Whitney Cyr

Managing Executive Editor

Sam Norton

A&E Editor

For freshman film students, Film Production 1 is their first chance at jumping into creating their very first films.

The students’ first major project is to work in groups to create a music video.

This semester’s crop of beginner film students will have their music videos screened in the Mabel Brown Room on Feb. 28, after weeks of hard work and diligence, according to Teaching Assistant Josh Demeule, who is a junior here at Keene State College.

Demeule said that the students in the Film Production 1 class develop concepts and select a song for their music video.

Demeule, who acts as a producer for this class, said that he and Professor of Film Lance Levesque play a role in guiding the students in the right direction.

The film production students have been working on their music videos for the past three to four weeks, and will be working on their projects for another two weeks before they debut at the Mabel Brown Room.

Demeule said that originally the music video night would take place in the Putnam Theatre.

Originally, when the event was held in the Putnam Theatre, there was an audience of 150 people.

However, because of the increase in popularity of the event, it was moved to the Mabel Brown Room. Demeule said the class is expecting between 225 and 250 people to attend the event.

This project not only gives film students experience filming firsthand, it is also an opportunity for them to debut their work for the first time in front of a live audience, Demeule said.

Demeule explained that it is important for students, especially first-year film students, to showcase their work in front of a live audience because it will provide them with the opportunity to experience firsthand a reaction to their work.

But for these students, composing a music video is more than just about getting that firsthand experience, it’s about developing a product that is their own–one that will provoke a reaction among audience members.

Freshman Joe Fusco said he absolutely loved working on the project this semester.

While he said it was time consuming, the pay off will be to see his group’s music videos presented in the Mabel Brown Room.

“Working with these guys has opened my eyes, when a bunch of filmmakers get together, we can make magic happen. In my high school, I was the only person who was interested in film,” Fusco said.

“Working with filmmakers, we get things done. It opens me up for the real business. It’s amazing.” His group’s music video features the song “Magic” by BOB.

The song, Fusco said, is fun and upbeat, which correlates to the theme and mood of Music Video Night.

Fusco was co-director of his group, and their music video consists of a magic wand being passed around from person to person.

“New kids are getting the wand and having fun with it. What would you do with ten seconds having a wand? That’s what we wanted to play with,” he said.

Figuring out what song to be the vehicle for the entire project can be a difficult task, said Fusco.

While many people in his group had very different tastes in music, finding one song that they would do the project on took a lot of meetings and a lot of negotiations, but they finally settled on “Magic.”

Fusco said he loved the experience working on the music video, and that in particular, the instructor, Lance Levesque, has a way to push each student to do their best.

“He brings so many ideas to the table, makes us think outside the box. He makes the impossible seems possible,” Fusco said.

“The ideas he gives are perfect, they make the videos that much better.”

Freshman film student Hazel Marder is also in the class and is gearing up for her group’s music video to be shown this Thursday.

“I’m really excited, that’s why I got into film,” she said. “I love watching people, I love seeing their reactions.”

Her group used the song “Young Men Dead” by the Black Angels. Marder said her group’s music video is gritty narrative.

She said that her classmates are so talented, which reaffirms her decision to be a filmmaker, because the class challenges her as a filmmaker.

Marder emphasized the fact that this project was group-oriented, as she herself was not only a director, but a writer and an actor.

Overall, Marder said her experience working on this project was a great one and she was looking forward to the screening of all the music videos.

In addition, Becca Connolly, a freshman film student said while the project was stressful, it was a chance to prove themselves as filmmakers.

She said the instructor of the course, Professor Levesque, pushes them to achieve more than they thought they could with the project.

“We’re expected to do great work in film production one,” she said. “We’ve honed in on new techniques, how to operate the cameras, how to edit. He’s really good at making sure we don’t accept what we already know.”

Connolly said this was her class’s chance to make a real film. “We were told to go forward and get crazy.”

The film production class will screen their videos at the Mabel Brown Room, which will be open to the public on Thursday, Mar. 5 at 10:30 p.m.

Whitney Cyr can be contacted at

wcyr@keene-equinox.com

Sam Norton can be contacted at

snorton@keene-equinox.com