This Year's Winners

click the photo above to see all of this year's student filmmakers & collaborators spread across the stage. Thanks, Alyssa for the source pictures!

Here's a list of the Open Frame winners this year:

Best Actor - Jon More for his performance in Hugging Strangers

Best Actress - Meredith Borling for her performance in Definition

Best Actor / Actress in a Supporting Role - B. Ruth Hitchcock for her (multiple) performance(s) in Definition

Best Publicity - Rick Thomas received this new award for his publicity for BOTH Prayer Warriors and Oedipus.

Best Original Score - in one of the most competitive categories, Jordan Morrison for Oedipus

Best Outside Contribution - formerly the "non-Malone award" Dylan Baldridge won for his cinematography and editing of Hugging Strangers

Best Cinematography - Nate Ross for Definition

Best Screenplay - Alyssa Pearson for Definition

Best Director - Alyssa Pearson for Definition

Best Film - Danyella Tonelli, Brittney Bolinger, Alyssa Pearson, Taylor Hazlett, Monica Small, Tristan Sanchez (all producers) for Definition

Best Song - This special jury award went to Wild Boy of Aveyron for their song A Haunt for Jackals used both in Another Winter in Canton and Sloth. Wild Boy of Aveyron includes Malone students Brian Peters, Ryan Palmer, Brad Unruh & Brett Maxwell. ( click through to their myspace and you can hear the award winning song)

Best Fight Sequence - This special jury award went to Rick Thomas for his startling and hilarious legomation fight sequence.

Audience Award - In a year where 11 (of 12 movies) got votes, and the runner up got just 10 fewer than the winner, the Audience Award is especially meaningful, going to Justin Edenhoffer and Stephen Thomas for Across the Universe...ity

Open Frame '09

Last night's Open Frame felt exciting and renewing -- as it usually does.

This year we screened 12 student short films, our first ever documentary, our first ever legomation, two films that would definitely be characterized as "experimental," and then a few films that fall into genres we're used to at the Open Frame - personal narratives of reconciliation and transformation, short short comedies, and one raucous satire of Malone culture.

Here are the films that played:

SLOTH: AN LP TRADITION
(16 minutes)
a documentary centering on a Malone tradition and the men shaped by the tradition. Dusty Jenkins directed.

MASTERCARD
(1 minute)
a short short mashup by Rick Thomas, with a special featured appearance by professor, Dr. Sean Benson.

PRAYER WARRIORS
(7 minutes)
A Frank Peretti style, effects-driven short short about "spiritual battle" directed by Brad Eick.

OEDIPUS
(10 minutes)
A legomation abridgement of the classic play, faithful in plot, delightfully playful in execution, by Rick Thomas.

ANOTHER WINTER IN CANTON
(7 minutes)
A one-day visual journey around the city of Canton. Dan Walton set this emotional short to a fantastic Wild Boy of Aveyron song.

TWO FOR TUESDAY
(5 minutes)
Ryan Baechel's first entry in the OPEN FRAME was this experimental and understated trippy journey through a dreamlike? druggedout? struggle.

TACO BELL FIRE SAUCE
(1 minute)
Only Rick Thomas could turn a fastfood packet of taste into an audience-pleasing laughfest like this short short.

HUGGING STRANGERS
(16 minutes)
Cory Green, first time filmmaker, wrote, produced & directed this dark comedy about living with family dysfunction in just one semester, but still managed to make a compelling, believable & funny short.

IPHONE
(1 minute)
The third of Rick Thomas' trifecta of hilarious and ridiculous short shorts. Proof that one good joke in a movie this long can slay an audience with laughter.

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE…ity
(15 minutes)
Justin Edenhoffer and Stephen Thomas follow up their '08 audience fave Across Enolam with another chase-heavy satire that digests and delights in the quirks of Malone culture these days.

DEFINITION
(16 minutes)
A crappy day and a surprising quest moves through dark comedy to hopeful recovery in this visually delightful, musically genius and narratively well-structured festival winner, written and directed by Alyssa Pearson.

ENCASED
(10 minutes)
Rachel Both submitted a story of adolescent triumph over adversity to engage our audience as this year's offering from LAFSC.

A Jury of Professional Artists and Filmmakers

For the first five years of the Open Frame Student Film Contest -- we relied heavily on the gracious jurying of our faithful alumni, faculty members and staff. We have always been deeply grateful for their willingness to serve current students and their films, but have also been wary in recent years of overwhelming them with so many films and a consistently short time to render their judgement.

Beginning last year we were thrilled to be able to invite a jury from outside of Malone College to give our alums a breather. These capable film, art & entertainment professionals from outside of Malone College graciously gave of their time, effort & energy to watch these student films, many offering comments and feedback for student filmmakers. Thanks Jurors! We're grateful.

Stay tuned to the blog, as we'll introduce the jury as the week leading up to the festival proceeds.

We will award 12 awards this year (as always), and the categories of the awards will include some traditional awards, but will also include some specific awards selected by the jury based on the unique strengths demonstrated by these filmmakers.

Three awards are pre-determined: Best Film, Audience Award & Best Promotional Campaign (a new award this year!).

Open Frame This Friday!

The seventh annual OPEN FRAME STUDENT FILM FEST will be held this Friday night, April 24th, at 10 p.m. in the Johnson Center Chapel at Malone University.

This year's fest will include 12 student produced short films - a total viewing experience of 2 hours. While admission is free, doors will open at 9:15, and in recent years, we've been so filled that some have been turned away. Be sure you come early to find a place to sit.

And bring a pillow, because most of the seating is floor seating!

A short awards ceremony will follow the films.