Every quarter the DU Film Club produces a new short or film to be released on YouTube, Vimeo and even for live viewings. The club offers the chance for young film buffs and film majors alike to get their hands on a camera and start the production process.
This quarter, the film club decided to extend their production process for the purpose of diving deeper into their new project “Not So Still Life.” They are currently working on storyboarding, scripting, casting and other pre-production aspects before finally moving to production in the spring quarter.
The club gives students opportunities to make mistakes and gain confidence as they practice the production process. Club president and founder of the DU Film Club, David Painter, commented on his motivation for starting the club.
“The club caters more toward first and second-year students. Especially in the film department, you are not able to get into the production classes and get your hands on a camera until much later in your college career. The goal of the club was to give those first years and second years the opportunity to still make stuff even if they’re not in a class,” Painter said.
This quarter, the club has been focusing on their upcoming film “Not So Still Life” written and directed by club member Saroja Manickam. The film strays away from the club’s history of producing horror movies and thrillers. “Not So Still Life” is going to be the first film that is entirely drama oriented. The story is about a young girl who has lost her zest for life and her unlikely relationship with a quite spirited 70-year-old art thief.
Painter expanded on the plot of the upcoming film, “Essentially it’s a story all about female friendships. It’s about a down-on-her-luck high school girl named Dylan who’s losing her passion for life and doesn’t know what to do next. She goes to an art gallery and comes across a 70-year-old woman named Edith who has the zest for life she’s looking for, but how she gets it is through stealing art. Dylan then gets roped into this scene where the two develop a friendship through stealing art together,” Painter said.
This film is unique in many notable aspects aside from the genre. Manickam will be the club’s third female director of a project. The ideas of female friendship explored came from the mind of Manickam and were developed by women. Lucy Richardson, a club member on the production team for “Not So Still Life,” experienced the process firsthand.
“A notable thing is the last meeting we had was a room full of women with 12 women in the scriptwriting room. Our club was only founded four years ago, and I was the first female member of the executive board and only three female directors historically,” Richardson said. An independent female filmmaker writing, pitching and directing her own film is a new thing for the club. Content-wise the movie has a majority female cast. Not only is the film club working towards improving its production process during this year, but it has also decided to focus on having a diverse group of voices by bringing female creators to the forefront. The film is expected to be finished in the late weeks of spring quarter. You can follow its progress and club updates on the club’s Instagram or subscribe to their YouTube channel.
