When film students from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts tell you your house is perfect as the setting for a story involving a creepy instructor/teacher/professor, one might have mixed feelings about it.
But the truth is: I’m always going to celebrate the opportunity to watch these amazing creatives engage in their craft, and it will always seem like a bold stroke of good fortune if a crew determines that the Roediger House is suitable to their clever designs.
Over Easter weekend, starting at 8 am both days, the homestead once more throbbed with the vibrant machinations of a film crew, this time a Second Year production called “Under Review.”
Unlike some of the previous projects that filmed here, this story took place all over the house, including the cellar, and with it came all the excitement and delight that these endeavors consistently entail.
The story crafted by the marvelous writer-director Zaire Cornick could have been developed with the house very much in mind (again: mixed feelings!). His even-keeled style is that of an accomplished director who knows his vision has to pass through and ride well upon an actor’s own talent. He demonstrated an adeptness in guiding the players with well-chosen prompts and a genius for when enough has been said to evoke the performance he was aiming for.
It all was boosted by the production designer’s vision for how to maximize staging and setting—Cookie Perini did an incredible job. The million brilliant touches she conjured, large and small, were a chef’s kiss to this gifted director’s grander schemes.
In between takes, I was only sort of kidding when I accused the guys of having broken in to scope out the house while the script was in development.
Take, if you will, that the eerie ambiance of the cellar was itself a role it seemed written to play.
Even the very junked-up room that someday I intend to make my study was suited to the story.
Ethan Droze brought his exceptional talent as director of photography, a gorgeous melding of technical skill and artistic prowess. Ethan and his partner-in-purpled-orange crime Finn were the dynamic cinematographic duo, clever and creative and proceeding on uplifted wings of videotastic smarts, and often suspected of sneaking a variety of unslated/unmarked insert shots when other responsible key leaders let them escape from more careful supervision.
The calm in the creative storm was Producer Autumn Cooper (wearing multiple hats, including location manager), who provided a steady had on the rudder, quick with a pdf form to be signed and excellent at communicating...and firm in tone if the outer borders of the endeavor required wrangling or restoring.
Vitoria Rezende was both an exceptional 1st AD as well as a master maker of morning pancakes.
I always worry about naming names, because there is a whole roster of other remarkable UNCSA students who were on hand and doing the work with good spirits and enthusiasm. They are, to a one, a credit to themselves and to UNCSA.
As I have chronicled past UNCSA projects that have filmed here (some in whole, and others in part), I remain so very impressed by these future film professionals.
They know and embrace their roles and duties, they work efficiently and with care, they support and bolster one another, and they problem-solve and resolve and maintain uplifted spirits and camaraderie.
And the amount of preparation and planning they do before the location shoot begins is a wonder to behold.
When they are on set or behind the scenes, their dedication to tasks and functions is unfailingly professional and expertly executed. They celebrate one another and eagerly step in where needed just because they were asked.
When there is downtime between takes, small reminders that they are yet college students might manifest, when they talk about which professors are slack with assignments or deadlines and how their roommates annoy them.
Might there also be animated arguments about Star Wars prequels and issues of character development, and might certain famous Hollywood directors earn impassioned stinging umbrage-laden rebukes in spite of how universal is their acclaim from the Academy and/or box office receipts? It’s film school, dude. Of course.
Could a precious moment of camera resetting be more perfectly programmed than to a soundtrack of "Wonderwall" from Oasis? Cast and crew eased into their own moments of joyous groove, a sway or a corralled dance and a smattering of lip-sync.
And then the call for the next shot comes and they might as well be on the Warner Brothers lot or working as Broadway professionals, given how they once again perfectly fulfill their responsibilities.
As students have brought their film ideas to reality here, I’ve always tried to hang nearby, not only because it’s fun to watch the process, but also in case something is needed. And with this latest production, the keys kidded me by suggesting I might get a “junior sparky” mention in the closing credits for using the Alexa app to make adjustments to some of the house smart bulbs in some scenes.
But I also have a propensity to eavesdrop to catch the excellent manner in which crew members communicate with and support one another. As each filming day follows its shooting schedule, I get to hear samplings of their conversations:
- “What would be best for you guys?”
- “That take was fire, dude.”
- “It’s cool having a team backing you.”
- “I trust your judgment.”
- “How about if we…?”
- “Let my crew take care of that!”
- “You’re making this better and easier for all of us.”
- “These guys deserve gold stars—none of this happens without them.”
- “My analogies and metaphors go downhill as we get late in the day.”
- “This house is SO bougie.”
- “I can’t find my phone.”
It might be a bit gauche to keep count and yet it really does feel like an honor that this is now the 11th UNCSA endeavor to utilize the Roediger House: ten films and a photo essay. I still hope it’s just the beginning.
Previous UNCSA Production: "Jack and Norma"
