The 10th Annual Black Bird Film Festival, held Wednesday at York Performance Hall, featured an overflow crowd of students, faculty and members of the broader AU community enjoying short student-created films. Jack Lugar, professor of cinema and media arts, was emcee for the evening and distributed a series of awards to the many Ravens who worked long hours to produce the finished products shown on the silver screen.
Best Director- Lucas Taylor (Super Sorry!)
“Oh, man. So, when directing, often getting a group together is very, very hard,” Taylor said of his film depicting a superhero stressed out by an underachieving sidekick and skeptical girlfriend. “And during the course of the production, there were a lot of favors from friends and family. Thanks, mom and dad, and to my little sister, for coming out and helping, and thanks to all my friends and the crew who came together in the cold when people didn’t show up.”
Cinematographer- David Lane (Missing)
Lugar asked Lane while he was presented with his award, “The chase scene through the woods, right? Impressive, watching that, trying to figure out what you guys have been doing to make that happen. Do you want to tell us what we just saw?”
The question was in reference to two characters trying to bury a dead body in the woods.
“Yeah, so first, I got the shot list for my director, Aden (Dehkli), and there was a lot going on. The first time I thanked him for just creating such a creative job list,” Lane recalled. “It really gave me the best chance possible for the award.
“I had an ankle injury and a calf strain at the same time.So, I had to have an Icy Hot on my ankle, because we were running through woods and there was stuff everywhere. But, definitely one of my favorite shots I’ve ever shot, definitely really cool, and I really like how it turned out.”
Best Actress – Alayna Long (Super Sorry!)
Lugar asked Long how she got connected to playing the girlfriend role in the film.
“I actually saw a post online for Soup (another film shown Wednesday), and then I was just in touch with Kate (Papenfus) after that, and she emailed me and she thought I’d be perfect for the role of Super Sorry! and went to the audition.”
Best Editor- Matthew Taylor (Super Sorry!)
Lugar asked Taylor, “How is it editing film that you are in? “
“When you’re editing a film that you’re in, you tend to get a little picky with the tapes, especially when it comes to wine delivery and just how you present yourself,” Taylor said. “It does reflect the problem that you did talk about previously in one of your classes, how you worry about directors being a part of it. … I feel like a similar process has happened when I was editing with my own face, but when it came down to it, you kind of just get absorbed in the story after a while, and forget it’s you.”
Sound Design- Faith Martin (Darla Sallee: The Heart Of Anderson)
“Honestly, I didn’t really think I’d win this category,” Martin said of the documentary about an Anderson community leader. “It was just finding all of the right music, and I have to thank Eli Libler, because he was my audio tech for the shoot of the day, and Sam Woods, who ended up finding the sound, music for that.”
Best Actor- Matthew Taylor (Super Sorry!)
Lugar asked Taylor a tongue-in-cheek question about how it was for Taylor to work with the editor since his twin brother, Lucas, filled that role.
Taylor said, “Well,having a personal relationship already and kind of being able to get into his mindset with the twin telepathy thing, that’s one of my superpowers. Having that connection and being able to understand what exactly he wants out of me, when needed, is something very valuable that I don’t think many people can unless you have such a deep connection as I do with my twin.”
Best Poster- Abby Stokes (Soup)
Lugar asked Stokes about the poster she designed with words cleverly blended within a bowl of alphabet soup, “With your movie poster, what were you kind of, what was the concept, or was this originally that you had an idea?”
Stokes recalled, “I basically had the poster in my head when I wrote the script and while I was directing it. But, I really have to give the kudos to Emma Ball, who created the soup in the bowl. So please give her a round of applause as well. I couldn’t have done that myself, honestly.”
Best Animation- Cassie Summerford (Revelation)
Summerford was the lone entrant in the animation category with her storytelling of a familiar Bible passage. Lugar asked, “Cassie, tell me about your film. Part of it as part of your senior project, right?
“Yes, it’s based on Revelations 5, about the lamb,” she said. “I added the girl into the animation because I wanted to relay the faith-based connection with that.”
Best Screenplay – Aden Dekhli (Missing)
Dekhli recalled, “David (Lane) came to me, I think, at the beginning of the semester, and he said, ‘Hey, I want to produce a film with you.’
“And he just gave me an idea of two stupid friends hiding a dead body. And I just wound up going, I tried to make whatever I could. I think that if you direct the scene right at the same time, you’re always thinking about the shot list and what the shots are you’re going to take and how it fits into the whole. You see the end in your head already, so I think it was very easy for me to visualize what I was writing.”
Audience Choice & Donald Boggs Best Picture Award – Missing
Dekhli said, “The whole production was great and I’m proud of him and how hard he worked on the set. And I think that goes for everyone with the guys. I’m so thankful that everyone helped with that. And I’m thankful to all of you for coming here and supporting the films that all of us have made. Thank you guys.”