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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 11, 2002)
battalioj ,m page u , ' or mechanii; ^ technolos 1 * n was alwaii ^ tllS tnnfr. a prankstef, "He loved ves and have AggieLife THE BATTALION 3A Thursday, April 11, 2002 inkstei,' AND {ggies dream of the movie-making industry By Mike Whitlow THE BATTALION lid he Tin played# ere fishing. January moit- riend John at! ling,” he saii ht anythinc leaving, ]«: ls h on hislitil While the process of movie making is a caught theonij ystery to most, some Aggies have pulled To this day, hi ackthe veil and entered the world of film it he actuallJ oduction. Dan Steele, a junior English I iajor, recently directed his first film, fishing hunt I h y me aml Reason^ i the i. Famswont ed to someday lontana. ACTION! s Annual it Fuddruckers at 8:30 pm i Annual Unify arid, New York on call Shaila af inconsistent orate global : mote min® pectives of the hakespeare class ” Steele said. “It’s about filmmaker trying to make the perfect Ihakespeare adaptation. Now I’m working Inacouple of films that I intend to screen j: festivals.” ■ Steele said he became interested in Immaking when he saw Jurassic Park. “While all the other kids were saying iVow,dinosaurs!’ I was saying ‘Wow, how id they do that?”’ Through a high school teacher who new a sound mixer in the film industry, teele was able to visit the set of Miss ongeniality. “I spent so much time with the people, icluding Sandra Bullock, that I knew lere was no other choice in life for me,” iteele said. “My lifelong goal is to make a ilm in every single genre.” Recently, Steele attended the Worldfest ilm Festival in Houston, as well as several mailer festivals around the state, building is connections within the industry. At the Worldfest, Steele met R. Lee rmey, who played the drill sergeant in iill Metal Jacket, and at an Ahstin film estival, Steele met Russell Crowe. “R. Lee Ermey stood up at a party and Kgan reciting his entire opening mono- from memory. Everyone cracked tip,” Steele said. “Crowe and I hung out for several hours, and I realized that tee stars are just normal people who enjoy being around other human beings. “Russell seemed to let me stick around because he liked my name,” Steele said. “He introduced me to people by saying, ‘This is Dan Steele. Isn’t that a great f—king name?”’ Steele also helped with the produc tion of a film about a newspaper thief. The Eagle: Learning to Fly Again, that was directed by Julian Londono, a senior mechanical engineering major, and Casey Pinkston, a senior environmental design major. The Eagle was screened at the Texas Film Festival and won a Special Audience Award. “Failing to Adjust is our newest project and deals with a condition called sleep paralysis,” Londono said. “We hope to finish production by the middle of summer.” Both said they look forward to future careers in the film industry. “We want to keep making short films like this until we have written the perfect feature-length script,” Pinkston said. “Then we’ll start pitching it.” “With a little luck we’ll be ready to make a feature-length movie by the end of 2005,” Londono said. “Former Aggies, please go grab your checkbooks.” All three have worked with the Aggie Screen Writing, Acting and Movie Production club. S.W.A.M.P. is a student organization open to anyone with an inter est in these three aspects of film produc tion. The group, which has a membership of about 50, also produces television pro gramming for campus channels 80 through 88. It always has at least one film project underway and offer feedback among its members on the cre ative process. Other students have been exposed to film through courses offered at Texas A&M. Jennifer Langam, a sophomore elementary edu cation major, attended the Worldfest Film Festival after Film Studies 201. “My father’s side of the family has always been in the entertainment industry,” See Filmmakers on page 5A FRANK CHANCE • THE BATTALION ENTER THE SOAPCITY.COM” STUDY BREAK SWEEPSTAKES! ent e 1980 ;ns/c PsychW )isorders yertisement! Private Pay Bryan ock )ny ,1-31 ...-.... ii IJ i ii We know you need a study break. And we know you want to win a II this stuff. So log iill* onto www.soapcity.com in between your study sessions and answer the easiest questions you've had all year. That's it! 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