Red carpet film festival showcases filmmaking talent
Posted by The Skyliner on April 15th, 2009Kellan Mayfield
Staff Writer
David Jackson senior elementary education presenting Jared Snead senior media ministry with the award for the best 3-minute film entitled The Tune of the Caged Bird. Snead's film was inspired by the Jon Foreman song, 'My Love Goes Free.' (Photo by Trey Lancaster)
Last Monday, the NGU Film Club held its first annual Red Carpet Film Festival, an event created to display and award exceptional achievement in amateur filmmaking. The festival was held in Hayes Ministry Center at 7 p.m., and coffee and desserts were served.
The Jazz Ensemble opened the evening’s festivities, and alumnus Chris Hecke was present to host the event. Autumn McAbee, the newly crowned Miss NGU, was also in attendance to present one of the awards. Mrs. Elena Lee’s Painting I class from the Art department also provided artwork for the Hayes foyer.
This year’s Red Carpet awards saw nine entries from NGU and other nearby schools. The films ranged from five minute, 10 minute, and 30 minute films, as well as documentaries. The films were judged by Nathan Willis, an NGU Broadcast Media alumnus, Jesse Contreras, a graduate of renowned film school Full Sail University, and Dr. Linwood Hagin, Mass Communications Chair.
“Impressively, the event came out very well,” Carmen Miller, Film Club president, said. “We had about 50 attendants including the presenters and filmmakers.”
Awards were presented to Justin Robinson for his five-minute film Fear and Heidi Ferster for her 10-minute film Lost in translation. Craig Sanders won an award for his documentary Legacy: The Reservation Legend, and Jared Snead took home the for award his 30-minute film The Tune of the Caged Bird, which was one of the highlights of the night.
“The overall inspiration [for the movie] was from the song ‘My Love Goes Free’ by Jon Foreman,” Snead said. “There were also some different stories that had happened to some of my friends, and I took those stories, combined them with a few things that have happened to me, and then made what is in the movie.”
The film also resonated with Miller, who believes Snead’s film has a healing quality to it.
“I know that we have been through some rough times this semester due to losing loved ones, and the message of his film has especially comforting for me,” Miller said. “The message of The Tune of the Caged Bird is that no matter how bad life’s circumstances become, God is always there for us. Life is not fair, but through those tough times we become stronger and He is our strength through difficult times.”
Miller says that the Film Club’s goal is to collectively learn, teach and pursue a passion in the film industry. She believes that the Red Carpet awards helped convey this goal and hopes that through more events like it, filmmaking will one day become a concentration at NGU.
Shawn Stom and Carmen Miller formed the Film Club this past semester specifically for students interested in the film industry and movie making. The club currently has 25 members and has held three meetings, two of which consisted of interviews with Scott Derrickson, writer and director of The Day the Earth Stood Still, and John Hendon, camera operator for WYFF.
Miller expresses excitement for next year’s Red Carpet awards, as well as two Film Club productions and an interview with Phil Cooke, a Christian media consultant and producer. She encourages any students interested in filmmaking or producing to get involved and to check out the NGU Film Club.