By Kayla Williamson and Ethan Campbell
It’s a Friday afternoon in late February and the shelves of the Trevecca Media Arts cage are empty.
Seth Henderson, sophomore student worker, has just finished handing out all of the equipment reservations to the Trevecca Media Arts students. Each student walks out carrying three or four bags containing lighting, sound and video gear. Some have to make multiple trips to retrieve all of their equipment. These students are preparing to shoot either mini-documentaries and short films for class or Trevecca’s first annual film festival.
The Trevecca Media Arts Program is hosting its first annual film festival on April 27 in the Quick Lecture Hall in Waggoner.
The deadline for submission is March 23.
Students may submit entries in five categories: short film, mini-doc, screenplay, music video, and commercial/PSA. Entries will be screened, with a selection going to the judges and being shown at the event in April.
The judges will not be revealed to the students and will be industry professionals, graduates from different programs, and people who have expertise in the industry. Awards will be given to the best film in each category, along with best actor and best musical composition.
Many students are submitting work that they completed for classes, and work that they made outside of class. Zach Vaughn, senior media arts major, has already submitted two videos he worked on last year, and is in the final stages of writing a screenplay.
Last year, in the spring semester of 2018, the Trevecca Media Arts Program hosted a showcase for students’ work. They picked projects and just showed as many as they could. This time, they wanted to give students a chance to submit the work they want shown, said Seth Conley, associate professor of communication studies.
“We thought that would be a really great way to do that because it allows us to highlight and allow students to compete,” said Conley. “It’s a reflection of the real world. Film festivals… are becoming more and more prevalent, and becoming more and more a pathway for a filmmaker to get into the industry.”
Mariana Da Silva, media arts major and organizer of the event, said that students should try to keep the films Trevecca appropriate.
“The biggest part of this is getting students’ films seen by friends,” said Da Silva. “And just giving them confidence and a platform to have their work viewed and appreciated.”
Conley hopes the campus community will attend the event.
“I’m looking forward to allowing other people at Trevecca to see what I get to see coming out of classes every single day, or at least very often,” said Conley. “There’s such good work coming out of our students in the media arts program especially, that I get to see, but that a lot of other people don’t get to see.”
Organizers want to emphasize that students don’t have to be a Media Arts Major to submit a film to the film festival. All students are welcome to participate in both the competition and the event and bring their friends and family along.
“Even if you’re not a film person, and you want to come and support friends and just view some really cool films, and see what Trevecca is doing,” said Da Silva. “This is a really good place to celebrate people’s work.”
All films must be student made. Students can submit a film for each category, but only one per category. The films must be saved onto a flash drive or a hard drive, but specifics can be worked out after the student’s submission form is turned in.
All submissions can be sent to Da Silva through submission forms on the Media Art’s Facebook page. Printed submissions are available in Tidwell or email Da Silva at MCDasilva@trevecca.edu. The deadline for submissions is March 23.
