Once more last Saturday, our incredible Winston-Salem gem—the University of North Carolina School of the Arts—brought buzz and activity to the Roediger House. Under the direction of Mary Margaret St. Clair, director of photography Zach Sbrogna, and producer Sofia Vargas, the student film “Respite” utilized the North Parlour, our (future) library upstairs, and the front porch for some scene locations, representing a nursing home.
With a 6 am start time, in they came loaded with equipment and costumes, cables and tech bags, cameras and lights, and satchels of foodstuffs to keep everybody fed and energized and happy. The earliest arrivers began to fill up the kitchen area even before the earliest rays of morning light had appeared.
A collection of local actors set up camp around the kitchen table, the cinematography crew took over the dining room, the keys and monitors set up in the South Parlour, the lighting team spread across the front porch, and every available nook and cranny was pressed into useful service according to the need.
The east-facing position of the house was essential to the script’s call for morning light, but the technical prowess of the crew mastered and harnessed it to their elegant designs.
With the ever-present professionalism that characterizes all of the School of Filmmaking students I’ve witnessed, and boosted by their kindness and respect and esprit de corps, this latest production was a joyful endeavor to behold.
Leadership is respected and respectful, crew members are orderly and responsive, and problems are solved collaboratively. Those with greater knowledge or experience are also ever mindful of how to share that with younger crew members, a pass-it-on and share-the-wealth mentality that simultaneously suits the immediate desire for this film to be a success.
“I know it’s not in your job description…” said the producer to one crew member, and the immediate response was: “I’ll do anything you need me to do!” And that might be followed by “Thank you so much; I appreciate you!” That’s one of the things I love most, out of all the things I love, about seeing these amazing students developing and demonstrating their craft and excellence.
While this was not as large a crew as was here for the two big films last year ("The Last Time I Saw You" and "Beaks Bloody"), there was still plenty to observe and to appreciate. I continue to be so very impressed with the quality and care and dedication and smarts of these emerging creatives and film professionals. And they are also just so doggone nice. While it feels sometimes like the world around us is burning and decaying, I’ll take every shot and boost of seeing what this diverse collective of very fine people brings into the Roediger House with each film project.
Over the last 12 months, this is now the 7th UNCSA student film to use the Roediger House for some or all of its location shots. In my own tiny way, I want these students to have every opportunity to develop and refine their craft, and I am thrilled that they feel like this is where some of that can happen. They will go on to become part of amazing films and videos, create eye-catching commercials, turn theatre sets into gorgeous designs, and perhaps one day themselves become teachers of the arts. They come here from all over, make an impressive splash while they are here, invest deeply in the opportunities and friendships and collaborations, and then take flight.
To briefly alight at the Roediger House on their way to future things, brighter lights, and bigger cities? This is a thing to be celebrated.
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