Student Collaborations Featured in Short Film Festival

April 22, 2022

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — A spotlight will shine on collaborative work by film and theatre students during the second annual Guerrilla Film Festival in the Hansen Student Center from 7-10 p.m. on Monday, April 25.

The community is invited to join The School of Theatre Arts in celebrating the creation of six original short films during the showcase. See the trailer below:

“The quality of filmmaking is light years beyond any film work (previously) seen created on the IWU campus,” said Associate Professor of Theatre Arts Tom Quinn.

The films are a collaboration between students in various theatre programs. Each film is based upon scripts written by Quinn’s screenwriting students from May Term 2021. Students in Videography class and Acting for the Camera class worked collaboratively on the creation and execution of the short films.

“Students wrote, performed, filmed, edited, colored, scored and titled all of the films,” said Quinn. “The vision begins with the creativity of the screenwriters. It blossoms from there to fill out these projects, each in its own unique way.”

Quinn describes film work as a constant “race to the finish.”

“In fact, there's a saying in the film business: ‘You're never really done. You just run out of time.’ That said, I am immensely impressed with the talent and work ethic of our students,” said Quinn. “Filmmaking is one of the hardest jobs ever. So much goes into the making of each film. So much planning and preparation, endless complications, challenges and unexpected obstacles arise and must be managed with expedience in order to keep the process moving forward. And to do this during a pandemic, during one of the rainiest springs any of us can remember, is really quite an achievement.”

The titles of the original short films are as follows:

• The Curious Nature of Marquette Greens (Set in a cemetery with ghosts)
• She’s Gone (A murder-thriller, set in a vacation/lake house)
• The Beethoven Paradox (A time travel love story)
• Be Well (Set in a hospital’s psych ward)
• The Intersection (The friendship of two high school girls is tested when they get in a terrible crash after running a red light)
• Lex’s Revenge (A jealous younger brother is bent on ruining the dance contest for his older brother/golden boy)

“This is an exciting moment for our campus community,” said Quinn. “A new era is beginning. I hope everyone sees what an amazing thing this is, and comes out to see our students' amazing work.”

By Kailee Galloway ’23