SUTV and student director Dylan Dalton won two prestigious Accolade Global Film Competition Awards of Recognition for the film “Homestead.” The awards are in the special purpose production and college/university/government categories.
Established in 2003, the Accolade Global Film Competition is an avant-garde worldwide competition that strives to give talented directors, producers, actors, creative teams and new media creators the positive exposure they deserve. It discovers and honors the achievements of filmmakers who produce high-quality shorts and new media. Winners from the Accolade Global Film Competition have gone on to win Oscars, Emmys, Tellys and other awards.
Professor Jon Smith wrote the script and had students from COMM 4760: Advance Video and Film Production help him produce the short film. “Homestead” is about a ghost, Sarah, who lives at Frontier Homestead State Park because she feels that it is the best life for her. The film features exceptional ghost special effects and has a humorous storyline.
What students can expect
“What we try to emphasize in the advanced video/film class is that it is a real-world application, so we produce videos for real-world situations,” said Smith. “It is a service-learning class where we try to serve people, communities, organizations, and then the students do their own real-world situation.”
Students can work hands-on in a professional film production by taking the class. A lot more goes on behind the scenes than meets the eye, providing students with a great opportunity to learn more about the process.
“Definitely take Jon’s class,” stated Dalton. “I have worked on short films before on my own, but working as a class with an actual budget, a real crew, paid actors and actual stakes — there isn’t a better learning experience.”
The class allows students to really hone their skills and career aspirations. Dalton worked with other students to explain his vision for the film, which was one of his biggest learning curves during the production. Not only is it good for students who are interested in creating the film but also those who aspire to be actors like Hannah McKinnon, who played Becky, the film’s second main character.
In “Homestead,” Becky can talk to Sarah, who in turn teaches Becky about the history of the Frontier Homestead State Park and helps correct her outlook on life.
“Personally, I loved my character and wish we could make a longer film to sneak in even more development,” said McKinnon about her character. She also noted that, as a theatre student, she faced some problems during the filming process. “It was challenging at first with Becky to jump right into out-of-order scenes. In theatre, we get to experience the entire story from start to finish every night, so the first day of shooting, I felt so out of touch with her.”
McKinnon later talked about how projects like this can help students understand the filming process, even if it is not a desirable position. Simply watching the process can go a long way. One hands-on position is the editor, who makes all the final changes after the film has been shot. Isabel De La Casa did the ghost effects that give an illuminating light around Sarah, and she expressed that producing special effects in film is no easy task.
“My original plan was to take the final video into After Effects, rotoscope the ghost actor Sarah and apply a glow effect around the subject, easy peasy. When it came to visual effects editing, that plan actually didn’t work at all, and scrapping the VFX became a real possibility at that point,” Isabel admitted. “As a last ditch effort, I took the video back in Adobe Premiere Pro and experimented with using a mask effect with opacity and feathering. It ended up taking way longer to apply the VFX this way, but truthfully, it makes me appreciate my work that much more.”
Besides being a great project for students, the film also launched the Frontier Homestead State Park’s 50th year anniversary celebration. Park manager Giani Julander and her staff were thinking about what they should do to commemorate the anniversary when Smith came to them with the idea to produce “Homestead.” It was a great idea and perfect timing for both Southern Utah University and the Frontier Homestead State Park.
“SUU is a big part of the community,” stated Julander. “I see SUU doing a lot of good in the community. A lot of people came to that [film release], and we have had a lot of positive feedback about the film because it really does tell more of our story about the history we are trying to teach at the park.”
The film gives the park more content to use in its theatre and provides visitors with more information about Cedar City’s history in a fun way. Those who are interested can also watch “Homestead” here. If students are interested in joining COMM 4760, it is only taught in the spring semester, and for more information, they can reach out to Smith or their counselor for help to apply.
Author: Chevy Blackburn
Photos courtesy of Jon Smith
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