While the majority of full-length feature movies on the big screen take months to complete, a group of determined USC students are taking on the challenge to complete a short film within a week.
The 17th annual Campus Movie Fest is the world’s largest student film festival, and this is their eighth year traveling to USC. What originally began as an experimental idea led by four students at Emory University in 2001 has expanded to more than 30 universities nationwide.
Each year, CMF provides students with professional equipment to make any short film for free, as long as it is five minutes or less and shot within the week. By the end of the week, the Top 16 films from each school are shown at a red carpet premiere on their respective campuses. The Top 4 films from each school are invited to compete nationally in Atlanta, Georgia, at TERMINUS. From TERMINUS, some filmmakers and their crews are eligible to apply to showcase their films at the Cannes International Film Festival or even have their films available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Hailey Abernathy, a former participant, placed into the Top 16 at Old Dominion University in 2016 and now works as a co-op for CMF, where she is able to mentor aspiring filmmakers.
“We just want to give students the experience with this equipment and the chance to tell their story,” Abernathy said.
Although CMF is a competition, the event is not exclusive to film studies students. Staff members stress that everyone is encouraged to create, even if their creation is presented in a nontraditional format. According to promotions manager Danielle Cook, they’ve seen it all.
“We get people … eating lunch, we get people dancing, we get people shutting off lights and calling it electricity,” Cook said.
Both Cook and Abernathy agree that the most popular genres are comedy, horror and documentary.
This year, CMF was hoping for a huge turnout from USC students, and over 200 students already signed up on the day of their launch. Among those participating is a team of 20 students who have been developing their buddy-cop comedy since fall.
Devin Vest, a first-year media arts student, is directing his first feature short film, “Good Cop, Good Cop." While he came up with the concept of the film himself, Vest credits its success to the collaboration of his cast and crew, fellow members of the only short film club on campus, SGTV’s “1080c."
“It's so much more appealing to work on a set and be able to work with other people who want to see my film succeed,” Vest said. “Like a well-oiled machine, watching all these different parts (lights, sound, acting, directing) come together and produce a successful final product is one of the most rewarding experiences.”
Fourth-year economics and finance student Ethan Ravens is the film’s executive producer and describes “Good Cop, Good Cop” as “a comedy about two cops who are so overly kind and good that it inhibits their ability to be competent police officers."
During filming, I got a chance to visit the cast and crew on set where they took me step-by-step through the hectic process of shooting a short film in a week, while navigating through bad weather at the same time.
1. Crafting a concept
Vest said that the inspiration for their film came from a joke that he made in fall while working on a different film.
“Me and ... Ethan Ravens were playing cops that entered at the end of the film," Vest said. "We were just walking around the set asking people to politely put their hands up."
Everyone on that set seemed to love it, so Vest decided to turn it into a full script.
2. Writing a script
“Writing the script was pretty simple and easy," Vest said. "The hardest part of writing the script was after I finished it. Due to the 5-minute limit ... many of the jokes and lines that I wrote and loved had to be removed for eligibility."
He hopes that a longer version, including some of the parts he had to cut, could be made in the future.
3. Assembling the cast and crew
In total, there are 20 members in the cast and crew of “Good Cop, Good Cop," including a director of photography, cameraman, script supervisor, composer and even a caterer. The crew invited actors to closed auditions, and several of those who were chosen are also involved in productions on campus such as, “The Crucible.”
For many of the cast and crew, this is their first time working in these positions. Ravens said the value of working with the cast and crew is gaining experience.
“The part of the club that is important to me is learning … making dope stuff comes second to learning," he said.
4. Choosing locations
For "Good Cop, Good Cop," producer Sally Wardlaw chose three main locations. The first location was Horizon Parking Garage, another was Sally’s sister's house and the last location was Sally’s cousin's house. The homes are just a few blocks from each other, so it wasn't difficult for the filming to move from one location to another.
5. Shooting the film
After all of this planning and preparation, the team has a week to shoot and edit the film.
“Both days we filmed were extremely cold," Vest said.
He said he ended up getting the flu from shooting in the bad weather, but when I visited them at the garage Sunday, everyone on set seemed to be in good spirits despite the cold and rain. In addition to the weather, Wardlaw said other major challenges were scheduling and making sure everyone shows up on time.
If "Good Cop, Good Cop" makes the Top 16, it will premiere this Thursday night in the Russell House ballroom. There is a reception at 6 p.m., doors open at 7 p.m., and the Top 16 picks will begin at 7:30 p.m.