NEW ORLEANS – Loyola University New Orleans students, faculty, staff and administrators―together with students from the New Orleans Contemporary Center for the Arts (NOCCA) and members of the greater New Orleans community―will serve as movie critics today, Wednesday, December 9, 2015, at the 21st Loyola Student Film Festival.
Grammy-nominated director Jim Gabour, who directs the newly launched digital filmmaking program at Loyola, and Loyola Artist-in-Residence Harry Shearer, will serve as guest judges. Students in Loyola’s newly launched digital filmmaking program will screen 25 short films they have created this semester.
The event runs from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Nunemaker Auditorium, located in Loyola’s newly renovated Monroe Hall on Loyola’s main campus, 6363 St. Charles Ave.
The event is free and open to the public.
“Our BFA in digital filmmaking students are not only using the higher-definition cameras, they are using complex cameras, dollies and Steadicams,” said Gabour, adding that Loyola’s top-flight professional studios and equipment were available for student use. “I’m expecting to see some really spectacular work.”
The only degree of its kind in the region, the new digital filmmaking major at Loyola targets students who wish to learn all aspects of the film business and offers 21 hours of business coursework promising hands-on professional experience working on current film projects.
Six years in the making, the Bachelor of Fine Arts in digital filmmaking at Loyola, is one of the year’s most popular majors among Fall 2016 students, and launched this semester with official accreditation and nearly double the expected enrollment.
According to Gabour, Loyola’s film program is designed to ensure long-term success by familiarizing students with all aspects of the film business, from digital filmmaking and screenwriting to acting and directing. In collaboration with local craft unions, Loyola has developed courses that cover all of the positions needed on a professional crew, including gaffer, grip, camera, lighting and art production. Students work on cutting-edge equipment, including 10 brand new, state-of-the-art digital filmmaking cameras from Canon.
On Thursday, audience participants will grade each of the films on both content and editing, and the average of their collective input will form part of the student’s final class grade. NOCCA Film and Digital Media students will round out the crowd and provide feedback from a younger audience’s point of view.
