I’ve gone to Visions for the past 4
years. The first one I attended, I wasn’t even a student here yet. I was just
touring the Film Department and the festival was on the same day, so my Dad and
I went and had a pretty good time watching some films. I was a freshman in
college then, now I’m a senior and I’m attending as a filmmaker. It was an
incredible experience going to a festival that recognizes undergrad filmmakers
and their short films. Since I had worked in Visions last year as an animator,
I knew that the festival and it’s staff treats undergrad filmmakers like a
normal festival would with feature filmmakers. It’s so they can get used to the
festival environment at a younger age.
This year’s festival has to be the
best I’ve ever attended. There was only one film that I didn’t really like, but
all of the others were well done and very creative. And the conference blocks
were equally interesting. They added a Visionary panel for local and alumni
filmmakers to talk about their experiences in the film industry in their
post-grad career. I hate to admit I was dozing off during that, but it was only
because I had been up since 3 or 4 in the morning that day. They had some great
things to say and they reassured me why I should continue working in film. I
hear every time from other filmmakers that “It’s a tough business” and “Not
everyone can be in it,” so on and so forth. But it’s inspiring to see younger
filmmakers say “Yeah, it is tough and you do have to work a lot to get
consistent work, but it’s far from impossible.” I knew a couple of the people
on the panel because they had only graduated a year or two ago, and now they’re
doing alright in the film business.
My favorite part of any film festival
is, of course, the films. Like I said, there was only one film that stood out
at bad or not as good as the rest, but both of the blocks this year were
spectacular. My favorite films were Dew Drop, because I love the blues
music inspiration and the overall style that the filmmakers chose to go with
that film, and The Bumblebees, because it was something I did not expect
overall. I did really enjoy Everyday Heroes: The Story of Dr. Hooves because
it’s concept was so bizarre that I had no choice but to love it. I’m still
curious how someone was able to conjure up the idea of that film. The film Period
Stories took the crowd by surprise because I don’t think anybody would
think of making a film about menstruation in such a way. I was sitting next to
a couple of my friends, and the look on their faces was that of enjoyment and
awkwardness at the same time. I’m sure that was the look on my face too, because
that’s how I felt. But it was well-edited together and a well-crafted film.
The conference blocks were different
this year because the number of presenters was reduced from 8 to 4. Not sure
why it was that way, but each of the topics were intriguing. I’m glad someone
talked about sequelization and re-issues of blockbuster films since it’s
definitely a trend in Hollywood right now. However, that presentation did go on
longer than the other three. Someone told me the night before at the Visions
dinner that someone was doing a presentation on the film Creep (2015), which I
think is the most underrated, and best, horror film of last year. So I was
looking forward to what the presenter had to say. He really entertained the
audience with his points about the queer other in films. My friend Travis, who
I got paired with for the video race, made a presentation about Cinema Verité
and fly-on-the-wall style of shooting. While each of his points were
fascinating, I wish it didn’t have to be about New Wave films, because I cannot
stand New Wave films. I just finished a class this semester on the History of
New Wave, mainly because I needed the credit, but I could not stand watching
any of the films. Travis almost made me like New Wave pictures for a bit, but I
will acknowledge that his presentation was well done and he was very confident
about his material.
Am I allowed to say that I really
enjoyed the film race if my group won? Because I will say that. Doing the video
race reminded me of what’s great about run-and-gun filmmaking. We just went out
with a prop and a line, and we had to come up with something. It was like going
out with a camera when you were a kid and filming with your friends. As soon as
we finished shooting, which was WAY before anyone else had finished, we started
getting cocky. We were telling other groups that we were going to win before we
had seen other videos. Once we saw those other videos, I’ll admit I was scared
that we may have talked a bit too much because there were some really good ones
this year. We won, of course. Which both surprises me and doesn’t surprise me.
We had some really good blocking and a solid concept, but everyone else really
pulled out the stops to try and win. I really want to keep making films like
that during down times.
Overall, the festival was loads of
fun this year. I can’t believe it’s already over because I was pretty hype that
my film got in and that I got a day off to spend with other filmmakers. All I
can say is, good luck Visions 7, the bar has been raised pretty high.
