Shot in Prague, honored in LA: Elon pupil’s ‘Night Shift’ earns competition acclaim | At the moment at Elon

During a examine overseas program in Prague, Alex McCollum ’27 produced a brief movie as a part of an intensive, hands-on filmmaking expertise. The venture has since gained traction on the competition circuit, incomes a number of honors and nominations.

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Alex McCollum was on a run when his telephone buzzed. The Elon junior stopped in his tracks, known as his manufacturing designer, and waited anxiously for him to select up. What was the pressing information? Their quick movie, “Night Shift,” had simply received a Bronze Award on the Independent Shorts Awards Festival in Los Angeles.

McCollum, a cinema and tv arts BFA main from Charlotte, spent final fall learning on the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, often known as FAMU. The program is exclusive amongst Elon’s examine overseas applications: eight hours of sophistication a day for the primary two months, with the remainder of the semester devoted completely to filming and modifying a brief movie.

“You’re really there to focus on making this one film, which is kind of awesome,” McCollum stated.

After college students pitch scripts in the beginning of this system, seven are chosen, and crews type organically round these administrators. McCollum landed the position of director of images on “Night Shift,” a darkish thriller quick a few janitor who discovers a useless physique in his workplace constructing and is met with indifference when he seeks assist. The workforce instantly set about looking for areas to movie round Prague – which turned out to not be a straightforward process.

When the crew utilized to twenty areas across the metropolis and heard nothing again, they turned their very own college constructing into a movie set. The manufacturing designer spent an hour earlier than and after each shoot day remodeling the area, whereas McCollum measured every room prematurely to plan each lighting setup.

The movie was additionally shot on 16mm – actual, bodily movie – which added a completely completely different layer of stress. No monitor, no autofocus, no fixing publicity issues in post-production.

“You don’t really know what your shot looked like until you saw it on the big screen,” McCollum stated.

When the group left Prague, they pooled $50 every and handed McCollum the $200 to spend on competition submissions. He used Film Freeway to undergo festivals in Charlotte, Los Angeles, and New York – the hometowns of the 4 crew members. Then he waited.

The first response got here from the Independent Shorts Awards, the place “Night Shift” earned a Bronze Award for Best Production Design. A follow-up electronic mail introduced further recognition – an Honorable Mention for Best Mystery Short, a class McCollum hadn’t even entered. The movie has additionally been nominated for Best Student Short on the Queen City Culture Film Festival in Charlotte, scheduled for Saturday, April 25, with a number of extra choices nonetheless pending.

With early success on the competition circuit, the expertise has reshaped how McCollum views filmmaking past the classroom. He plans to submit his senior BFA movie to festivals and now encourages different pupil filmmakers to take that very same step.

“Once you apply to your first festival, you’ll get attention,” he stated. “You just gotta get your foot in the door.”