On the evening of Feb. 25, five digital media students collaborated to create a cinematic interview for a Hollywood producer.
Students David Coish, Isabella Mármol, Suzanne Shah, Tin Belinic and Ian Curran helped produce an interview with STU Dean of Humanities André Loiselle for the Hollywood documentary.
It all began when filmmaker David Gregory reached out to Loiselle to discuss the possibility of participating in his upcoming horror documentary.
Loiselle shared how “Le Grand-Guignol” is a world-famous genre of French theatre that blends horror and comedy and how it influences the horror genre.
“I assume that he came across some of the articles or the book that I wrote in which I talked about this topic and then he reached out to me,” said Loiselle.
Loiselle also offered to travel closer to Gregory to participate in the documentary, but Gregory said he would be satisfied if a local crew would record the interview and then send it to L.A.
Loiselle then chose to give the project to local producer and STU’s digital media studio manager Terry Kelly as well as a small crew of capable students.
Belinic, a second-year student in journalism and digital media, commented on the quality of this experience.
“It was interesting because this is one of the first more professional shoots that I was a part of,” he said. “This is an amazing opportunity for someone who’s interested in pursuing a career in video production and filmmaking.”
The crew spent around five hours preparing the set and filming the interview.
Belinic said that the biggest challenge was setting up the equipment and figuring out how to get the best shots while ensuring Loiselle felt comfortable in the spotlight.
“I learned a lot trying to figure out the [issues] we had with setting up lighting and making sure the camera was in focus, for example.”
Although it was a long process, Loiselle said he had a very pleasant experience working with the students. They had a very good chemistry and worked well together.
“There was no problem with all the nervousness I might have felt because they really behaved in a very professional way,” he said. “Their joy at making this little documentary was very contagious. So it made me feel very much at ease.”
Loiselle said this documentary can help students get started on digital media projects and give STU more exposure for producing a good quality interview.
Belinic agreed with Loiselle.
“This shows that STU is offering great opportunities to students and experiential learning,” said Belinic. “I think any student who can, should take advantage of these opportunities that are given to them.”
The documentary is in its early stages of development but may be streamed on Shudder, a streaming service featuring horror, thriller and supernatural fiction titles, owned by AMC Networks.
