Winners 2015!

Join us for Winners 2015!, our kickoff to the 2016 Open Frame Film Festival.  You can attend on either of two nights: Wednesday, Feb. 10 or Thursday, Feb. 11.  We'll be meeting in the Library in room CL49 beginning at 8 pm.  The Pizza and Drinks are on Us!  Watch some of last year's films, have a chat with the director and crew and get all of your questions about this year's festival answered.

On Wednesday (beginning at 8 pm) we'll be screening these films from the 2015 Open Frame : Don’t Drink Decaf, Oh God, Untitled, Hope Deferred, Malone at It’s Finest

On Thursday (beginning at 8 pm) we'll be screening these films from the 2015 Open Frame : Wait for It, Fatal Vengeance, Lurch and the Scrawl, When Bae Gets Salty, NewlyWednesday, 2015 Malone Housing Draft

See you There!

See

Open Frame 2016

Make plans now to join a crew, write a script, pick up a camera, flex your acting chops and join us for the 2016 Open Frame Film Festival at the Canton Palace Theater on April 16.  As always we’ll be serving up the freshest short films for your entertainment.  The Historic Palace theater has played host to some of the world’s most important films and maybe your masterpiece is next to be shown.  

And of course you can’t wait till the last minute to produce that thriller … get prepped, get psyched, get skilled by joining us for all of the events leading up to this year’s festival.  NEW this year are some great technical workshops and WINNERS 2015!, a replay of all of last year’s award winners to get you in the mood.  If you’ve got questions … Visit the open frame blog (theopenframeblog.blogspot.com) or contact Steve Pustay (spustay@malone.edu), the festival director.

See you There!

2015 Open Frame Film Festival

Congratulations to the winners of the 2015 Open Frame Film Festival held at the Canton Palace Theater on April, 11th 2015.

The 450 guests attending the festival were treated to 11 student films.  The program included romantic comedies, action thrillers, horror, suspense and short sketch comedies.  The festival concluded with the awards ceremony where the student artists listed below took home this year's hardware.

Best Community Contribution (Non-Malone student)
Casey Carmany

Jury Award
Peter Simionides and Akash Negi

Best Cinematography
Scott Whitaker - Lurch and the Scrawl

Best Actress
Jennifer Reed - Newlywednesday

Best Actor
Tim Carmany - Newlywednesday

Best Sound Design
Josh Bankert - Fatal Vengeance

Best Supporting Actor
Jared Landios - Newlywednesday

Best Supporting Actress
Emily Kublin - Hope Deferred

Best Screenplay
Hannah Morgan - Newlywednesday

Best Editor
Emily Cowen - Wait For It

Best Director
Hannah Morgan - Newlywednesday

Best Film
Hannah Morgan - Newlywednesday

Audience Award
Hannah Morgan - Newlywednesday

Scott Whitaker - Best Cinematography

With Director Dave Carmany and

Lurch and The Scrawl cast

Best Film, Best Director, Audience Award

Hannah Morgan and

Newlywednesday cast

Best Sound Design - Josh Bankert
with Director Tom Showen
Fatal Vengeance

Emily Kublin - Best Supporting Actress

With Director Steven Nzishura

and Hope Deferred cast

Jennifer Reed - Best Actress

Tim Carmany - Best Actor

Jared Landis - Best Supporting Actor

Casey Carmany - Community Contribution

with Hannah Morgan Director

and Newlywednesday Cast

Emily Cowen - Best Editor

Director of Wait for It

and cast

15 Grants Available!

Don't forget that you can apply for up to $150 to use in the production of your Open Frame film submission.  The guidelines for the grant are listed in the Open Frame Film Grants link in the right sidebar of this blog.

The application process is simple.  Email me (spustay@malone.edu) to let me know that you would like to reserve a grant for your film.  Grants of up to $150 will be awarded to the first fifteen applicants, so DON'T WAIT.  Sign up early.  The deadline for all grant applications is Mar. 15.

If you're anxious about the process.  Don't be it's very easy.  Have a quick chat with Dave Harmony who received a grant last year.  Remember to keep receipts for all your expenses related to the film since you'll need to submit them to collect your reimbursement.

Need Help with Your Film Crew?

If you are looking for talented help in submitting your film for this year's Open Frame, we want to help.

Here's a list of talented students who are looking to join your crews and offer their services.  You'll find acting help, editors, cinematographers, grips, and more.  Click the link: CREW LIST to view the list.  Check back often as we'll be updating the list regularly.

If you are interested in volunteering your services to someone else's crew please email me (spustay@malone.edu) and we'll see that you get added to the list.

Two Weeks of Oscar

Join us for a celebration of Oscar!  It's going to be a great party as we share 8 Oscar winning films, covering 8 decades.  You won't want to miss the opportunity to miss these great films.  

The festival opens on Tuesday, Feb. 10 with Humphrey Bogart's classic thriller CASABLANCA.  We'll follow with AN AMERICAN IN PARIS - Feb 11, HEAT OF THE NIGHT - Feb 12 THE STING - Feb 13 THE KILLING FIELDS - Feb 17 GOOD WILL HUNTING - Feb 18, SLUM DOG MILLIONAIRE - Feb 19, THE KING'S SPEECH - Feb 20.

On Friday the 13th (The Sting) and Friday the 20th (The King's Speech) Pizza and drinks are on us!

All 8 films will be shown in CL49 beginning at 7pm.

Special Effects Plug Ins Now Available

We've got some exciting news for our film makers and story tellers!  If you've seen the opening scenes to Scott Whitaker's 'A Road Alone' (link to A Road Alone) winner of Best Film at last year's Open Frame, you're aware of the moody 'dutch tilt' he employed to hint that the world of this runner coming toward us was about to be turned on it's head.

Scott adds to the texture of his shot with a dreary rainy soundscape and a depressing drizzle.  You may have wondered how Scott's team patiently waited for the perfect storm to film that opening shot. Surprise ... it wasn't raining at all ... Scott added the rain and colored the shot digitally with some special effects plugins available in Final Cut Pro.

So you can make it rain, make it snow, cloud up with fog or even fill the scene with grit and debris.  All possible with a suite of Final Cut Pro plugins that we've purchased for use in your movies and video story telling.  We've added Snow generators, Smoke, Fog, Grit and Grime, Color Texture and of course realistic rain effects software to our special effects arsenal available to you.  For a look at what you can accomplish with these effects check out the Pro Rain plugin here: http://store.pixelfilmstudios.com/plugin/effect-prorainvolume2.  While you're there, you can also check out ProGrit, ProFog, ProSmoke, ProSnow and ProToner, all of which we have made available for use in your projects.

For more information or a tutorial on how to use them email Steve Pustay: spustay@malone.edu.