By: Maggie Sharp

The Western Theatre and Cinema program offers a wonderful approach to being behind the scenes of a movie.

The majority of classes offer hands-on experience to show students the ways they can become the producers and directors they aspire to be. Director, producers and cinematographers all get to assist in the theatre productions working behind the scenes to gain experience.

Throughout the year, cinema students get to work on films in class and on their own and work with a group to produce films over the course of the semester. Students in the film program get to write, cast and direct their films during class. After their work is completed, they attempt to get their films into the Griffon Film Festival at the end of the year.

The film program has two film festivals, the 48-hour film festival in the fall which gives students 48 hours to write and film their pieces and the much more highly selective Griffon Film Festival in the spring. Both festivals showcase student work from the current school year.

The 48-hour film festival is very self-contained and a good way to focus creativity and the Griffon Film Festival goes through a much more selective process and has a panel of judges to screen the films.

Robert Hanson, cinema professor, said it is a challenging program and there is no A for effort.

“It’s heavier than most other disciplines; they [students] are expected to work on films over the weekends,” Hanson said.

Hanson teaches a three-hour studio class on motion picture lighting. It’s a prime example of how students really get hands-on experience setting up lights, studying contrast ratios, taking care of equipment and learning how to apply these aspects to their shot.

Although the class is difficult, Wil Abeling, cinema major, said he enjoys Hanson’s class.

“Hanson is the kind of teacher you respect, but you’re not afraid to goof around with,” Abeling said. “He will go out of his way to help each and every student achieve their greatest potential.”

The dedication and hard work of the Western cinema students is recognized through the impressive films produced for festivals and technology work done for live productions.