News » Cinema Arts & Digital Technologies

CADT Department hosts Juried GCOM & Film Exhibitions

weatheco — Thu, 02 May 2013 03:07:38 +0000

The Cinema Arts & Digital Technologies Department is honoring the best student projects of the semester with two nights of Juried Exhibitions. Friday, May 10 at 7 p.m. in the CMU ballroom, seniors in graphic communications will be displaying their final projects, which can range from 3D modeling to graphic design advertisements. Then Saturday, May 11 at 7 p.m. in the Glasrud Auditorium in Weld, the film studies program will be debuting the best student films of the semester, ranging from freshman final projects in the video production class to senior seminar final projects. Chosen by a panel of jurists, awards will also be given out, including Best Actor & Actress and Best Film.

Both events are free and open to the public, and will include refreshments.

Student film accepted into International Shorts Program of the Albuquerque Film and Media Experience

weatheco — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 03:13:04 +0000

A short film created by five students in MSUM’s Cinema Arts & Digital Technologies Department was accepted into and screened at the International Shorts Program of the Albuquerque Film & Media Experience in Albuquerque, N. M. Guests at the festival included Robert Redford and Giancarlo Esposito, and competing films featured actors Morgan Freeman and Armand Assante. The students’ film, titled “Necropolis,” was one of four American films in the shorts category; six others were international films. “Necropolis” was also an official selection in the 2013 Maryland International Film Festival. The acceptance of the film to both festivals is especially notable because it was entered in the narrative short category, rather than the student category.

The film was completed for a final project in an Intermediate Filmmaking class taught by Tom Brandau. The students involved were Robert McDermott (writer/director), Chris Johnson (producer/sound), Christian Calabrese (cinematography), Adam Gawarecki (lighting/grip) and Nate Bakke (assistant camera/editor).

CADT Department hosts senior film screenings

weatheco — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 03:07:18 +0000

The Cinema Arts & Digital Technologies Department is hosting a special screening of this year’s Senior Seminar final film projects on Thursday, May 2 and Friday, May 3 in the Glasrud Auditorium in Weld, starting at 6:30 p.m. each night.

The 10 short films are the capstone projects of this year’s Senior Seminar film class, taught by Professor Kyja Kristjansson-Nelson. The students have been developing, shooting, and editing these projects over the course of the entire school year.
The schedule for the two evenings is as follows:

Thursday:
Sophia (Adam Brant, Dan Wittenburg, Steven Kuhlman)
Ideal Housing (Patrick McKeown, Jesse Collins)
Intermission
Welcome to Central Market (Travis Buschette)
Girl Who Lives in a Tree (Simone LeClaire, Kelly Dunifon, Alyssa Yule)

Friday:
Current Affairs (Patrick Thompson, Dan Kleba)
Postmortem (Kevin Ackley, Chris Parsons)
Deliver Us From Evil (Robert McDermott, Chris Johnson)
Intermission
A Better Life (Conor Holt)
Kali (Travis Hart)
Fergus Falls (Matt Eckholm)

The screenings are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served during intermission.

CADT student premieres grant winning film

weatheco — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 03:12:31 +0000

Cinema Arts & Digital Technologies student, Conor Holt, premiered his latest film, “A Better Life” at the 2013 Fargo Film Festival. The project, which was produced through a Filmmaker’s Grant from the Minnesota Film & Television Board, concerns a woman’s efforts to deal with her comatose husband by means of a new, radical treatment. A number of CADT students and alumni served as crew on the film including: Conor Holt (writer/director), Ben Grell (writer), Shane Mackinnon (director of photography), Patrick McKeown (producer), Chance Cole (editor) and Mallery Mohn (production designer).

Local actors Aimee Klein and Bill Siderski starred in the project.

Film Loop radio show continues tonight

weatheco — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 03:03:37 +0000

The Film Loop radio show continues tonight, Tuesday, March 26, at 9 p.m. on KMSC Dragon Radio. The Film Loop Radio Show is an extension of The Film Loop club at MSUM, a club dedicated to film discussion and debate.

The Radio Show airs every Tuesday night from 9 to 10 p.m. Co-Hosts Joseph Koesterman & Conor Holt discuss a variety of topics, including the Academy Awards, the Fargo Film Festival, and recent movie releases. Guest hosts also appear on the show from time to time.

For more information on the radio show and The Film Loop club, check out their Facebook group “The Film Loop”.

CADT hosts alumni workshop

weatheco — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 03:06:57 +0000

Cinema Arts & Digital Technologies recently hosted an alumni workshop for its current students. The three-hour event , which included nine recent graduates from Film Studies and Graphic Communications, consisted of an in-person panel (Amber Johnson, Ben Efron, Dustin Solmonson, Emily Beck, Jason Jacobson and Shannon Luney) and a panel that participated from Los Angeles via Skype (Kate Enge, Tyler Geditz and Chris Haskell). The panelists, whose professional disciplines include film and television producing, directing, cinematography, editing, web design, graphic design and copy writing, discussed how to make the transition from college to the professional world and fielded questions from about twenty-five current Film and GCOM students. The workshop was funded by a grant from the Solomon G. Comstock Memorial Fund of the Minneapolis Foundation, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Film Loop Journal seeking submissions

weatheco — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 03:06:53 +0000

The Film Loop Journal is seeking submissions for its upcoming edition. If you have an article relating to film, including film reviews or essays on cinema, please send them to Conor Holt at holtco@mnstate.edu. Articles should be between 200-300 words long. The deadline is Monday, March 25. The next edition of the Journal will be published Thursday, March 28.

The Film Loop is a club dedicated to film discussion and debate, through group meetings, print journalism and talk radio. We are open to all students who love discussing cinema. The Film Loop meets every other Thursday in CA 33 at 7 p.m., and out next meeting is on Thursday, March 28.

CADT & CAH Sponsor Equipment Expo

weatheco — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 03:06:13 +0000

Cinema Arts & Digital Technologies (CADT) and the College of Arts & Humanities (CAH) co-sponsored an Equipment Expo at this year’s Fargo Film Festival. Twins Cities cinematographer (and MSUM alum) Greg Winter and Lighting, Grip & Electric supplier, Mike Bullock, ran the workshop, demonstrating several pieces of lighting and grip equipment and showcasing some of the latest digital video cameras on the market.

Well over 50 people, half of whom were CADT students, attended the expo. CADT professor and festival co-chair, Tom Brandau and former co-chair, Tony Tilton, organized the event.

Brandau receives volunteer spirit award

weatheco — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 03:07:49 +0000

CADT professor, Tom Brandau, received the Margie Bailly Volunteer Spirit Award at the 2013 Fargo Film Festival. The award is named for former Fargo Theatre Executive Director Margie Bailly. Brandau has been a member of the Fargo Film Festival committee since 2004 and a festival co-chair since 2011.

Film students attend Will Weaver lecture

weatheco — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 03:05:19 +0000

Thirty students from Cinema Arts & Digital Technologies attended a lecture on adapting literature to film, given by award-winning Minnesota author, Will Weaver. The presentation, “From Fiction to Film”, took place March 4 at the Fargo Main Library and focused primarily on the adaptation of Weaver’s short story, “A Gravestone Made of Wheat” into the motion picture “Sweet Land,” which was shot in Minnesota. The film’s director, Ali Selim, joined the discussion via Skype from Los Angeles and answered several questions posed by the students. All of the MSUM students in attendance were from CADT professor Tom Brandau’s Adaptations class.

Both Brandau and Janet Haak (Director of Study Abroad) accompanied the students to the event.

Brandau co-hosts Film Fest Preview Show

weatheco — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 03:02:59 +0000

Cinema Arts & Digital Technologies professor, Tom Brandau, recently co-hosted the 2013 Fargo Film Festival Preview Show with Prairie Public producer, Matt Olien. The 30-minute program, which showcased some of the best films from this year’s festival will air several times over the course of the next week. Brandau has been a co-chair of the festival for the past three years. The Fargo Film Festival runs March 5-9.

Raymond Rea’s documentary to screen at British Film Institute’s LGBT film festival

weatheco — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 03:05:35 +0000

Raymond Rea’s (Cinema Arts and Digital Technologies) short documentary “A Difference” has been accepted to screen at the British Film Institute’s London LGBT Film Festival. “A Difference” examines the intersection of racial difference and gender transition.

CADT professor gives master workshop at University of Minnesota

weatheco — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 03:08:41 +0000

Professor Anthony Adah of Cinema Arts & Digital Technologies was at the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities) to give a master workshop Feb. 4 to Minnesota teachers, college instructors, and Minnesota Department of Education representatives on how to use film in middle and high school classrooms. Apart from the broader subject of film in the classroom, Adah focused on how teachers can effectively use African cinema to facilitate and enhance language arts, social studies, history, media literacy, and global studies learning objectives. The workshop was part of U of M’s Institute of Global Studies Title VI National Resource Center’s initiative, “The Rich Cultural Heritages of Africa: A Series of 4 Spring Sessions.”

MSUM student film selected as finalist in national competition

weatheco — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 03:08:17 +0000

A film by MSUM majors in the Cinema Arts and Digital Technologies Department is one of 15 finalists for the 2012 National Film Challenge. The student group that made the film, Cinethusiasts, competed with 103 other filmmaking groups. The film is titled Roleplay Rangers and relates a story about a Junior Ranger’s wife who is forced to take up her husband’s duty to protect a local park.

The MSUM film will advance to a second round of judging, which determines the Grand Prize Winner. The 15 films in the finals will soon appear on the NFC website for Audience Award voting (www.filmchallenge.org). The Grand Prize Winner receives $1,000 and the Audience Award Winner receives $500. Both winning films will screen with the 48HFP City Winners at Filmapalooza in Los Angeles March 7 to 10.

The National Film Challenge is a worldwide filmmaking competition from the creators of the 48 Hour Film Project and KDHX Community Media. Participating teams have one weekend to write, shoot and edit a short film or video. Filmmakers receive a character, prop, line of dialogue, and a genre.

CADT professor Tom Brandau noted that this is the first year a team from MSUM made the finals. For more information, call Brandau at 218.477.2950 or email him at brandau@mnstate.edu.

CADT exhibit top-notch student films and graphic design

weatheco — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 03:04:06 +0000

The Cinema Arts and Digital Technologies Department will host the Juried Exhibitions for Film and Graphic Communication projects Dec. 14 and 15. Every semester, film and GCOM students in the CADT department spend countless hours completing their final projects; the very best student work is then presented at a Juried Exhibition.

On Dec. 14, the best student films will be screened in Weld Auditorium, and awards will also be given out, including Best Film and Best Performance. On Saturday, the best GCOM projects will be presented in the CMU ballroom.

Both events are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided.

“Cleaning Lady” receives Honorable Mention

weatheco — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 03:03:38 +0000

Professor Tom Brandau’s film, “The Cleaning Lady” recently received an Honorable Mention at the Bayou City Inspirational Film Fest. in Houston, Texas. The film deals with the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Raymond Rea’s documentary will screen at Transgender Film Festival

weatheco — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 03:02:11 +0000

Raymond Rea’s short documentary, A Difference, will screen at the upcoming San Francisco Transgender Film Festival, Sunday, Nov. 11, 7:00 p.m., as part of the Find Each Other program.

CADT students present at MPCA/ACA Conference

weatheco — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 03:08:22 +0000

Two seniors, Conor Holt and Simone Leclaire, of Cinema Arts & Digital Technologies presented research papers at the Midwest Popular and American Culture Association Conference, Columbus, Ohio Oct 12-14. Holt’s paper is titled “Cinema Go Bragh: Irish Nationalism in Celtic Tiger Cinema” and Leclaire’s “Eyes of the Lady: Perspectives and Cinematic Representations of Women in New Danish Cinema.” Leclaire’s paper also won the MPCA/ACA’s Undergraduate Paper Prize, 2012.

Brandau teaches master classes at Alma Mater

weatheco — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 03:03:07 +0000

Professor Tom Brandau, Cinema Arts & Digital Technologies, was recently invited to teach two master classes at his Alma Mater, Towson University in Baltimore, Md. Brandau screened some of his more recent films and conducted a discussion on transitioning from college to the professional world of film/television production to a group of 40 students and faculty of Towson’s Electronic Media and Film Department. He also taught a master class for Towson’s Theatre Department entitled “Acting/Directing for Stage vs. Screen: The Right Mode for the Right Medium.”

Brandau studied film at Towson as an undergraduate and holds an MFA in theatre from Towson.

Mike Ruth presents documentary

weatheco — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 03:05:47 +0000

Dr. Mike Ruth, Cinema Arts and Digital Technologies, will present the documentary “The Greenbrier Military School: 200 years of education in Lewisburg, West Virginia” Oct. 18-19. The film is being premiered as part of the 200th anniversary celebrating formal education in Lewisburg. Ruth co-produced the 45-minute documentary with Bob Boles, Traverse City, Michigan. In addition to producing, Ruth was photographer and researcher.