Along with watching a myriad of films at the East Lansing Film Festival, students and community members who attend the four-day festival can also take part in two filmmaking-related seminars.
“The entire festival is basically film screenings, but then we do have these couple seminars,” festival Director Jennifer White said. “It’s just another venue for people to learn about different aspects of making films.”
The first seminar, 24P HD Digital Film Seminar, runs from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday in 106B Wells Hall.
The second seminar, Financing, Producing and Distributing an Independent Film in Michigan, will run from 10 a.m. to about 11:15 a.m. Sunday in 108B Wells Hall.
Tickets for each seminar cost $5.
People interested in the newest filmmaking equipment may want to attend the first seminar to learn about the Sony 24P Cinealta Digital Camera - the same camera that producer George Lucas used to shoot the second Star Wars prequel.
Tom Fletcher of Fletcher Chicago, which rents and sells cameras such as the 24P, will be at the seminar, possibly with the camera in tote, to talk about the camera’s characteristics and advantages.
“I’m going to have examples of tests that were done of 24P taken out to film,” Fletcher said. “This is an independent film festival - what people are most interested in seeing is what this looks like projected on screen.”
The second seminar - about making independent films in Michigan - will likely draw a good audience, said Gary Bender, who helped coordinate the seminars and is president of the festival’s board of directors.
The seminar will feature seven panelists who have experience in filmmaking in Michigan, including writers, directors, producers and actors.
“They’re going to be present to talk about shooting an independent feature film in Michigan,” Bender said.
But this is not the first time the festival has held seminars - they have been part of the experience since it began four years ago.
“Every year we’ve done well in seminars,” said Bender. “We have a great turnout and I think people come away with information that they can use.”
