caption

Spartan Film Studios staff storyboards “Park Arcadia,” a short-film to be showcased at this year’s Cinequest Film Festival.

Student filmmakers may walk into the Radio-Television-Film department as amateurs but they are soon immersed in the filmmaking industry through Spartan Film Studios and the Cinequest Film Festival student short contest.

“Park Arcadia” takes audience on time leaping adventure

“Park Arcadia,” a short-film and “Mis Ojos Estan Sangrando” (“My Eyes Are Bleeding”), a student-short, will be showcased at this year’s Cinequest.

The whole point of going into film school is to have projects where you can also get real-world experience,” said Shebaz Aslam, ’13 Radio-Television-Film, producer, co-writer and cinematographer.

“Park Arcadia,” a high-concept short film, captures the story of a young woman who uses her murdered father’s invention, a dimension-jumping watch, to find a reality where he is alive.

Falling into this year’s Cinequest theme of “connect,” this film focuses on the main character desperately seeking to reconnect with her father, said Barnaby Dallas, Spartan Film Studios co-director.

dfas

Darren Rae, ’13 Radio-Television-Film and Shebaz Aslam, ’13 Radio-Television-Film.

Aslam said he and Darren Rae, ’13 Radio-Television-Film, director and co-writer, developed the short after brainstorming science fiction ideas about multi-dimensions.

Both Darren and I had been interested in film and we both dealt with the death of family member whom we were close to, and we played with this idea,” he said.

Rae said the film’s writing allows the audience to explore the character and what she experiences.

“It was about the character dealing with a loss,” he said. “I think everyone can relate to losing a loved one and this is something we wanted to capture and a way to engage with the audience.”

The film rivals anything that you would see professionally in Hollywood,” said Nick Martinez, co-director of Spartan Film Studios.

“Park Arcadia” was produced by an all-student crew with professional mentors during the summer.

“Mis Ojos Estan Sangrando”: A glimpse into a dark reality in Mexico

Liam Goulding, ’14 Radio-Television-Film, “Park Arcadia” script supervisor and casting director, said he enjoyed working with the crew in the summer program, but he also took it upon himself to submit his own student-short to Cinequest.

Mis Ojos Estan Sangrando” (“My Eyes Are Bleeding”) is a four and a half minute short that highlights the life of a filmmaker who is daunted by the task of filming the brutality of the Mexican cartels.

Goulding said this short is far from “cheesy zombie movies” he shot with his cousins at age 14.

My goal as a filmmaker with this short, and things after it,” he said, “is to just show everyone an issue [that provokes the question] how do you feel about it?”