CARSON FILM the difference in having professionals lecture about their work opposed to interacting in an occupational setting with these same individuals. “It wasn’t just one or two people coming in and talking with students, it was genuinely working with these people,” Larsen said. “It was working with them in a peerto-peer relationship which is so much different and so valuable; it should be done everywhere.” The day after graduation, Larsen received a call from supervising first assistant director Ivan Fonseca with an offer to work on a film in Connecticut for a few weeks out this summer. It was an opportunity that would not have presented itself without Larsen’s work on “Vipers in the Grass.” POST-PRODUCTION According to Paul Steger, director of the Johnny Carson School, post-production is defined by three words: “details, details, details.” That includes cleaning up the original files and laying out the video and sound so that they are in sync with each other. The post-production crew worked closely with Nebraska Educational Telecommunications professionals who helped mentor students through the editing process. A few students had the opportunity to compose their own sound cues for the film. Music composition majors Garrett Hope and David VonKampen created cues that would add to the mood of the film. “Jorge [Zamacona] talked with Garrett and I before we started writing,” VonKampen said. “He wanted a series of blanket cues, and he directed us in how he was hearing it happen as far as instrumentation.” Hope and VonKampen each crafted 12 different cues based on Zamacona’s instruction. Sending cues to Zamacona for the final review, Hope and VonKampen are eager to see where their work will appear within the film. “I think it’ll be exciting,” VonKampen said. “I’m looking forward to seeing how they use what we both wrote, and I think a discerning ear will be able to hear the difference between the two, but I’m excited to see how they put them together.”
Photo by Erin Carr
Academy Award-Winning Editor Mike Hill visits with Associate Professor of Film Sharon Teo.
“Vipers in the Grass” is tentatively set to premier in October so that many students and Lincoln locals will get to see the film. University administrators would like to see the film shown at various film festivals, too. “The focus right now is getting the project complete and getting it to the highest quality possible,” Steger said. “Once it’s complete, the submission will happen over the next year, but the end goal is to get it out there so that people can see it.” While festivals such as Sundance may be slightly ambitious for “Vipers in the Grass,” Steger said he and his colleagues are combing through the list of smaller festivals around the country where the film could be successful. The film represents the work of many: experienced professionals, amateur students and nurturing professors. For students, the opportunity to be highly involved in such a project is nearly unheard of in the film industry today. Steger explained that in the earlier days of film, students would move to Hollywood or New York with the hope of finding a mentor, but those opportunities seldom exist anymore. “Now the pressure is on for movie pro-
Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts
ducers and producing houses to reduce cost and make things happen very quickly, and the people that are working on those films can’t take a risk on someone who doesn’t know anything,” Steger said. “The project replaces the old-school way and allows students to go under the wing of professionals.” Steger said he is excited for more student-professional films in the near future. “The Johnny Carson School film series will become an ongoing, unique and invaluable experience for JCSTF [Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film] students and students in the other units of the HixsonLied College of Fine and Performing Arts, with a new film created every three years,” Steger said. “To the best of our knowledge, no other program in the country produces films in this manner. The Carson School Film Series will serve as a very public example of the unique educational opportunities students receive in the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts.“ Born in Omaha, Asha Anchan will be a sophomore at the University of Nebraska– Lincoln this fall. She is a news-editorial major in the University’s College of Journalism and Mass Communications.
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