With the Golden Globe Awards come and gone and the Oscars just around the corner, the masses are mad for movies, especially those in Ferenc Gutai’s Advanced Digital Filmmaking class at Moorpark College.
Gutai and his students are in the preproduction phases of the second movie to come out of Moorpark’s Film Program. The film is titled “The Room.”
Casting Director Andrew Wolf describes “The Room” as a suspenseful thriller.
“It’s about a family that considers themselves perfect–an ideal family,” explained Wolf.
They like to think of themselves as the perfect American structured family and they like to have the world think of them that way.”
The first film that Gutai and his students produced was “Trauma.” The 35-minute short film has won multiple awards and it is quite apparent why it is so successful, according to Gutai, it does not look like a student film, but like an independent film.
“This is not a student film project,” Gutai said. “It’s a department program project and these students have very strong skills.”
“Trauma,” which was filmed last spring, starred Wolf as a weak husband who struggles with the aftermath of his once-bubbly wife being sexually assaulted. Because of the good fortune “Trauma” had the Advanced Filmmaking students are ready for more.
Executive Director Kyle Ford, 22, Film Television and Media major, is excited for “The Room” and appreciates the new elements Lead Script Writers David Riehm, 21, Film Television and Media major, and Scott Landsman added to the plot.
“‘Trauma’ was a fairly linear drama,” explained Ford. “This bounces around and has a little more non-linear storyline–not too tweaked out. Not Tarantino or anything, but it does bounce around and what it does is creates more depth: we’ve got a lot of characters to explore. A lot more story to explore.”
Smaller class sizes and personal instruction opens up many opportunities for the motion picture pupils, according to Gutai. In the program, they have the opportunity to get their hands dirty and dabble in just about every aspect of filmmaking.
This helps the students decide what they like best and what they wish to pursue. Knowing how everything works is also a good quality if someone needs to jump in as a key grip or a cameraman, the students have the know-how.
There are several goals for “The Room” as well as the film program itself. One is to show that Moorpark College is a contender among other film schools.
Co-Director of “The Room” Mike DuPre, 34, Film, Television and Media major, believes that the program is almost there.
“Basically what we’re trying to prove is that we can kick out as good a product as the four year film universities,” said DuPre. “So far we’re on the right track. With the production value and everything of our last project, it’s looking like we’re there. For a two year vocational program we’re able to produce the quality that some of the top film schools of the country are producing.”
Another goal is to set students on the right path from school to a career in the entertainment industry. Gutai is excited to be apart of this progress to professionalism.
“We’re having people that are in the program or affiliated with the program that have this opportunity to work within a project that is transitional into the industry,” said Gutai.
The most important objective for the Advanced Filmmaking class is to have fun and make a great movie.
Gutai insists that making movies is not just for film students.
“If you want to make films, just walk in,” declares Gutai. “We’re going to fit you somewhere within the hierarchy so you have an opportunity.”
Filming for “The Room” will start mid-February and will have a premier in May at a local theater. For more information about “Trauma,” “The Room,” or the Moorpark College Film Program, contact Ferenc Gutai at (805) 378-1525 ext. 3739 or visit www.myspace.com/loonybinmedia.
Students learn the dynamics of a camera car mount on the set of “Trauma.” (Ferenc Gutai)
