By Marrissa Ballard | Managing Editor
Salve Studios, Salve Regina’s student-run film production club, will premiere its first film, The Final Cut, on April 1st at 6 p.m. The event, which is part of the SRYou Student Exposition, will take place in Bazarsky Lecture Hall in the O’Hare Academic Center, and it will be open to public with free admission and free food.
The Final Cut’s premiere will mark the completion of the first exclusively student-made film produced on Salve’s campus. The film is a found-footage style horror flick that follows a college student named Andrea who encounters her ex-boyfriend on the cliff walk. Her ex, named Greg, is bent on creating a horror film with a killer twist: the actors in his film will actually die.
Lily Jones, junior Communications major and double minor in Film and Spanish, explains that the idea for the film came from her time spent in Newport this summer. Jones would often walk along the cliff side, which is where she found the inspiration for The Final Cut. “I discovered this creepy tunnel, and I thought ‘this would be really cool for a horror film,’” Jones said. “The cliff walk is a beautiful place, but it can also be menacing.”
Jones, who served as co-producer, co-director, co-writer, co-camera operator and editor in the production of the film, also believes that the use of the cliff walk as a setting will provide a sense of familiarity for the audience.
Throughout the entire process of creating the film, Jones worked with a team of students. “I’m very happy that I was able to collaborate with so many students from so many disciplines,” Jones said. “I think being able to collaborate on one project together was really cool, and it was great to see everyone’s expertise coming together to create something new.”
Jones also thinks that working on The Final Cut gave students more opportunities to make films. “It was great to do something like this for the first time at Salve, because we don’t have a huge film production department,” Jones explained. “There aren’t many opportunities to produce films and to do so for the first time was very rewarding.”
After inspiration had struck, Jones started working with Ryan “Buddy” Colwell, a junior English Literature major and Film minor, on the script. Colwell served as Jones’ partner in co-directing, co-writing, co-producing and camera-operating.
For Colwell, making the film was both a fun and educational endeavor. “It’s a great opportunity to try out new things,” Colwell said. “It allows me to gain more experience both with cameras and also with writing, producing, and editing.”
According to Colwell, working on the project with other students really helped him step out of his comfort zone. “Every step of the way, it’s a learning experience and to be able to do that in a cohesive unit with all these other students is a great thing,” Colwell said. “If I wasn’t a part of this club, that’s an experience I never would have gotten.”
The production crew also included younger Salve students, such as sophomore Kyla Russell, a Music major with a concentration in Vocal Performance. Russell served as a sound technician and operated sound equipment during filming. According to Russell, being a part of Salve Studios allowed her to get more involved on campus. “I don’t live on campus, so it’s been kind of difficult to get involved,” Russell said. “It was really great to create something this big, and the fact that it’s entirely student run and student created is really cool.”
Colin Burke, a junior Psychology major who played character “Tim” in the film, said that participating gave him a chance to “pretend to be someone else for fun.”
“It kind of goes back to when you’re kids and everyone is playing pretend, and everyone has a role,” said Burke. “It was fun to be carefree and under the instruction of other people and be a part of something.” According to Burke, everyone involved in the production was given opportunities to develop their skills.
Laura Jedynasty, who plays the character of “Dakota” in the film, also saw the production as a learning experience. Jedynasty is a junior Theatre major with a double concentration in Acting and Technical Theatre, so making a film gave her the chance to try a different form of acting. “Working on this project was completely different from anything I’ve done here at Salve,” said Jedynasty. “It gave me a good taste of what it’s like to act on film.”
Jedynasty also believes that the film has taught her how dedicated she is to performing. “I know now that I’ll do anything for the art after sticking my face into that puddle,” Jedynasty said, laughing.
According to Lily Jones, The Final Cut depends on an ensemble cast rather than one star. The cast of the film includes a mix of different majors, including Psychology, Music, Literature, and Theatre. The character of “Andrea” is played by Mariana Bracciale, a senior Theatre major, and the character of the film-making ex-boyfriend, Greg, is played by junior Nathaniel Flachs. Junior Sofia Talbot and senior Dean Wollenberg are also in the film.
All of the students, whether they were behind the camera or in front of it, are extremely proud of the project. Likewise, all of the students involved have gained knowledge and experience in the production process. “I learned that this is a lot of hard work, and that it’s not something you can do alone, and that collaboration is the most important part of it,” explained Jones. “There are so many hard-workers here; people who love what they do and can bring that passion to the project.”
The premiere of The Final Cut will allow students to finally show off all of their hard work. Be sure to attend on April 1st at 6 p.m. in Bazarsky for a chance to see Salve Regina’s first completely student-run film production.
