Centenary students to premiere original films at Robinson Film Center
SHREVEPORT, LA — Budding filmmakers will see their talents featured on the big screen at a red carpet event at Shreveport’s Robinson Film Center (RFC) later this month. Centenary students enrolled in Let’s Make a Movie!, a course offered during the College’s May Immersion Term, worked on every aspect of filmmaking to produce three original short films that will premiere at the RFC on Friday, May 25 at 12:00 p.m. The screening is free and open to the public.
Centenary’s May Immersion Term, or “module,” allows students to take intensive courses exploring topics and experiences outside their regular course of study, including several courses that incorporate an international component. Dr. Ross E. Smith and Dr. James Eakin, both faculty members at the College’s Hurley School of Music, debuted Let’s Make a Movie! as a new on-campus module this year. A total of 32 Centenary students put in 12-14 hour days for three weeks to produce the three short films that serve as the final project for the course.
The first step in the filmmaking process was a screenwriting contest open to any Centenary student. The student producers in the course put out a call for original screenplays of all genres, either five minutes or 10-15 minutes long. Danny Paulk received the $300 first prize for “Dracula, Machiavelli,” and Brandon Armstrong captured both second and third place with “Annye and De’De” and “Fooling Around,” respectively. Students then set to work turning each of the prize-winning scripts into a fully produced film.
“Some students worked behind the camera directing or filming, some acted on screen, some edited the film, some served as music supervisors to find existing music to edit into the sound track, some served as foley artists recording sound effects for the film, some composed an original music score and some wrote original songs to be included as source music, some worked as voiceover artists, and some worked the business/marketing angle of organizing a premiere film showing,” explains Smith. “In other words, we worked with students of all backgrounds and interests, with no prerequisite of any particular major, to discover the totality of filmmaking from an inside perspective.”
Students in the filmmaking course benefited from professional equipment donated by Fairfield Studios, including cameras, microphones, boom mikes, sound equipment, and lighting. Local film professionals Blayne Weaver, director of Cut to the Chase (2017), and Chris Lyon, a film editor who worked on Cut to the Chase as well as the TV series Salem, delivered guest lectures to the class and shared their experiences with the students.
For more information about the Let’s Make a Movie! course and RFC premiere event, contact Ross Smith at resmith@centenary.edu.