the camera for his own entertainment.
"I started making spoofs of "Saturday Night Live" and things like that," he said.
Today, Teter is fully entrenched in the filmmaking process. He recently directed his first film, "McKillum Hall," a short horror movie that takes place in McColium Hall.
Hisham Aba Husayn, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, junior, got started in filmmaking by accident.
Teter has joined many on the KU campus who are producing films and are interested in the art of filmmaking.
"I wrote the wrong number down on the registration," Husayn said. "I wanted to take an advertising course, and I ended up in an intro to television production course."
Two weeks later, Husayn, who was in a California junior college at the time, changed his major from advertising to filmmaking.
The University of Kansas offers filmproduction courses through the department of theater and film.
"In both film and video production, we offer basic, intermediate and advanced courses, as well as independent studies and internships," said Edward Small, professor of theater and film.
KU offers both a bachelor of arts degree and a bachelor of general studies degree in film studies through the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Students interested in filmmaking can join FOKUS, or Film Organization for KU Students.
Some KU filmmakers have succeeded in making a name for themselves.
Last semester, Darrin Lile,Tulsa, Okla. graduate student, made a 45-minute film called "Eyes Upon Us," which won numerous awards — including second place at the Kansas Film Festival.
KU graduate Mike Robe directed the television movies "Return to Lonesome Dove" and "Burden of Proof."
Joseph Anderson, professor of theater and film, said that interest in filmmaking had grown on the KU campus since he began teaching more than two years ago.
"Making movies is a phenomenon of our times," Anderson said. "It is a very important part of our culture, so it's not surprising to me that so many people are getting into it."
Phillip Brown, Tulsa, Okla., sophmore, said interest in filmmaking had increased when the department of theater and film acquired Oldfather Studio, 1621 W. Ninth St., where students and
faculty can produce films.
"There are a lot more resources out there and more places to go to make a film," he said. "But, the people here are just as creative as out there."
Brown also said interest would grow when more feature films and television movies were produced in Lawrence.
One resource that often scares people away from filmmaking is expense, Brown said, but that should not prevent people from trying their hand at the art.
"The Midwest is becoming a good place — especially for television movies to be made," Brown said. "It's not going to grow unless the community allows it to grow, and Lawrence is doing that."
Husayn said that Lawrence was as conducive to filmmaking as California, an area usually associated with the film industry.
"Irecommend that you shoot on videotape," he said. "It can be incredibly cheap, and you learn things a lot quicker."
Teter said the entire expense of "McKillian Hall" was less than $10.
"We used corn syrup and red food coloring for the blood," said Teter, who wrote, directed and cast the film. "I bought a couple of knives and the videotape and that was it.
"If you want to do real quality work it can be expensive. But it's possible to make it cheap."
The hardest part of a student-made
film was getting the actors to treat the process seriously, Teter said.
"The biggest trouble is actors screwing around," he said. "Sometimes it gets frustrating."
Teter said his ultimate goal was to make movies — even though he knows that he is not the next Steven Spielberg.
"I don't care if I make it big in Hollywood or not," Teter said. "I just want to make some kind of movies, whether it's television or whatever."
Chris Batte, co-owner of The Hideaway, 106 North Park St., said he thought Lawrence residents would enjoy the creativity of student films. Batte recently began a Monday evening open film forum at The Hideaway.
"I brought in a projector, threw in some couches and pushed some tables out of the way," Batte said. "We had about 40 or 50 people in the bar, and we had a lot of fun."
"We're interested in anything creative
"We're interested in anything creative — whether it's an art film or just something somebody shot with the family camera in the back yard, as long as it's entertaining," he said.
Batte said anybody interested in having a film shown should bring it to The Hideaway.
review
'Schindler's List' leaves reviewers speechless
Sitting in the dark theater while watching the closing credits for "Schindler's List," Sludge and I finally realized that three hours and sixteen minutes had elapsed in what seemed like a heartbeat. This was probably because our hearts had stopped beating.
As we shuffled to the exits among the throng of moviegoers that had gathered to view this horrifying spectacle of fear and death, a reverent abyss of noiselessness enveloped everyone. What could possibly be said? The usual trivial post-movie small talk was out of the question. "That was good" or some other understatement, certainly wouldn't work, either. Director Steven Spielberg, recently nominated for an Oscar for his efforts on "Schindler's List," painted a picture so grim and so real that, leaving
the theater, we felt lucky just to have escaped with our lives.
Barely able to articulate my own thoughts some time afterward, Sludge's brain also was in a speechless mush. Let's just call this post "Schindler's" condition, the Bill-the-Cat Syndrome. In fact, I distinctly remember Sludge's initial reaction as simply... "Ack."
"Wow. I felt like I'd been hit with a
big bag of bricks.'
Total fear so good, Enter, Sludge:
"At least it wasn't all a complete death fest. It was hopeful there at the end, right?"
I didn't feel so good, either. Sludge.
Yes it was, Sludge. Hopeful, and a few other things: horrifying, gritty, true, raw, captivating, powerful, direct, evil, elegant and triumphant. This is truly a film that redefines cinema and Spielberg himself. Who would've thought that the master of the fantastical, the orchestrator of the largest-scale adventures in the history of film ("E.T." "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Jurassic Park"), the believer of the unbelievable, could have scaled down his style to such a clean, efficient truth. Spielberg's signature massive crane and dolly shots were replaced with stationary, eye-level cameras. The
rousing orchestra normally associated with Spielberg movies was replaced with dark, haunting violin solos — thanks to composer/conductor John Williams, who did some scaling down of his own. The vivacious color was replaced with black and white.
"I thought the black and white was good. It was like old newsreels."
That's right, Sludge. Spielberg's newfound realism creates something of a documentary, only without the narration. The result is that you forget there is a screen, fifty years and an ocean separating you from it. You're there. On the trains, in the ghetto, in the gas chamber. You can't get away from it. You have no control over it.
See SPIELBERG, Page 8.
People and places at the University of Kansas.
calendar
Benchwarmer's Sports Bar and Grill 1601 W. 23rd St.
The Squib Cakes, 10 tonight, cover charge The Freddy Jones Band, 10 p.m. tomorrow, cover charge
Turquoise Sol and November, 10 p.m. Satur-
day, cover charge
These Days, 10 p.m. Feb. 24, cover charge
The Bottleneck
737 New Hampshire St.
737 New Hampshire St.
Mountain,Clyde,tonight,$4
Punkinhead,tomorrow,$4
Buffalo Tom,Saturday,$8(18 and over)
The Crossing
Bartleby, 8:30 tonight, $2
12th and Oread streets
Barleyle, 8:30 toonight, $2
Lonesome Hounddogs, 8:30 p.m. tomorrow, $2
Power and Fear, 8:30 p.m. Saturday, $2
---
803 Massachusetts St.
Tim Cross Jazz Group, 8 tonight, free
Finstein, 9 a.m. tomorrow, free
Mark Rasmussen, "Jazz Keyboard Virtuoso," 9 n.m. Saturday, free
Tom's Tuesday Thing, 7 p.m. Tuesday, free
Anonymous, 8 p.m. Wednesday, free
Tim Cross Jazz Group, 8 p.m. Feb. 24, free
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