A group of student filmmakers fielded questions from the public about their work following a screening at the Jersey City Museum last week. The new artists’ collective Urban Image faced nearly 50 audience members on Thursday, Dec. 9 when their program of short documentaries, A Sense of Place, premiered.
The screening and question-and-answer session was designed to give the members of Urban Image, who are all students or former students of New Jersey City University’s Media Arts department, a chance to see how their films hold up outside of the classroom.
“It’s really important that there’s that extra element, that there’s that interactive process,” said Jane Steuerwald, coordinator of Urban Image and a professor of media at NJCU.
For many of the students, the event marked the first time their films were seen by a real-world audience. It was an important step for the young filmmakers, most of whom intend to pursue careers in the film industry.
“It stimulates students to see their work as something out in the world,” said Joel Katz, a professor of media at NJCU who was in attendance. “It connects schoolwork to the world.”
Questions and answers Questions posed to the group ranged from the practical to the technical. One audience member asked about the role of music in determining a rhythm for the films’ editing.
The group discussed at length some of the perils of no-budget, independent video production in a post-9/11 world. One audience member, a filmmaker himself, related the story of how he was once escorted off a PATH train by several uniformed officers for using a video camera on the train.
“It’s not easy to shoot in the New York metro area anymore,” Steuerwald said.
Most of the filmmakers agreed that documentary producers often face resistance from their subjects as well as unforeseen problems while filming. Some of the artists took risks to shoot their films.
Shani Difarnacio took her camera aboard a PATH train to shoot her film “The Train of Lethe” – and emerged without being detained by the authorities. Nelson Mayo took a different risk by submerging his camera underwater for certain shots of his film “The Ataraxic Effect of a Fishtank.”
Filmmaker Jason Roque resorted to guerilla tactics to complete his documentary “Basilica.” He posed as a videographer at a relative’s wedding to obtain shots of the inside of the Sacred Heart Basilica in Newark. One filmmaker, however, said he had the opposite problem as he shot his documentary “Bergenline” in North Bergen. Robert Meyer said he was constantly being approached by people eager to speak on camera. “Everybody wants to be on TV, you know?” he said.
The panel of young filmmakers also discussed their creative impulses and the craft of filmmaking. Michelle Lopez was more than happy to discuss the method by which she recorded and edited snatches of dialogue to create a conversation for her short film “Symposia Bookstore”.
Other audience members wanted to know more about the visual devices employed by the filmmakers, such as framing and use of color.
“They really care about what’s in the lens,” said Rocio Aranda Alvarado, curator at the Jersey City Museum, “like a painter would his canvas.”
Reactions to the reactions
The question-and-answer session seemed to have its desired effect. Many of the filmmakers said they took something away from the event.
“I was really happy with the response,” Lopez said. “It did inspire me to visually get a little more creative.” Some of the filmmakers were emboldened by the positive reception the audience gave their films.
“It makes me want to keep doing this,” said Clint Higgins, whose short film “Carwash Automatic” was included in the screening. “It encourages me.”
The organizers of A Sense of Place said they were likewise pleased with the audience’s feedback.
“It went so well,” Alvarado said. “We had a great audience that was engaged with the work. What more can you ask for?”