Lance Kammer and Professor Stan Ferguson, Theater and Media Arts
The goal of my project, funded by the ORCA grant, was to produce a short motion picture film entitled Of Separation. In the beginning I had only a script written, that I submitted to ORCA, from which I was to make the film. I also had a Theater and Media Arts Capstone class in which to workshop this script. Now, at the end of the eight months during which I have workshopped and researched this project, the original goal has changed and I have had a successful and worthwhile ORCA experience.
My approach to the project was to take the script which I had written to my final BYU class entitled TMA 473: Writers / Directors Workshop. I had teamed up with a writer named Shannon Adams, also a TMA student, to work on the project with.
Our plan was to workshop the script to a more completed stage in the class and then apply for the LDS Motion Picture Studio Student Project. We would take the ORCA Scholarship, combine it the Theater and Media Arts Final Cut Grant for which we were applying, and combine it them with a grant from a Salt Lake City advertising firm named RSCG / DSW & Partners for which we were also applying. We then were hoping to be awarded the LDSMPS Grant. This was our plan for funding and producing the film and any combination of the four would have worked.
However, what resulted was a long series of discovering many strengths and weaknesses in my skills, approach, and character. As Shannon and I began to workshop the script, my desires for the success of the script led me to control the partnership and not allow a collaboration to take place. This weakness kept the script from progressing to the approval stage throughout the two months of the class.
A requirement of the class was also to shoot scenes from the script in order to workshop the filmmaking aspects of the script. This turned out to be a great strength and success for myself and the partnership between Shannon and I. A total of three scenes were shot from the script during which I learned a great deal. I learned first hand the technical aspects of putting the script on film, about my own skills, talents, and abilities in doing so, and about the different feelings the film could take on as we experimented with different actors and locations.
The conclusion of the class was a preliminary pitch of the project to the TMA faculty members. This pitch would approve the project to pitch for the Final Cut Grant and the LDSMPS Student Grant. The failure of the original goal of the project came with this pitch. Being overly anxious for the script that we presented to match my creative desires for the film, I took the liberty of changing certain aspects of the script Shannon had written. This was an infringement on our partnership and the faculty denied approval for any further pitches.
I learned perhaps my greatest weakness from this experience. My pride in wanting to creatively control the situation had jeopardized the entire project. However, through this experience I also developed an even greater strength. I was left with a mess on my hands, which I had created, to clean up. Realizing the offense I had committed, I apologized to my partner and the faculty and cleaned up my mess. Doing this stretched my character, humbled me, and I was able to see beyond me own desires and intentions to others talents, worth, and abilities.
With this, an adaptation to the original goal of the project was made and the process started at square one again with a collaboration on the script between Shannon and myself. We worked very hard for six weeks to improve the script. We met with our faculty advisors on how to improve the script and turned in several drafts. Six weeks later, and after a wonderful collaboration process, we had a final script. This was a great success in the course of this project.
The project had already missed two of the three grants and we were shortly turned down for the third RSCG / DSW & Partners scholarship. However, in June, with amends being made and with a working script, the faculty offered for the project to be considered for a Special Project status. This option was carefully considered. However, the ORCA scholarship funds had been used for the shooting of the three scenes and without any additional funds, another adaptation to the original goal of the project was made.
In the summer of 1999, a fellow student filmmaker, Allan Staker, and I came together to form an entertainment company, which we call SlickRock Entertainment, that specializes in producing television commercials and short documentary and narrative films.
The remaining possibilities for the production of Of Separation are to utilize SlickRock Entertainment in finding a buyer for the project and produce it to play in a series of short films on selected national cable networks. Another alternative is to re-adapt the script to fit the content and format of an episode of an already airing network series such as Touched by an Angel.
I expect the process of producing this project in this manner to be completed with in the next 2 years. I will still pursue directing and producing this project in order to offer the American public an alternative, quality entertainment to the types of hard content films coming out of Hollywood today. This was ultimately my original goal for producing Of Separation.
Although my ORCA project shifted from its original goal of making the film to writing a working script, the experience it gave me has been invaluable. I taught me technical and theoretical proficiency in filmmaking. It also built my character and integrity in working with my colleagues and piers. I feel I am much more prepared to work as a professional in the industry with the increase of technical skill character this experience has provided. In all, I view this project as a key learning experience and a great success.