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Carey raises $2500 to produce short film

Student films carry the unfortunate stigma of having low budgets and poor production, but senior EMC major Anna Carey is determined to change that with her senior film, for which she's raised over $2500 using online fundraising platform Kickstarter.

Carey's film, 'Mother Of Us All,' will voice the struggle experienced by many women in the 60's, questioning where their identities were held. In her film, Carey says that she hopes to retell history "in a refreshing and gritty way as to encourage reflection on the mistakes and triumphs in our nation's history and see how that can influence our decisions today."

Carey described the fundraising process as both nerve-wracking an rewarding. "Having to think of ways to market myself and my film in a way that would engage people was certainly a challenge. I wanted people to think of their support as not just a way to fund a low-budget student film, but as a way to be involved in what I call a 'cinematic movement.' "

Though the film and its subject matter are something she is personally passionate about, Carey was surprised to see the film reach full funding on Kickstarter. "It was incredible to see the support of family friends, the poorest college students, Hollywood producers and complete strangers, all wanting to be involved in a piece of this film puzzle."

The funds raised will provide the props, costumes, set pieces and equipment rental needed to ensure an historical authentic and professional set, as well as catering for the cast and crew and materials for distribution of the final product.

Carey shared what she's looking forward to most as she takes the first steps in the production process. "With excitement I anticipate the first table read of the script with my cast. That's the first moment I really see my script come to life." Filming will begin in January, with the final film completed and screened in early May.

Read more about 'Mother Of Us All' on Carey's Kickstarter page.

Musical Theatre class puts a twist on final exams

During finals week most students were hunched over desks with knees jutting to the sides with a pencil clenched in their damp palm. The final exam for the Musical Theatre class, however, featured nine students performing songs filled with fervor, talent... and no broken erasers.

Professor Joy Donley teaches the introductory class in musical theatre and history with an emphasis on learning the art of performing songs. The course focuses on acting out the song with a variety of vocal and acting exercises tailored for the performer with a mix of musical theatre history.

"We focus on digging into the emotions within the lyrics," said Donley, "and how that affects the actor's performance. We connect the lyric's emotion with our own personal stories, so that each actor can portray a true, believable character."

The "final exam," which took place on December 18, was an opportunity for students to show what they'd learned by performing their favorite solos and ensemble pieces for an audience of their peers. The students received feedback a panel of judges, which included local theatre professionals Peter Vitale, music director and composer for Ten Thousand Things Theatre, and Jason Peterson, director and owner of Yellow Tree Theatre.

WVOE hosts 97.7 Hours of Christmas

Students getting ready for classes, hitting the mid-day slump or even fighting sleep at 1 a.m were joined in December by 97.7 hours of continuously live-hosted Christmas music on NWC's student radio station, WVOE 97.7 FM.

Starting at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 6 and continuing through 5:12 p.m. on Monday, December 10, the station hosted its sixth annual "97.7 Hours of Christmas" broadcast to promote Christmas with Dignity, a local charity that helps low-income families buy Christmas presents at a discount.

About 10 students from the radio workshop led the holiday marathon, volunteering for shifts throughout the day and night. On each hour of the reindeer-infused radio show, the hosts drew a stunt out of a hat that had to be performed within the hour. Some of the crazier stunts included an eggnog chugging contest and calling executive staff members at 3 a.m.

WVOE station manager Aaron McIntire said, "My personal favorite was stunt number 21. We had a freshman recording arts student run around the station two times barefoot singing 'Jingle Bells' while at the same time President Cureton was having a leadership meeting on the same floor."

"The most rewarding part was seeing how much fun my radio comrades had," said McIntire. Photos and video from the 97.7 Hours can be found on the WVOE Facebook page.

Note From the Chair

Students of communication might start the new year with a resolution to be even better communicators in 2013: to blog more regularly, to tweet more relevantly, to report more fully, to write and speak in greater depth or on a broader range of subjects. As consumers of mass communication we might resolve to read more books, see more plays or expose ourselves to more genres and viewpoints. To those worthy ideas let me suggest one more communication-related resolution for 2013: Knock it off!

It's hard to stop communicating. In fact, some would argue that we can never "not communicate," since often in silence our body language speaks volumes. But even stopping overt communication is hard in a world where we carry mass communication tools in our pockets. Avoiding the communication of others is much harder than it used to be. We live in an always-connected world where a powerful technological infrastructure is hard at work around the clock to make sure we are instantly notified when a casual acquaintance is feeling sleepy, or has listened to a song on Spotify.

The problem with the (What a cute cat!) constant noise of our world (Look what Bob's eating!) is that it can make it difficult (Sally loved The Hobbit!) to focus on the things of the next world. When God really wants to get our attention He can do it, but more often than not we will find--- like Elijah did--- that God does not choose to make Himself known through a mighty wind or an earthquake or a fire, but through a still, small voice.

In 2013, while resolving to be more effective communicators, we should also resolve to take a break now and then. We live in a world where the volume is turned up to 11, and we need to turn it all the way down to zero from time to time. Spend a bit of time alone with the God who created you. Unplug from the world around you, and focus on the world beyond you. Learn to be still, and see if you don't wind up having something to say.

Doug Trouten
Communication Department Chair