Open Frame Film Fest

I must say, the student film festival is probably my favorite Malone event. It's so cool to see the ways different people choose to present their art. Last night's event was full of interesting films, some good, some bad.

I had a hard time picking my favorite film when it came time to vote for the Audience award. I ended up picking "When There are No Words." I really liked that this was the only serious film of the night, yet there were comedic moments. It was really well written and directed, and I'm glad it won best film. Losing a grandparent is something we've all probably experienced, so this film brought forth emotion from a lot of people I saw. Also, it was fun to see Dr. Case in a cameo appearance:)

I also really liked "Still Roomates." What an awesome use of music! This really showed how easy it is to communicate through song. I can't help but wonder how long it took them to find the songs and choreoraph it so perfectly, though. Very cool.

"Penn Hall" was also really cool, and I'm disappointed that they didn't win anything for it. I'm a sucker for "The Office," and this was a great parody of the show. I think a lot of the laughs came from the fact that these are people we know or have seen around campus; it was something that probably only was funny to Malone students. Maybe that's why it didn't get any awards? Nonetheless, I enjoyed it.

Here's what I don't like: music videos. I really just don't see the point of including these in the film festival. They're pretentious and contrived, and I jsut don't like them. I understand that these people put a lot of time and effort into making their music videos, but I have a hard time counting them as "short films," and isn't that what the film fest is supposed to be for? Maybe it's just me...


All in all, the film fest was a great way to spend a Saturday night, and I'm really glad I went. It kind of makes me want to make a film for next year's festival. We'll see.

Anyway, this is my last Mass Media blog of the semester. It's been fun, really it has. This class has taught me so much and has probaby been my favorite class of the semester(shh...don't tell my other professors!) I think I'm a more "media literate person" now. Mission accomplished, right?