Author: alexlambmovieman

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Copy editing example 2

I copy edited this story by Delaney Reyburn and had to correct and clarify the timeline, add the films into the story, clarify where information was from, correct titles and rephrase sentences. It originally ran in the University Daily Kansan Oct. 28, 2014.

¡Vamos! Film Festival brings Spanish culture to Oldfather Studios

¡Vamos! Spanish Language Film Festival is the first festival of its kind to be held at the University. The festival is showing a series of four different films in hopes of starting a new tradition of Spanish film festivals. Margaret Jamieson, one of the organizers of ¡Vamos!, hopes with the success of this festival, it will be the first of many.

“The University of Kansas has an incredible wealth of language programs, and people that I met early on here at KU really pointed out to me what a unique thing it is in Kansas, or in the Midwest really, that there are so many languages,” Jamieson said.

Jamieson, who moved to Lawrence from the Bay Area a year ago, is a lecturer in film and media studies at the University and a large contributor to the festival, which began Oct. 15 and runs through Nov. 14. The festival celebrates the film cultures of Chile, Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil and Spain.

With Jamieson’s Hispanic background, she has always been interested in the Spanish language and culture and how it can be found in all different places.

The festival is halfway through its series of four screenings. The next film, “El regreso,” (“The Return”) will screen Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in room 100 of Oldfather Studios. The final screening, “Xingu,” will be in the auditorium of the Spencer Museum Nov. 5 at 5:30 p.m. All the screenings are open to the public. Jamieson said the last two showings contained a mix of people, from faculty and students to community members.

Jamieson said the films in the festival may never have the chance to be distributed through the United States, so festivals such as ¡Vamos! make it possible to bring these different cultures to the U.S.

“Some of the films are a little bit challenging,” Jamieson said. “Some of these films you have maybe seen at a film festival in New York or in California but some not even that, you have to find really specific film festivals to view these films.”

Jamieson said many departments and organizations were involved in the contributions that have made ¡Vamos! possible. It was also funded in part with a grant from PRAGDA, a New York-based distribution company of Spanish and Latin American films.

Having previously known about PRAGDA, Jamieson and her team decided to apply for the grant. This led to her working with the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, as well as a couple people from international programs such as international and interdisciplinary studies at the University.

Jamieson said aside from the help of PRAGDA, EGARC (Ermal Garinger Academic Resource Center) was the festival’s largest financial supporter, and it made a commitment to purchase the films and make them available through the University’s library. EGARC is an academic unit within the Humanities division of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.

Being fairly new at the University, Jamieson said it was very pleasing to be able to successfully pull this festival off.

“What’s been really exciting to me as a new person here at KU is being able to work with all these different groups: the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, graduate students, EGARC, the anthropology department and global and international studies,” Jamieson said. “It’s just this fantastic group of people, I can’t say enough about how all of these groups helped us.”

Jamieson said graduate students from the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and from the Department of Spanish and Portuguese helped select the film for the final ¡Vamos! screening. Since the business school is having its Brazilian festival the same night, they decided to combine the two events to avoid splitting the audience.

Graduate student of film and media studies, Stephanie Wille from Lawrence, said the festival has been really exciting for her.

“I love seeing culture and film being brought together,” she said. “It really shows how expansive the film industry is becoming.”

Jamieson said the motivation for the festival does not stem from anything specific going on in Latin American cinema currently, but rather comes from issues about nationality and immigration that affect us all, and the directors of these films are working with that.

“They’re making really innovative, expansive work which still expands many of the Hollywood traditions,” Jamieson said.

Although ¡Vamos! hasn’t been a tradition at Kansas, film festivals in general are routinely held by the Center for Global and International Studies.

“It’s just really the multitude of groups and departments of people who want to be able to present these films and discuss them that allowed all of this to come together,” Jamieson said.

The Films:

“También la lluvia” (“Even the Rain”) was shown on Oct. 15 as the opening film of the festival. Viewers were able to watch this film about exploration in South America while eating homemade tamales cooked by a local Mexican chef.

“La muerte de Pinochet” (“The Death of Pinochet”) explores Chilean history. It was followed by a Q&A with the film’s director, Ivan Osnovikoff. This documentary, screened Oct. 20, is a very challenging film, Jamieson said.

“It’s a really interesting film but it does not hold your hand, if you don’t know Chilean history, you don’t know who Pinochet was, it doesn’t really baby you along,” Jamieson said.

The upcoming third film, “El regreso” (“The Return”), will be shown Wednesday night at 6:30 in room 100 of Oldfather Studios. It tells the story of a New York immigrant’s trip home to Costa Rica.

The final screening, “Xingu,” will take place on Nov. 5 at the Spencer Museum of Art Auditorium. This film is based on a true story about the exploration of Brazil in 1943. A discussion with professor of Spanish and Portuguese, Luciano Tosta, will follow the film.

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Copy editing example 1

I edited this story written by Miranda Davis, restructuring it, identifying the year and hometown of the sources and fixing other errors or rewording phrases. Originally published in the Aug. 25, 2014 University Daily Kansan.

Student Senate results overriden, re-election required

The Student Senate executive staff – Morgan Said, a senior from Kansas City, Mo., Miranda Wagner, a senior from Shawnee, and their hired officers – has been removed from office.

Emma Halling, a senior from Elkhart, Ind. and former student body vice president, is acting as interim student body president until new leadership is determined with a re-election.

In a decision released Friday, the University Judicial Board Appeals Panel overrode the results of the current Student Senate election and required a re-election of Student Senate positions, including President Said and Vice President Wagner, in the coming weeks.

The Panel met Wednesday to hear an appeal that argued that the results were distorted because all votes for Jayhawkers, whose members were disqualified in April, were not counted. The Panel agreed in its decision and determined the Elections Commission should hold a re-election.

“We conclude that the only reasonable reading of the Election Code is that, first, the election results were ‘materially altered by a violation of the Code,’ and, second, a new election is required,” the Panel said in its decision, signed by chair Thomas Stacy and Panel members Michelle Ginavan Hayes and Lisa Wolf-Wendel.

The decision says the Commission has flexibility in determining the rules of the new election:

“We stress that although the Code plainly requires a new election in cases such as this, it does not specify rules for the conduct of such an election. This means that the Commission necessarily has a large range of discretion in adapting and interpreting the Code for this purpose. It also means that many challenges to the Commission’s conduct of the new election must surmount of the very high bar of showing that Commission has abused its discretion.”

The Panel also mentions on page four and five of the decision that “the only reasonable means of eliminating . . . irrelevant guesswork, given that approximately 60% of the voters cast votes for the Jayhawkers candidates, is to ask those voters which eligible candidate they prefer. And the only feasible mechanism for doing this is to hold a new election.”

The appeal heard on Aug. 21 was brought to the Panel by Eli Hymson, a sophomore from Parkland, Fla. It was denied by the Student Senate Court of Appeals on May 2, the 2,662 votes for Jayhawkers were nullified, and Student Senate executive staffmembers took office in May.

The disqualification of Jayhawkers stems from a violation brought to the Commission by Grow KU about an incomplete financial report after a member of the coalition allegedly purchased Chipotle for other members on March 30.

On April 8, the Elections Commission disqualified the entire Jayhawkers coalition. Because this happened the night before the election, Jake Rapp, a graduate student from Lawrence and then-chair of the Commission, said he kept the Jayhawkers on the ballot because they had the right to appeal within 48 hours of the decision, which they filed April 9.

The Student Senate Court of Appeals announced April 10 it would not hear the appeal as there was a potential conflict of interest. It deferred the appeal to the University Judicial Board Appeals Panel, which upheld the decision to disqualify Jayhawkers on April 24.

The Commission released the unofficial results, which did not include Jayhawkers candidates, on April 27. It certified the election and released the full results, with Jayhawkers included, on April 29.

The full results showed that MacKenzie Oatman, a senior from Wichita, and Mitchell Cota, a senior from Overland Park, presidential and vice presidential candidates for the disqualified Jayhawkers coalition, received 61.4 percent of the vote, Said and Wagner of Grow KU received 31.6 percent, and Kevin Hundelt, a senior from St. Louis, Mo., and Sara Anees, a senior from Wichita, of Crimson & True received 6.9 percent.

Moving forward, the Elections Commission will meet this week to set parameters for the upcoming Student Senate re-election, according to Mark Pacey, a graduate student from Manhattan and the acting chair of the Elections Commission. They will have to decide who is allowed to participate in the re-election. He said he hopes to hold the re-election as soon as possible.

Pacey said he thinks the election will only be between candidates that participated in last year’s election and were not disqualified — meaning only members of Crimson and True and Grow KU — as the decision to disqualify members of Jayhawkers was upheld by the Panel in April. He said at this time, no new coalitions can be formed.

Oatman said she does not believe this is the correct understanding of the Appeals Panel’s decision and would like to see an entirely new election.

“What needs to happen is a new election needs to be held where new candidates can come, new coalitions can form and it doesn’t have to be just the people who were on the ballot. That’s how I read ‘new election,’” Oatman said.

Halling said she plans to meet with Tyler Childress, a law student from Coffeyville and last year’s chief of staff, and Reuben Perez, director of Student Involvement Leadership Center, to clarify the exact course of action based on Student Senate Rules and Regulations.

She said Marcus Tetwiler, a graduate from Paola and last year’s student body president, left in May and for that reason she has stepped into his role. For the same reason, Childress will resume his position as chief of staff.

Said said she is confident in Halling’s ability to lead the student body until a new president is elected.

“I will say that we are complying with what’s been mandated and will continue to have the student body’s interests in mind,” Said said.

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‘Gone Girl’ critiques marriage through its shocking mystery

This was originally published in the University Daily Kansan on Oct. 6, 2014.

On the surface, “Gone Girl” is a mystery thriller about the search for Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike) after she disappears on her fifth wedding anniversary. The case brings a firestorm of media attention, especially once her husband Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) is suspected of killing her.

But the movie’s really about what’s hidden underneath the surface — the ugliness of people’s true selves, and the show they put on to convince everyone else they’re living normal and happy existences. This is specifically applied to marriage.

Amy’s journal entries give us insight into her relationship with Nick and her side of the story. We see a blissful courtship and the first several years of marriage in New York City, but that marriage evolves into an increasingly toxic beast, following economic troubles and their move to Nick’s small Missouri hometown. These scenes feel distinctly like memories instead of objective flashbacks. They are straight to the point, inherently emotional and enhanced through Amy’s narration of her effectively written prose.

They come piece by piece, interspersed between the deepening search for Amy. The search includes community efforts, the investigation of the detective (Kim Dickens) and the police officer (Patrick Fugit) heading the case. Nick tries to figure everything out with his only confidante, his twin sister (Carrie Coon).

Then, about an hour in, the first layer of “Gone Girl” peels back in a jaw-dropping twist that changes the direction of the film’s gears from an enthralling mystery to a rivetingly, ingeniously plotted thriller. By the chilling end, it has changed into a satire about the politics of marriage and relationships — one guaranteed to spark conversation.

Kansas City, Mo., native and Kansas alumna Gillian Flynn adapted her best seller into the brilliantly paced screenplay, which retains the sprawling feel of a lengthy and extensively detailed novel, packed with frequent surprises and well-developed characters even on the supporting level. Her commentary about marriages prickles with raw honesty and cuts deep with razor wire sharpness, while also eliciting thorny laughs. Flynn’s take on Fox News-type analysts eating the characters alive in a case like this is cleverly funny too, while showing how easily the public opinion can be swayed.

Audience perceptions of Nick and Amy constantly shift, the way the public’s perceptions of famous figures or those under national scrutiny change when a shocking scandal comes to light or when they say something inspiring or offensive. Both of them have secrets we discover, and Nick particularly has trouble balancing his offhand charm against smarm, not acting how the media expects an innocent man with a missing wife to act.

Affleck has never fit a role so well. Nick’s situation recalls the early years of Affleck’s career, when he showed some initial promise but then slid into dramatic dullness and relied on his sweet-talking allure to sustain him. Affleck nails the put-upon incredulity and emotional distance, while still remaining likable as we learn he’s not such a good guy.

Even more surprising is Pike, a revelation here that should make her a star. She’s so sweet and smart, and once her hidden side is dug up, she embodies that difference so deeply she puts viewers in an entrancing state of astonishment. The whole film hinges on completely believing her performance, and she pulls viewers to the edge of their seats.

And yet, masterful director David Fincher is the one perfecting every little detail that ultimately makes “Gone Girl” the kind of movie that leaves a deep, deep impact on the psyche and enraptures as an enormously entertaining experience. Every shot draws the viewer in closer to the story, the nuance is always felt, the visual storytelling and editing captivate with gripping control and when something crazy happens, it’s felt viscerally.

The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross adds to that power, playing calm and ambiently most of the time with an undercurrent of something upsetting, rising to strength to capture the mood in important moments. It doesn’t stand out as much as their work on Fincher’s previous two films, but it fits just right with this story.

“Gone Girl” shocks with its twists and thrills, with its stylish and engaging storytelling, but what it really has to say will get under viewers’ skin and keep them talking — especially couples — long after they’re gone from the theater.

Four out of Four Stars

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Yugoslav Cinema Symposium

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The roundtable discussion of the Yugoslav cinema symposium.

Professor Misha Nedeljkovich studied and worked as a director for many years in the Serbian capital of Belgrade (formerly part of Yugoslavia), where he saw the wars in Yugoslavia erupt right in front of him.

While he now teaches Balkan cinema at the University of Oklahoma, he said it took 10-15 years of distancing himself from the heartbreaking events in his homeland before he could actually study and enjoy films from the Balkans. He said he tries to show his students how elements of filmmaking reflect social, cultural, historical and geographical context of an area.

Nedeljkovich was part of the Yugoslav cinema symposium on April 25 in the Spencer Art Museum Auditorium. Three Yugoslavian short films and one feature were screened, followed by a roundtable discussion from Nedeljkovich and other experts on the region.

The main theme of the event focused on how Yugoslavia’s history influenced its cinema, as Yugoslavia evolved throughout the 20th century from a kingdom to a republic to a post-socialist republic and more. Eventually civil war broke it up into different countries in the early 1990s.

“Yugoslav film history has not often been encountered by Western scholars,” said moderator Greg DeCuir, who’s on the KU faculty of dramatic arts with a focus on Belgrade. “The reason is that these films quite often have not been subtitled, translated, and have not travelled out of the region very much.”

DeCuir said it’s a challenge to speak about a country that no longer exists and its forgotten national cinema, which he said has not been celebrated as it should.

The feature shown, “Last Waltz in Sarajevo,” details the birth of cinema and radical activism in the Balkans in the early 20th century. The film shows the area shortly before it became a country, and since it was produced during the Yugoslav wars of secession in 1990, coincidentally it became the final movie made in Yugoslavia. All of its elements were not recovered and completed until 2007.

“This film can be read as a love letter to a homeland that has forever been changed, and as an interesting rumination on war,” DeCuir said. “It’s meta-filmic life speaks so strongly to what war does, not just in terms of art but in terms of life.”

Since so many ethnic groups in the Balkans have been displaced and forced to live alongside ethnic groups they oppose, this political tension and inner suffering is a common theme in the region’s movies. Nedeljkovich said self-mutilation is commonly depicted in Balkan cinema to represent this.

“These characters struggle, and those people from the Balkans know it is because of his emotional pain, his unhappy life, political constraints and psychological ‘whatever,’” Nedeljkovich said. “The emotional pain is so incredibly strong, that the physical pain no longer exists. So this self-mutilation shows his pain is on the inside.”

Nedeljkovich said a misconception viewers may have about films from this region is classifying ethnically different actors based on their own prejudices.

“Try not to be judgmental in the beginning,” Nedeljkovich said. “Do not say: the Serbs are right here but wrong here…We have to disregard this. It’s a horribly difficult task. This is not a Hollywood story. It is not cowboy in white hat good, black hat cowboy bad, easy to follow.”

“There’s such a big mixture of ethnicities within the Balkan area,” said Vitaly Chernetsky, a Ukrainian professor in KU’s department of Slavic languages and literatures. “There is so so much diversity that it not only makes this region unique, but also difficult to fully understand and explore. The region has faced so much adversity, so much conflict, many ethnic rivalries and bigotry. These are all things depicted and illustrated in [its] cinema.”

The biggest hit in post-Yugoslav space in 2011 not only confronted this ethnic conflict but also brought together all the region’s national film industries to participate in producing it. The absurdist tragicomedy “The Parade” follows a group of gay activists in Belgrade trying to organize a pride parade, recruiting former warlords, gangsters and criminals of different Yugoslavian backgrounds to protect them from the attacks of right-wing skinheads.

“This film is a fascinating testimony to how these competing identities of division but old signification, how they work and also how they change,” Chernetsky said. “This is one of the potential hopeful signs of how you bring about a serious thinking about the cinematic narratives and national narratives of history as articulated through cinema, where you reveal and basically make the audience confront all this tense and explosive history.”

Screen Shot 2014-05-12 at 4.42.08 PMCroatian professor Aida Vidan from Harvard University responds to the question of defining Yugoslav cinema.

Vidan: “How can we say what is Croatian, what is Serbian, what is Bosnian cinema? I’d like to refer you to quite a famous article by Andrew Higson, “The Concept of National Cinema,” in which he says that it’s impossible actually to define any cinema in national terms. And I think that Yugoslav, or post-Yugoslav space is a perfect case, both in artistic terms but also in economic terms, in terms of the industry.”

Ukrainian KU professor Vitaly Chernetsky has a different perspective.

Chernetsky: “What unites the possible national cinema is actually the audience experience. So it’s not the production side, but it’s the consumption, the reception side that is hugely important in this respect. One of the ways – and I’m not trying to wiggle my way out of answering it – is actually to propose that what audiences, both domestically in the countries of former Yugoslavia and internationally, view as cinema that unites and is specific to this region, that perhaps would be considered Yugoslav cinema.”

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Digital storytelling, UMKC student media showcase and KC film activist Justin Gardner

Digital Storytelling Center of Kansas City – The new KC digiSTORY Center non-profit organization aims to make our region “the Hollywood of short, digital narrative production.” The organization will host The Power of Digital Storytelling national conference in October.

UMKC Student Media Showcase – Short films made by students in UMKC’s Film and Media Arts program will be screened for free on May 14 from 6:30-8 p.m. in Tivoli Cinemas in Westport.

Discussion with KC Film Activist Justin Gardner – Justin Gardner talks about his work as Social Media Manager at AMC Theaters, his goals for the Kansas City Film Society and Kansas City Film Commission, and about Kansas City’s hidden film history.

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Kansas City FilmFest 2014

This year’s Kansas City FilmFest brought together the local film community for over a week of screenings and events including animated, documentary and narrative features and shorts, as well as web series.

The 18th annual Kansas City FilmFest took place April 5-13, screening mainly animated films at the Alamo Drafthouse and live action narratives and documentaries at Cinemark Palace at the Plaza.

Drew Burbridge, KC FilmFest Digital Media Coordinator: “We really reach out to every single big commission, any filmmaking community in Kansas City, and not just Kansas City, Missouri, [but also] Kansas.

“That’s one of the best things about the Kansas City Film Festival, we do things from homegrown shorts to bringing in different organizations, people coming in, all the big filmmakers, the stars, then we film their question and answer panels afterwards, which also audiences get to participate in.”

Jeff Staab, actor in web series “Smoke Break”: “You made some history by bringing the top 10 filmmakers in town, together, to make your web series.”

Bryce Young, producer of web series “Withered World”: So with “Withered World” I’m super happy that the collaborative process behind it involved – my number one goal was to make it good, second goal was to get as many people involved as possible, and we got 200 people from the film community in Kansas City under one umbrella and that – I’m always gonna be proud of that fact.”

Barry Opper, producer of “Slingshot”: “The reception has been great. And I’ve said this before, but the audiences in this area are terrific audiences. They got things in our film that we’d only dream people would get.”

For Kansas City Film, this is Alex Lamb.

Local web series in the Kansas City FilmFest

This was the first year web series have played in the festival. Here are several featured ones made in Kansas City.

“Withered World”

The Field from Withered World on Vimeo.

A web series of vignettes from various KC filmmakers about the last day on Earth.

“Smoke Break”

This 115 episode daily web comedy series shows characters from a corporation as they come outside for smoke breaks.

“Kill Em All”

This dramatic web series follows Carson McCullough as he takes revenge on the Italian mob for killing his brother.

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Middle of the Map highlights, Marlon Wayans

Three Highlights from Middle of the Map – This piece does a short profile on three of the films shown at Middle of the Map over the weekend, including the locally made “Manhattan,” about a writer returning to his hometown of Manhattan, Kan. as he works on a book and looks for love.

Interview with a Middle of the Map Founder – Nathan Reusch, CEO of The Record Machine and one of the founders and organizers of Middle of the Map, stops by the Scene Stealers podcast and discusses the festival.

Profile of Comedian Marlon Wayans – This feature provides insight into Marlon Wayans’s journey as a comedic actor and his style of humor. His new film “A Haunted House 2” opened over the weekend and he will be performing stand-up with his brother Shawn in Zona Rosa July 11-13.

 

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Middle of the Map Film Festival Wrap-up

The Alamo Drafthouse theater at 14th and Main St. hosted the Middle of the Map Film Festival April 16-20.

The Alamo Drafthouse theater at 14th and Main St. hosted the Middle of the Map Film Festival April 16-20.

Ink’s 2014 Middle of the Map Festival ran it’s final leg over the weekend, ending with a successful second year for the film festival section. From April 16-20, 27 different films screened at the Alamo Drafthouse in downtown Kansas City, Mo.

Nearly half of the films tied into the musical interests of Middle of the Map. The documentary “Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton” profiled record label Stones Throw Records, while the Academy Award-nominated “The Broken Circle Breakdown” followed a heartbreaking love story between two bluegrass performers.

Four screenings featured live musical performances, including local band Spirit is the Spirit playing songs from the soundtrack of “Dazed and Confused” before its showing. Filmmaker Q&A sessions also followed three films, including the locally made “Manhattan.”

Ryan Davis, creative manager for the KC Drafthouse, acted as one of the festival’s moderators. He also helped bring SXSW Audience Award-winner “Before I Disappear” to the festival.

“It’s depressing, surreal and has a great soundtrack,” Davis said. “Basically everything I love in a movie.”

The gonzo Japanese yakuza spectacle “Why Don’t You Play in Hell?” proved to be an audience favorite, selling out at its second screening.

“It’s the biggest surprise I’ve seen in the last five years,” festival attendee Tim DePaepe said, who loved it so much he saw it twice.

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Local Film News: Mickey Rooney’s KC Connection, ‘Slingshot’ Director Interview and Indiana Jones Dinner Party

Mickey Rooney and Hayley Atwell’s Kansas City Connections – Classic Hollywood star Mickey Rooney, who died last week, actually lived in the city’s East Side as a young child. Additionally, “Captain America” actress Hayley Atwell lived in Kansas City in the summers while growing up.

Interview with ‘Slingshot’ Director Paul Lazarus – I saw the terrific documentary “Slingshot,” about inventor Dean Kamen and his solution to providing clean water throughout the world, at the KC FilmFest this weekend. Here’s an interview with director Paul Lazarus that considers some big problems in society.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Dinner Party – Enjoy the darker Indiana Jones sequel on the big screen tonight at the Alamo Drafthouse with a four course meal, inspired by the film, to accompany it.

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Film Editor Allan Holzman Visits KU

Filmmaker Allan Holzman, a feature and documentary director and editor, came to KU April 1 to show his film “Invisible Art/Visible Artists” and talk to the Introduction to Film class. Known for his masterful work as an editor, Holzman is a member of the Board of Directors for the American Cinema Editors and created and produced the Invisible Art/Visible Artists event every year in Hollywood since 2001, where the Oscar-nominated editors from each year give a panel discussion about their craft.

The documentary highlights editors from these panels from 2001-2010, such as Martin Scorsese’s editor Thelma Schoonmaker and Quentin Tarantino’s former editor Sally Menke. Each one selects a clip from their film that is shown as they talk about their process of putting the scene together, giving deep insight into the challenges of shaping a film in the editing room and showcasing just how important editors are in making a movie work.

“I created this event, and I wanted it to be about the art of editing, not the psychological ramifications of the movies that they were doing,” Holzman said.  “What their process is and how they went about looking at the dailies, or how they could maintain a perspective over time, and what their relationship was with the directors.”

Some of the editors talk more about creating specific rhythms, taking certain viewpoints, showing the delicate skill involved. Alternatively, the editors of “Avatar” discuss the difficulties of trying to form a movie out of people in bodysuits on a soundstage and how they saw the film come together and evolve as the visual effects were completed.

“A comparison can be drawn between animators and editors, the same way animators bring things to life, editors bring a movie to life,” Holzman said.

The editors of “United 93” evidence how directors with different styles can totally change the editing process, as Paul Greengrass shot his film very improvised, verité style, creating inconsistencies and lack of continuity. With less formal structure for the footage, the art of the editor and his or her role in telling the story becomes more apparent.

Introduction to Film student Steve Schadeberg said he found learning about how editors achieve fluidity fascinating.

“They decide which [angles] should be used and how to cut it into the film and make it flow right and hit that emotion that is wanted by the director and to the audience,” Schadeberg said. “They help take those pieces and put the puzzle together.”

In his Film Aesthetics class, professor Robert Hurst teaches his students the impact of editing.

“Editing is really the thing, that’s what makes movies, movies, is not just the motion, but the juxtaposition of images,” Hurst said. “How powerful editing is in shaping a story, or whatever your message is, that’s actually a stroke of genius.

“The editing room is where you figure if you have a story or not, if it makes sense,” Hurst said. “And that’s the thing about an editor is, the editor has to know, they have to watch it with the audience’s eye, which is not easy.”

Having began his career working on cheap little B-movies, Holzman attested that “There’s a talent to making something outta nothing.” His advice to students in not only editing but also storytelling was to make it revolve around the key scene.

“Find the heart of the movie, find the scene that speaks most about the movie then structure everything else around that.”

The Kip & Brin project in Basic Video Production teaches students to film as a group, then edit on their own.

Juli Pitzer, graduate teaching assistant for Basic Video Production: “The idea of Kip & Brin is that it’s generic dialogue between two characters, so it could be any situation, any setting. Essentially it was a project that was designed so students could work with dialogue, work with in-class shooting, and then really have an editing experience.

“So they can work with specific software, and learn techniques of cutting, continuity editing, jump cuts, everything that would go into the editing process. The second purpose is that they would see how important it is to shoot coverage and footage, maintaining continuity during a set shoot.

“So you kind of learn the relationship between the production, and the editor, and shooting for the editor.”

“Steve Shadeberg, Basic Video Production student: “Not only was it my first production, but I’ve never edited anything before, so I had to teach myself.

“So at first I was like, ‘Wow,’ I was really intimidated, I was like ‘How am I gonna do this?’ But after doing it more and more and learning, it became fascinating to me and I had a lot of fun.

“So I learned how, in a way manipulate things even, like sounds and how you can put things in and take things out. How you can take even a bad shot, and edit it, and make it a good shot.”

For Kansas City Film, this is Alex Lamb.