{"id":9676,"date":"2024-05-13T22:48:49","date_gmt":"2024-05-13T22:48:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/?p=9676"},"modified":"2024-05-13T22:48:50","modified_gmt":"2024-05-13T22:48:50","slug":"lights-camera-action-the-2024-fieldston-film-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/2024\/05\/lights-camera-action-the-2024-fieldston-film-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Lights, Camera Action! \u2013 The 2024 Fieldston Film Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The lights dim and people quickly shuffle into their seats. Everyone quiets, anxiously waiting for the film to start. And no, this isn\u2019t the Barbie or Oppenheimer premier! It\u2019s the 2024 Fieldston Film Festival!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A tradition for four years, the Fieldston Film Festival attracts students, parents, alumni and teachers with its incredible visuals and vivid storytelling. Each spring, the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center at Lincoln Center hosts Fieldston film students\u2019 creations \u2013 varying in topic from suspenseful dramas to eye-catching documentaries and entertaining music videos. The films aired in two sold-out screenings \u2013 one at 1 PM and the other later at 3PM. The films captured the audience\u2019s interest as music, quick shots, and graphics flooded the screen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The list of films created by Senior film majors included Gatsby\u2019s Always Lucky\u201d and \u201cI Wanna Dance\u201d by Sophie Basner, \u201cA Man\u2019s Best Friend\u201d by Miles Braunstein, \u201cFine Tuning\u201d by Isaiah Fletcher, \u201cAll American B**ch\u201d and \u201cSplintered\u201d by Addy Gorton, \u201cHikikomori\u201d by Theo Sullivan, \u201cThe Journey (Part II)\u201d by Wyatt Trevor, and \u201cLife in Focus\u201d by Zoe Williams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After all of the films aired, Julie Magruder, a film and podcast producer and Fieldston alum (\u201813), hosted a live Q&A with the student filmmakers. The audience listened eagerly as students discussed their motivations, challenges and creative processes.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Caption: \u201cMine Forever\u201d by Uma Couchman and Rachel Shames (Source: Ellie Usdin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Caption: \u201cSplintered\u201d by Addy Gorton (Source: Lily Saal)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

When asked about her inspiration for her film, Zoe Williams (Form VI) explained how she wanted to capture the \u201cappreciation for life\u201d that people experience when walking around Central Park. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sophie Basner\u2019s (Form VI) music video of the song \u201cI Wanna Dance with Somebody\u201d by Whitney Houston depicted her FSG co-president Remy Lipman (Form VI) dancing on screen. Basner\u2019s film paid tribute to the experience of performing on stage through her use of sharp scenic cuts which highlighted Lipman\u2019s incredible dance moves. She explained, \u201cWe need to take a moment to appreciate what is actually in front of us and how scary it can be to present in front of an audience.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interestingly, many Fieldston filmmakers experimented with the restriction of dialogue to create a compelling story. Addy Gorton (Form VI) discussed how she limited the usage of language in her film to allow viewers to be attracted to the visuals rather than the dialogue. Miles Braunstein (Form VI) similarly suggested how he restricted the amount of dialogue to \u201crepresent solitude\u201d for his main character. Additionally, he noted how he took inspiration from his favorite movie, \u201cTaxi Driver,\u201d to highlight an isolated character. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Caption: Fieldston Film Major Seniors with Larry Buskey (Source: Lily Saal)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

This year\u2019s film festival was particularly sentimental as it is film teacher Larry Buskey\u2019s last year at Fieldston. Buskey\u2019s constant support and encouragement for his students has made a lasting impact on the Fieldston community and he will be truly missed. Sophie Basner highlighted, \u201cHe has helped turn an interest into a passion,\u201d explaining how his dedication to filmmaking has inspired many to pursue film in the future and explore new creative mediums. Uma Couchman (Form V) added, \u201cHe\u2019s created a love for film that I never really knew was there, and I\u2019m always going to be grateful for that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working as a film teacher for nearly forty years and for thirteen at Fieldston, Buskey remarked that this year \u201cmay have been the most rewarding\u201d due to his students\u2019 complex and thoughtful work. Buskey concluded with a touching sentiment: \u201cAs far as my legacy goes, the only one I really care about is that students left my classes, more often than not, with a little more interest, excitement and insight about film and the filmmaking process. I felt honored to have had the opportunity to share what I love in this space and to have been a simple working member of this very unique community for the last 13 years.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The lights dim and people quickly shuffle into their seats. Everyone quiets, anxiously waiting for the film to start. And no, this isn\u2019t the Barbie or Oppenheimer premier! It\u2019s the 2024 Fieldston Film Festival! A tradition for four years, the Fieldston Film Festival attracts students, parents, alumni and teachers with its incredible visuals and vivid storytelling. Each spring, the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center at Lincoln Center hosts Fieldston film students\u2019 creations \u2013 varying in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":381,"featured_media":9679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[535,319,347,318],"tags":[],"coauthors":[634],"class_list":["post-9676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-arts","category-community","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/56E539A4-415C-4DCF-8F1A-51C90EB508C4_1_102_o-e1715640513589.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/381"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9676"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9680,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9676\/revisions\/9680"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9676"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=9676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}