OU Film in the Past: An OU Film Co-op

Warren Theater employee Alexander Ansari was not always a man who helped present movies, but make movies of his own. In his sophmore year at the University of Oklahoma, he was searching for a club that dealt with movies and film.

(PHOTO: Audrey Ansari)

The club he ended up finding wasn't concerned with watching movies, but instead wanted to make them in a student film co-op group. The club initially allowed each student to submit their own script and poll on which one they would film. The group settled on a script called "Chalk", a story about the "hypocrisy of drug arguments" in which chalk represented drugs. The group shot the film in two days at downtown Norman using equipment borrowed from the Oklahoma City Community College. With no previous experience, Ansari was responsible for lighting, audio, and the props for the film. "I basically followed directions and finding my way very slowly." Ansari would eventually save that film when the car they were using as a police car suffered a flat tire, and he was the only one would could change it. He wasn't there for the finishing of the film, but the whole experience would excite and hook him on the art of film-making.

Ansari would go on to create a couple more films in that club, two of those he would write himself, but he was most likely in a predecessor to the Student Film Production Club which now does similar activities. Vice President Sean Collins of the SFPC says, "its a way for students to come together with the equipment that we've got as a club and basically have a little community of filmmakers to help each other out with projects." Ansari seconds this idea, "I think that there's a lot of creative students there and a lot of good ideas that could be fostered by such a club or program. It's essentially just a bunch of students getting together and making something happen."

Such student film clubs are excellent for honing skills and learning the processes with low-budget films and documentaries. Ansari today is not making movies. During the middle of his college years he would switch over to journalism, but he served as one of the predecessors to a great idea and is very much a part of Oklahoman film history.

Alexander Ansari's Red Bull Film Story. Ansari talks about one of his college productions about a red bull contest. AUDIO: Matthew Shaffer, runs :59

Famous Movie Producer Teaching at OCCC

 Gray Fredrickson is an instructor at the Oklahoma City Community College who also oversees the Film Department in the Visual and Performing Art Center. Fredrickson also happens to be the producer of all three “Godfather” movies.

(PHOTO:  Matthew Shaffer)

                                                          
Born in Oklahoma City and graduating the University of Oklahoma with a degree in Business, Fredrickson is the only producer in Hollywood who has been apart of three of the top ten movies in Hollywood: Godfather I&II and Apocalypse Now. He’s won two academy awards for those movies and is the first Oklahoman to do so.
Fredrickson started in the Italian Film Industry in the 1960s and his first hit film, Little Fauss and Big Halsey, would propel him through several other hit movies. He would finally return to Oklahoma in 1999 as a part of OCCC to assist in the state’s efforts to recruit motion pictures.
Fredrickson continues to be an excellent asset to the college’s students and faculty, and his work as a producer for current films and documentaries. This short video gives personal insight into then and now working at the Oklahoma City Community College in Oklahoma City. (VIDEO:  Matthew Shaffer, 2:00)

The Wonders of the World, A Film By Jeremy Dickie

Film Director, Jeremy Dickie, shoots his latest short film, The Wonders of the World, at the St. Micheal Episcopal Church. The film is about a autistic child struggling in school and no further information about the story can be revealed at this time. Originally, the film was scheduled to be shot in the spring, however, the church required the crew to bump it up to the fall semester due to school testing.

The film started in pre-production about two months before it began and it is yet to be determined when The Wonders of the World will finish.  Jeremy and Britini are part of the Film Production Club at the University of Oklahoma and have used its resources as a way to further their goals in film. Jeremy and his crew use their own equipment as well as Gaylord's resources and they mainly shoot their films in Oklahoma. 

Jeremy is an aspiring film director, writer, editor, and cinematographer at OU with many productions under his belt. He owns his own film company, Ah! Nuts Productions, and uses it to continue his work since 2010. Jeremy won several awards for his films and has been recognized as having "an eye for detail and a passion for exploring new technical avenues." Die männliche Bedingung, his German Expression film, has won recognition from the Director of Photography of Rocky V and Donnie Darko.

OU sophmore and Jeremey's production coordinator, Britini Harris, who is double-majoring in Film and Video Studies and Broadcasting and Electronic Media, praises him for his passion and aspirations.


Harris was responsible for contacting the actors and actresses, scouting locations, and she assists Jeremy throughout the film's production. She helps Jeremy with many of his projects and appreciates his offer to work with him on The Wonders of the World.

When the film is finished, it will likely feature on his website, www.ahnutsproductions.com for those who are interested may support him. 

Gaylord College Professor Involved in Upcoming Film "Yellow"

Professor and commercial director, Kyle Bergersen, talks about his difficult experience as a camera operator in the movie "Yellow." "Basically, we were filming the rehearsals, and so we really don't know what's going to happen."

Kyle is mentioning the interesting documentary style of filming that director Nick Cassavetes uses in his films. "...actor is everything, camera is nothing kind of world." This style was inherited from his father, John Cassavetes who had directed such films as Rosemary's Baby and the Dirty Dozen. "Yellow" was partially shot in Los Angeles, California and mostly shot in Norman, Oklahoma. The crew had used an old airport hangar in Norman Airport to shoot a part of their scenes.

Bergersen explains how the movie was filmed in Norman:

The movie is about a disturbed young woman, Mary Holmes, who has a imaginary relationship with her four aborted children and comes home to her family. "Yellow" had an enormous budget of around seven million, which Bergersen explains the reasoning is to give the crew more time to shoot the movie. "With the less money, the faster you have to work and that's just not [Nick's] process."

Bergersen shows interest in the movie's outcome and personally knows that some of the performances during filming were decent, "I would like to see if it actually holds together because it's kind of a fragmented story." However, Bergersen's involvement with the movie is not an action he usually partakes. He mostly works with commercials and has even produced his own feature movie, Love Comes the Executioner, a movie about a young man is hired as an executioner at the prison where his brother is being killed, and he also falls in love with his brother's ex-girlfriend who's also in prison. The movie had received decent ratings, but Kyle's new plan is to write a novel for his next movie before filming it. "If you have a book that has a following, you can maybe generate a quirky movie or a TV series out of that."

"Yellow" has finished shooting since July and is currently in post-production. Expect to see the movie on DVD in early 2012, and it will star actors Ray Liotta and Lucy Punch.

Slideshow

The Gaylord College foyer is the best place to study and relax with nearby vending machines and a library-like environment.

Medieval Fair Auditions Brings New Faces

Medieval Fair Auditions were held at the Norman Public Library at 2 p.m. Sunday, September 11th, to determine the new cast of actors for future events.

     With a new cast, future Medieval Fair shows will be different as around 20+ new and current actors merge together to form a new experience for attendees.

PHOTO: Matthew Shaffer

     Auditions have not been held for five to six years as a new cast must be changed each time the male actor playing the ‘king’ role changes. The new ‘king’ King Edward III is still being determined

     According to Cody Clark, the turnout for the auditions was not up to expectations, but Clark was satisfied with the results. Clark, previously a shy man in his earlier years, has found his calling as a professional actor in the Medieval Fair. His energy and flair energize the newcomers and set an example for most of the other actors at the auditions.

     Monthly lectures and rehearsals will be held starting September 16^th with the lecture, ”From Pacifist to Warrior-Christ: Jesus in Medieval Imagination” and September 18^th for rehearsals. Rehearsals will be biweekly during the Spring semester.

For more information regarding these events contact Ann Marie Eckart, ameckart@ou.edu (405) 325-8610