Cinema Showcase features six original capstone films by McDaniel seniors
The six senior Cinema majors premiering their original films during Cinema Showcase have created capstone films that are personally important to them, essentially putting a part of who they are up on the screen.
The six senior Cinema majors premiering their original films during Cinema Showcase on May 3 at 7 p.m. have created capstone films that are personally important to them, essentially putting a part of who they are up on the screen.
“Facing formidable time and technical challenges in the process of making their film, each is committed to that impossible vision,” says McDaniel Cinema professor Richard Brett, who advised and mentored this year’s capstone filmmakers. “And in this year’s McDaniel Cinema Showcase, they will be sharing those visions, made real, with all of us.”
Each film was written, directed, produced and edited by a McDaniel College Cinema major as a portfolio of their work. The showcase of 20-minute films is free and open to the public and screens in Decker Auditorium, Lewis Hall of Science.
“The making of any movie is a new mountain to climb, and there are at least a hundred good reasons why any film — from Hollywood or elsewhere — should not even be possible to complete,” says Brett. “To create a film you must be a combination of artist, leader, psychologist, writer, technician, motivational coach, and all around trouble-shooter...just to name a few.
“The McDaniel Cinema program, like the study of the liberal arts in general, is all about accomplishing the impossible. And that inestimable talent applies not only to making a movie but to succeeding in any field of human endeavor that a student might face after graduation.”
As the culmination of their cinema studies at McDaniel, capstone films reflect all that Cinema students have learned within their majors, including “the history and theory underlying modern cinema, how to construct and write a solid story from the ground up, and the myriad creative, technical, and human relations tools necessary to bring that story to the screen,” Brett says.
2018 Cinema Showcase films:
• “Apostasy” (drama thriller) by writer/director Sarah Edmonds, a senior Cinema and English major from Quakertown, Pa.
Description: Mary Weiss, a young art teacher from Philadelphia, moves with her girlfriend Hannah to a rural town thinking that this marks the next chapter in their relationship. However, in a town controlled by a religious extremist, hostility soon begins to rise both around and within Mary's relationship. Tensions escalate until both Mary's love and her life are put in jeopardy.
• “House 213” (drama thriller) by writer/director Jacob Fernandez, a senior Cinema major from Manchester, Md.
Description: Three young ambitious thieves looking to move up in the criminal world are hired to extract a precious object from a local residence. The house seems relatively easy to access but, upon entering, the crew finds the situation is not what it first seemed.
• “Jet Lag” (fiction drama) by writer/director Caitlin Ramos, a senior Cinema major from Manalapan, N.J.
Description: Emma, a senior English major, returns to her college town after spending a semester abroad in London. As her graduation approaches, she must decide whether to pursue her long distance relationship or start a career in America.
• “Lost to Fire” (fiction drama) by writer/director Maurice Hargrave, a senior Cinema major from Baltimore
Description: “Lost to Fire” follows a teen who has agoraphobia and is afraid to leave his home. When someone breaks into his house one night, the boy must make a decision to finally leave that house or risk something worse inside. This film is about the power of fear and trauma and their abilities to trap us.
• “Rosw(i)ll” (science-fiction drama) by writer/director Dakota Durant, a senior Cinema major from Clarksburg, Md.
Description: This is the backstory of what really happened on July 7, 1947, in Roswell, New Mexico. Will and Jack move into their first home together to discover a book which takes them on an incredible journey through time and space in search of the ‘Lifestone.’ Not knowing an evil alien species is in pursuit of that stone, Will must quickly grasp his true purpose in order to save Jack and the entire cosmos from being ruled by another intergalactic species.
• “Unless” (documentary) by writer/director Ana Salas, a senior Cinema major from Windermere, Fla.
Description: After struggling to find a place to take her recycling, Salas examines what McDaniel College is doing to address sustainability and what others can do to help the planet.
