'Crunch time'

Student film majors try to balance classes, high costs

Sitting in a booth at the back of a small-town diner, Lou orders a plate of fries. At the end of a bad day, the only thing he wants to do is to enjoy his fries in peace and quiet.

Interruption after interruption keeps him from enjoying himself, and to add to it all, Lou is going to be in the middle of a robbery in a matter of minutes.

No, this isn't a psychic prediction. This is the plot of Diner Story, a junior narrative film produced by student-run J-Team Productions.

J-Team Productions is a filmmaking group of four juniors majoring in film and video: director John Papola, cinematographer Josh Meyers, sound designer Jeremy Fernsler and production manager Jack Lewars.

Sometimes working 40 hours a week with no pay, the members of J-Team Productions are only doing what is expected of them as film and video majors.

They were working about four to six hours a week, Fernsler said, running rehearsals, working out costumes and makeup and working with the script to ready for filming.

Now, with shooting scheduled for this weekend, J-Team is working longer hours and figuring out how to get all the actors and equipment to the diner for shooting.

They are fretting about getting a schedule out to the actors and making sure they have, or at least can build, any of the equipment that they need.

"It's crunch time," Papola said.

For the next two weeks following the shooting, they expect to spend four to six hours a night putting together a 10- to 12-minute film.

Each member of the production team has put up $150 of their own, which is standard for junior films shot on video.

Some junior films cost the group up to $800, while senior film and video majors typically spend between $6,000 and $15,000 per group.

The senior films are shot on film, producing a better image. It costs more because it has to be sent away and chemically processed, said Heather Hartley, assistant professor of film and video.

"Juniors shoot on video, which is an instant medium," she said, accounting for the cheaper cost.

Seniors make one 20- to 25-minute film the entire academic year. Juniors make one 8- to 12-minute film per semester.

Grades are not the only judging that film and video majors think about. There are two main festivals that University students consider entering: the CAN Film Festival, which is being held May 2 in Eisenhower Auditorium and the Independent Feature Film Channel Student Showcase.

The CAN Film Festival is an "annual showcase of the best of Penn State's films," said Adam Vlcek (junior-film and video), president of the Student Filmmakers Organization.

The CAN Film Festival judging is done by a board made up of the students and faculty, who choose from two or three short animated films and about 30 narrative films to put together a 3- to 3½-hour show of student-made films.

The Independent Feature Film Channel Student Showcase is a New York City festival.

Roman's Empire, a film made by Jeff Schlags, Class of 1997, went on from the Can Film Fstival to the IFFCSS last year. Schlags received $1,000 and offers from the event.

Dan Mueller (senior-film and video) is the writer and director of The Boy Who Wanted To Dress Like A Girl, an experimental narrative film about the stereotypical society and gender issues.

The film cost its production team a total of $15,000 -- $3,000 for each member.

Putting all the hours and money into their films doesn't mean that film and video majors are given slack in their other classes.

"Put the film first" is Mueller's motto, but he recognizes the importance of getting to class and maintaining good grades.

With all the time involved in making a film, Hartley said it was challenging to balance filmmaking and classwork.

"It takes a lot of maturity to balance the intensity of making a film with academic activities," she said.