ji#uesday, February 27,2001
Page 3A
,nti nuedf mk ;
“Station, said J
“v Council i '
1 sal estaxattli e '
-eting.
fma tion was ait
icthoi Bryan %
loca l tax exempt
ntinued front
igh win threeco
1A state title
d 45 straight
team all-state
amed second
vl Today.
• absolutely de,,
o s athletic &
■> said. “Ouretit:
i is grieving fe
ghomsweresfe ; i
days with fcl
mmage scliei -:
trterback que: i
■rown andthe!
od of the 3
white wentderl
ip-flopped the
t seasont
ed Applewhite,
ailed the last;:
o wins overt
1 before a 35:
e Holiday Bos
irew four i
Ducks but sir .
i position totic.:
his receiver.'
ial game-tyiis ■ .
Longhorns fei
d No. 12.
te is ITscair:.
rown was nor
\ hen declaihifl
i spring andpre.p
ell.
ople think y« :
lecausehepLC'
career and ir:
We appreciat
; that’s imponl
ho can help;
By Mikel Parent
The Battalion
Last week, directors, screenwriters, producers and
actors Hew in from all over the country for the 2001
Texas Film Festival. But film enthusiasts need not
look as far as New York or Los Angeles to find tal
ented aspiring filmmakers.
Students who pay close attention to the listings in
the campus course scheduling guides will notice that,
last year, FILM was added to the course catalogue.
This prefix denotes the newly formed film studies
program headed by Dr. Terence Hoagwood. Students
1 serious about film at Texas A&M may now study it
as an art form. The film courses offered each semes
ter are good starting points for aspiring filmmakers
who want to get a grasp on the art of film.
Despite all the classes now offered, there are no
classes in hands-on film production. Some students
are content to view a film, but to a significant num
ber of students want to make films of their own.
Few organizations and clubs on campus allow stu
dents an opportunity to engage in filmmaking. One
organization that does is the MSC Film Society.
The Film Society hosts a variety of activities on
campus. It sponsors public showings of contempo-
rary and classic films, organizes and holds the Texas
Film Festival on campus each year, and has a sub
committee that specializes in film production. The
major projects completed by the production com
mittee this year are three commercials for the Texas
Film Festival. The production committee plans to de
vote the rest of the semester to planning and shoot
ing short videos on its newly acquired digital video
camera.
Another group that dabbles in filmmaking is the
Screen Writing Acting Movie Production club
(SWAMP). The major difference between the Film
Society and SWAMP is that, while the Film Soci
ety concentrates its efforts on a wide range of ac
tivities, SWAMP devotes itself specifically to
movie production.
Matt Sully, president and founder of SWAMPand
a senior journalism major, said, “ We have around 40
members, and we work on our personal projects and
we also work on collaborative stuff.”
Sully said the club was founded to concentrate
on production and to perfect the skills of writers,
directors, actors, photography directors and
sound engineers. ,
“I was really interested in creating a place that
would allow people to concentrate on their films,”
Sully said. “ Filmmaking is a really complicated and
time-consuming process. You can’t afford to divide
out your time between too many things at once and
still expect to get a good project completed.”
SWAMP has been busy lately with its work on
several shorts and a music video for an up-and-com
ing country music artist from Houston. On a more
serious note, SWAMP produced a commercial for
Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
‘Tm really satisfied with what we have accom
plished in such a short period of time. We don’t have
a lot ol money and resources, but there are a lot re
sourceful people,” Sully said.
Independent filmmaking in College
Station, Sully said, does not exist. v
“ There really isn't one,” he said. —
“There are a few people operating
around here, but most are students and
don’t have a lot of re- J
sources.” Sully •—
added, “Any- /.
one that is scri- m
ous about film- ^1 Mil
making, or ^ y
learning about film-
making, should definitely consid
er joining SWAMP.”
A few independent filmmakers on campus oper
ate primarily on their own.
Eric Brentz, filmmaker and a senior biomedical
science major, is at work on a screenplay about a
blues musician.
“It’s a story five been working on for over a
year now,” Brentz said. “ I have been working on
other projects in between, but I keep coming back
to it.”
Brentz also plans to film a few comedic i
shorts to get some experience under his belt.
“I’m fairly unfamiliar with a lot of the
things necessary to make a good ,
film,” he said. “I’m still in the \
learning process, which is why \ \\ \
I've enrolled in as many film i\ W
courses as possible to get /■*
See Film on Page 6A. ' t
CHAD MALLAM/The Battalion
In the eye of the beholder
Aggie Players perform Art, a play about how perceptions of art can represent one’s personality
s in Brk
g ordinal
in City Countf
osed smoL
t the second
lay at 6 p.n 1
inance mysifey Brooke Corso
io council ^KfgBattalion
/ed. The or * Texas A&M theater went post-modern with the Aggie
j-to2voteat pj a y ers ’ performance of the award-winning play Hr/ in
13. The o® bL^gj- Forum last weekend and will do so again in fu-
by the Colle« re performances this weekend,
ncil but will IT p^g Aggie Players are a production wing of the theater
Bryan passKM^ program in the Department of Performance Studies
rdinance P c: a t a&M. The Players practice plays learned in the class-
be banned ■ om as we i] as t h e j r own productions throughout the year.
College S« “There are about four mainstage performances in Rud-
:etween 6 3 j er Forum each year, directed by a professor or faculty
oking will al - member,” said professor Michael Greenwald, director of
thin 20 fe ei : ^r/. “There are also smaller productions in the Fallout
t eatre, located in Blocker, that are directed by students.”
Published by French playwright Yasmin Reza in 1994,
yan council'^-/ took the international theater world by storm, even
winning major theater awards such as the Moliere
in Paris, the Olivier in London and the Tony in New York,
or Lonnie ST Keith Neagle, a sophomore English major, plays
i-Co//egeStaLSerge, a wealthy dermatologist eager to impress his art-
lopes peopl f jsy friends by purchasing a painting for 200,000 francs,
j voice thetf The painting, ca ii e d “The Antrios,” is faint white lines on
;eting today a white canvas, and Serge, despite his admiration of the
members c painting, can’t really seem to understand it.
, I lege Statio f
issed exent I
alleys and •
rdinance
will discusstl
iture meeting
‘Serge is a sophisticated man, but he is insecure and
wants the acceptance of friends,
which is why he claims to be an *
art connoisseur,” Neagle said.
Michael Santos, a senior
speech communication and theater
arts major, plays Serge’s best friend,
Marc, who despises the painting and
scolds Serge for wasting his money.
“My character, Marc, is egotis
tical, opinionated, and very classi
cal in his taste in art, so he finds
this painting too new-age and friv
olous,” Santos said.
Randy Symank, a sophomore
theater arts major, plays another
friend, Yvan. Yvan is the moder
ator and desperately tries to keep
the friends together. Serge and
Marc often gang up on him.
“Yvan is an everyday guy that
people can identify with,
whereas the other two are more
upper-class and sophisticated,”
Symank said. courtesy of the aggie players
The play centers around these three characters and
leaves the meat of the play in the
dialogue and chemistry among
the roles. The set design echoes
the minimalist theme with a coffee
table, three chairs and a painting as
props. As the characters “travel” to
and from each others’ houses, the paint
ings on the mantel change, each reflect
ing the men’s personalities and back
grounds.
“Marc has a very classical taste, so he
has a colorful landscape in his house;
Serge has the white painting, and Yvan,
who is working-class, has a painting
done by his father,” Symank said.
The Aggie Players have been practic
ing their parts since the semester started,
but have been studying for the play
since December, when auditions
were held.
Greenwald gave the actors
their parts to memorize during
winter break and gave them
topics in modern art to research.
o/'S'foi f jfty/ttft/to/ty (3/ t c/ie'S'tf i a
ieiife Editor
gielife Editor
s Editor
ech Editor
dio Producer
, Co-Radio
bmaster
tUniveG
riday <
i (exceptl
d at College SB ;
University, l 11 ' 1
A&M UniveisT
(fflces are in 1
ia il: ThebattaM
endorsement 6
6. For classified
nffice bourse
>■ •SKfel
HEAR THE VOICE OF RUSSIA
With roots as far back as 1776, Russia's Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra is a tradition that has truly
stood the test of time. Combining the award-winning voice of Irina Rubtsova with a repertoire including
Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky and others, the Bolshoi Symphony brings an incomparably powerful
and distinctive sound to American audiences.
PERFORMANCE TONIGHT _• 7:30 P.M.
n
RUDDER AUDITORIUM
2000-2001 Season Me
A T T OAC 1 A I XVUA- I 2000-2001 Season Media Partners v ^
CALL 045-1234 A C
or toll-free 888-890-5667 | | ** " Eanh£o
WANT TO LEARN MORE? Join us prior to the performance for a Patricia S. Peters Lagniappe Lecture
in the MSC Forsyth Center Galleries at 6:30 PM. Sponsored by the OPAS Guild.
University Commons is
the best deal under the sun
for students in search of
quality housing.
Reserve your spot at
950 Colgate Drive.
Now leasing for Fall ‘01
$200 deposit special!
764-8999
!/
Symank studied Dadaism and the works of Andy
Warhol, and Neagle focused on minimalism and Pablo
Picasso.
“By researching the different realms of modem art, I
was able to portray my character, who is supposedly an
art connoisseur, more truthfully,” Neagle said.
These actors have the training and experience to
adapt to their characters well. Santos has been per
forming in campus plays since Spring 2000 and acted
in The Rimers of Eldritch, The Good Doctor and The
Physicists. Symank appeared in Devour the Snow, The
Rimers of Eldritch and Wasp. Neagle actedin The Bald
Soprano, Andromache and the recent Shakespeare
Pastiche. Neagle even acted in a student-directed per
formance of Art in high school. He also played Serge.
“I thought Serge would be a challenging role to take
on because his personality is so different from mine and
I would have to look at things through his eyes,” Neagle
said. “But that’s what acting is all about.”
In this two-act play, the white painting evokes the true
colors of each friend as they hash out opinions and argu
ments on art, women, friendship and life, creating some
times bittersweet and often hilarious situations. Often two
See Art on Page 6A.
2 & 4 bedrooms
fully furnished
rec room
fitness center
alarm systems
washer & dryer
swimming pool
reserved parking
individual leases
private bedrooms
fully equipped kitchen
tennis, volleyball, &
basketball courts
computer lab, copier & fax
available
♦ CO MM O N S ♦
APARTMENTS
950 COLGATE DRIVE