On February 20, 2010, The Yard Radio Show presented the Collegestock Film Festival. College is always noted at a hallmark in people's lives. The Collegestock Film Festival highlights selected works of five filmmakers from colleges and universities around the United States. In this collection you will find the imagination, social concerns, and anecdotes of everyday life that these college filmmakers have experienced. Think of this as a glimpse into the first decade of twenty-first century college life. We hope to continue offering this perspective in a way only college students can present. Enjoy.
Brainstorm
(13 min.)Two college guys sit in their dorm room, trying to come up with a good idea for a movie, with outrageous results. As they discuss ideas they come to life on screen, from a dramatic war movie, a short-lived space movie, to a film noir private-eye movie. Every idea gets shot down for one reason or another, until they end with the worst idea of all.
Jake Schmiedicke has been making movies since he was sixteen, when he first picked up his parents' Hi-8 camera. Since then he has written, directed, and produced his own films with a lot of help from his friends and family. Many of these films were screened at small local student film festivals, where they won several awards.
In his home state of Michigan, he attended Compass Film Academy's Film 401 course in 2003 where he learned better storytelling techniques and technical skills, including editing. As he went to college in California he continued to make short films and screen them at school dances, always striving to improve his storytelling and technical prowess. Having graduated with a Bachelor of the Arts degree, he is currently involved with the independent film project Vladimir, back home in west Michigan. He hopes to continue writing and directing independent films in Michigan, eventually with budgets big enough to take advantage of the tax credit.
Directions
(2 min.)We have all asked for Directions at some point in our lives. This short film examines the anguish and confusion that asking a stranger for directions can bring.
Andrew James Dubats is a college student with an endless imagination and a passion for filmmaking. He is currently a camera operator and editor on various projects. He also works as talent in online videos for Michigan radio stations 89X and 101 WRIF, and on occasion as extra in TV commercials. He has very little money right now thus all his independent projects were filmed using a Kodak Easyshare digital camera. He hopes to one day become a cinematographer.
Edgewood
(4 min.)A brief document of my stay at a cheaply built house in the ghetto. Made entirely out of footage recorded for other projects... you'll see why!
Alexander Düerr Williams is a film student at Georgia State University in downtown Atlanta. His main interests include documentary and short film production, as well as screenwriting, film scoring, and music production. He also enjoys writing poetry, playing in his band, writing comics, and pursuing other forms of artwork.
Morehouse College Haiti Relief Effort
(14 min.)Days after they heard about the major earthquake in Haiti, Jacques Pape and Roosevelt Ducelus (A Morehouse student and an alumni) team up with their college to conduct a major relief effort for Haiti.
Stefon Bristol is currently senior at Morehouse College, English Major, from Long Island, New York. His greatest desire is to be a film director with formal education at either NYU or USC film schools.
Orchard
(5 min.)A short horror/thriller about two college students who find themselves in a world of terror when entering a haunted orchard.
Aaron Freeder made his directorial debut in the fifth grade with the original production "Vacation to Planet Earth." His tastes have evolved a bit since then, though his room still resembles an alien wasteland. He likes biking the hills of Central New York, impersonating police officers on occasion and consuming the works of Paul Thomas Anderson. He currently attends Syracuse University.
