USC film students are making it in the reel world.

By Larry Wood

When Thomas Franks saw Bragging Rites, the new documentary film about the Carolina-Clemson football rivalry, for the first time, he was impressed. The best part? His name in the credits.

Franks, ’03, is one of a growing number of USC students and alumni who are learning to produce, write, shoot, edit, and score films in their media arts classes. Columbia can’t compare with Los Angeles or New York, but the students’ works are finding their way to screens at film festivals across the country.

“Working on Bragging Rites was really exciting,” said Franks, who interned with 440 Creative, a Columbia marketing, public relations, and advertising agency that helped produce the film. “I did research and some shooting. For the Carolina-Clemson game, Chris White, who owns 440 and co-produced the movie, and I ran right up to center field for the coin toss. All through the game, we caught players and their reactions and different plays on the field. Fans, too.”

Bragging Rites is available online at www.braggingritesthemovie.com.

Today, Franks works full-time for 440 Creative, doing some public relations work for the film and managing sales. He will continue to help market the film through the end of the year, then 440 wants to explore making films of other college football rivalries in other states.

“That would open up a new avenue for all kinds of movies being made, pulling in producers and filmmakers from other states and showing them how we did it in South Carolina,” said Franks, who made “GI Joe” videos with his brother in elementary school and made several well-received short videos for an independent film club in high school. “There’s really a whole industry there.”

USC students in the art department’s media arts track learn the basics of filmmaking by making films. Laura Kissel teaches media arts 551 in the fall and 552 in the spring, which introduce students to the theory and practice of making 16mm films, including production, postproduction, and advanced techniques. In media arts 541 and 542, taught by Joe Milutis, students learn advanced audio recording techniques and fundamentals of sound use for media.

“Film is a double system process,” Kissel said. “It’s not like video in which the picture and sound are on the same media. In film, they’re separate.”

Kissel’s students produce one short film, about eight to 10 minutes, each semester. Working as a group, the students start with an idea. Then, often working outside class, they write and rewrite the script, scout for locations, assemble actors, do makeup, gather props, and shoot the film. The process takes most of the semester.

After shooting, the students edit their works on sophisticated equipment that allows them to dub titles and credits and add special effects and animation. “Plus, we have scoring capabilities,” Milutis said. “The students have hundreds and hundreds of virtual instruments at their fingertips that they can play and do complex scores for their movies.”

“It’s a one-stop shop. We do it all,” Kissel said.

During the spring 2003 semester, Kissel and Milutis taught their advanced film and sound classes together, creating a workshop environment.

“Our goal is to give them the advanced foundational knowledge in our separate classes in the fall and have the spring class be an incubator for the students’ films,” Milutis said. “We’re there to direct them and give them knowledge, but there’s a lot of self power. Our students really did produce excellent work last spring, and they did a lot of work independent of the classroom.”

“We encourage our students to be self-directed and self-motivated,” Kissel said. “You really have to be that way when you get out of school. You have to be very driven to get a project done whether you’re producing or shooting a film for a company or whether you’re on your own as an independent filmmaker or artist.

“In the workshop environment, we’re there to help solve problems, but it’s really up to the students to get their minds together and collaborate.”

The group approach to filmmaking made "Developments," a 10-minute film Franks worked on during the fall semester 2002, a success.

“Professor Kissel doesn’t designate jobs. We didn’t have to name one person the director or one person the editor,” Franks said. “It was neat to find out where you fit and how things worked together and who’s going to be doing what. It was a group effort on almost every level.”

The group decided on a story involving a photographer and his “girlfriend,” proposed by Angelique Gibson. Gibson and Anthony Vogeltanz each wrote scripts, and Franks made edits and acted in the film. “That was my main contribution,” said Franks, who also took acting classes at USC and had made short films before. “I wanted to give other people a chance to direct or use the camera.”

Joshua Burrack provided all the music and sound effects—water drops, light switches, pots and pans clanking—for the film. Andrew Cady and Vogeltanz did most of the shooting and cinematography.

“I think Joshua’s sound helped give the film the right mood,” Franks said. “The music creates an uneasiness, almost an eeriness. The writing, cinematography, sound, and the directing all contributed to its success.”

"Developments" has been a success at film festivals Franks has entered, too. It was named best short narrative at the Kalamazoo Short Film and Video Festival 2003 in Kalamazoo, Mich., and was chosen as an official selection at the Lake Arrowhead Film Festival 2003 in Lake Arrowhead, Calif., and at the Wilmington Independent Film Festival 2003 in Wilmington, Del. Locally, the film screened at the Beg and Grovel Film Festival, the Colossal Film Crawl, and the USC Arts Competition during 2003 in Columbia.

“I’m really happy with the film,” said Franks, who’s still waiting to hear from other festivals. “From the beginning of working with Developments, it really turned out having good production value quality. It may not be a mainstream Hollywood story, but film festivals like that.

“Who knows? Someone in California or Delaware might see "Developments" and give us a call. Who sees your film and showing it to the right people, that’s really what film festivals are for.”

With a solid start in the film industry, Franks can wait and see what develops.