With COVID-19 hitting pandemic proportions, the film industry was one of the many industries to close down in the Summer of 2020. As film crews worked out ways to get back to work, Cinema faculty and staff worked to create a system for our students to follow suit.
The majority of the seniors chose to hold off to the Fall to give us time to come up with a plan in which they could safely create films in small groups. This time was key — both film schools and our colleagues in the industry took some time to wrap their minds around this unprecedented event.
Putting COVID-19 guidelines in place, our (now) fourth-year students created an anthology series consisting of three COVID-friendly modified stories.
Says newly minted Alumna Olivia, “Our production and safety limitations actually allowed for creative opportunities we’ve never had before in Cinema. As a writer, it was an exciting new experience to write a short in context with two others and have them each be unique yet tonally and thematically cohesive with the other two. As a director, I never would’ve made this particular film without these circumstances, but I’m really happy with what the crew and I created. This experience has made me excited to try new styles and continue exploring my voice as a filmmaker. Shooting these films on a much smaller crew than we’re used to in Cinema was the reassurance I needed to know that my peers and I are capable of making good films independently.”
Although it has been challenging, the students have used these guidelines to their advantage to make some amazing movies.
We couldn’t be more proud of them all to have accomplished this semester and we are completely inspired by their hard work and great films!
Huge Congrats to the Class of 2020!
