A relatively quiet part of Asbury’s culture is the student film sets that go on inside of Miller. While these films take center stage for Highbridge in the spring, very few people are offered the opportunity to see the creative process that goes behind each of them. One of these is the winner of the Blake and Shannon Bailey’s Storytelling Award, announced at the Highbridge Film Festival last April.
The script competition is fairly new, having only been a part of Highbridge for the past three years. The concept first came from alumni Blake and Shannon Bailey who wanted to support Asbury and stronger storytelling. When asked about the competition, screenwriting professor Sean Gaffney said, “Rather than just give money to make more productions, they wanted a script competition for the best short film script and the award is production money.”
This year’s winner is “Connected,” a script co-written by Sabina Boyer and Corrie Alford. The story revolves around a young girl moving to the country after her parent’s divorce and her encounters with a mysterious friend. This is Boyer’s second time winning the award, having been chosen for her film script “Foreremberance” last year. Boyer talked about going through this process for a second time. “This idea really came from two ideas, because over Christmas break Corrie and I both went away to brainstorm and then we were going to come together and compare notes. I had the idea of a friendship between two kids with a tin can phone and having that nostalgic feeling of being a kid. She had the idea of a farmhouse and someone’s connection to their ancestry. So we combined the two and that’s how ‘Connected’ came to be.”
Gathering a great team to create the film was the next step. Each role in the process has an important part to play, whether you are a producer or a grip. The Director is Corrie Alford, with Dianna Kopp and Ian Rhodes co-producing the film and Ethan Ivey as Director of Photography. When asked about her experience so far, Alford said, “My experience has been better than I could have asked for. This is only the second short film I’ve directed and I’ve gotten to work with an amazing team of students. I couldn’t have done it without them.”
Every film has its hiccups. When asked about the hardest problem that he and his team had to face, producer Ian Rhodes said, “There have been a lot of obstacles to overcome, but the one of the most challenging was getting things done through the summer. All of us, department heads, were scattered back home working and living in our own separate worlds.”
This film is being shot in collaboration with the Intro to Film class here at Asbury. Taught by David Whitaker, the class is required for every film production and production design student here at Asbury. During the semester, students are shown and taught how to use proper equipment, learn about positions in the industry and the basics of filmmaking. For most of these students, this is their first time being on a set. When asked about their experiences in the class so far, Grace Robs and Charla Alford said, “I like that it’s a hands-on class and you get a lot of experience that you wouldn’t get by just reading or watching videos about it.”
When visiting set, the atmosphere of “Connected” was full of joy. Besides the producers and director, there are a lot of parts to play in order to make each set run smoothly. One of these is the production designer, who is in charge of the sets, props and overall aesthetic of the film. Kaja Jaques, who was awarded the production design award at last year’s Highbridge for “The Mess,” fills this role for “Connected.”
Another is the Key Grip, who is in charge of making a lot of the smaller things happen. The film’s Key Grip, Lilli Bell, said, “I’m assistant to the gaffer and head of grips. That basically means I make sure that when Alex, the gaffer, says he needs a light setup, I’m the person who makes sure it actually happens.”
These film sets act as a beating heart of Asbury’s Media Communications Department. As the rest of the semester progresses, the production of these films will act as projects for classes, submissions for Highbridge or a piece to put on students’ resumes.
Photo courtesy of Sabina Boyer.
