A Senior’s Short Film Farewell

As a communications studies major concentrating in digital production, a lifelong fan of movies, and an aspiring film critic, the notion of writing/directing my own short film has always been such an exciting idea. Nearing the end of my three years on the Hill and having two previous short films under my belt (the black-and-white thriller “Nemesis” and the car chase actioner “The Drive”), I wanted to take the lessons I learned on those films and make something simpler yet more emotionally evocative and relatable that audiences could readily connect with.

“Without Waffles” is a silly title on the surface, but it is one that holds a lot of symbolic significance once you have seen the film. It is a story about holding on to your loved ones in the face of lostness and grief, told from the perspective of a father and son who are unsure of how their family will stay together in the wake of a tragedy. When drafting the script, my plan was to write a poignant family dramedy inspired by Linklater, Baumbach, and a certain series that is given a loving shout-out from some of the characters in the film. However, as it often does, real life influenced art as the characters Samuel, Evan, Amy, and Brittany grew to be more and more like people in my own life. While the film is certainly not autobiographical, Evan’s struggles are derived from my own experiences throughout my college years. Professor Katherine Dudley Blair, Associate Professor of Communication Studies, was very supportive in allowing me to use this opportunity to tell a very personal story without pretense in the hope that it could be appreciated and interpreted for the dramatized fiction that it is. Evan can be any college student. Samuel can be any father. Amy can be any young adult. Brittany can be any friend. The characters were written to be windows into the complicated feelings of human beings without making any of them a hero or villain. Every character has noticeable flaws but also admirable qualities. Samuel and Evan are the dual protagonists, but like all of us, they are entirely imperfect people.

Technically speaking, this film allowed me to challenge myself with a more ambitious approach than any previous Shorter production. Our cinematography team, led by sophomore communication studies major Clark Brannon, met every challenge I threw at them with an eager can-do attitude, making great use of

Steadicam to capture the fluid motion and turbulent nature of the emotional story. The team and I even tackled such complex shots as filming outside moving vehicles on highways as well as capturing the film’s climactic 5-minute scene of dialogue in one sustained, unbroken long-take. The rest of our crew all supported the film by providing production paperwork, props, makeup/hair, costumes, location scouting, sound recording, and more. My parents even contributed crucial assistance with food preparation for the final breakfast scene and generously allowed us to use the Hunt family home as our main location. More than any past project, this short film was immensely collaborative and was only made possible because of the hard work and commitment of the crew.

Likewise, the cast was an invaluable element of this production. As part of my desire to challenge myself with this project, I committed to using an entirely new cast of actors that I had never directed before, which allowed the film to have a freshness to it as we held auditions for actors of all ages from across the state. Our final four actors (Chris Cole, manager of the Shorter post office, senior theatre major Dee Hare from LaGrange College, senior theatre major Kayla Ray, and senior musical theatre major Lindsay Williams) are all remarkable talents who were a joy to work with. Their enthusiasm toward the project was a significant help in telling this story as was their patience in the face of unforeseen obstacles to the production such as last-minute schedule changes, unpredictable weather developments, and more.

It seems fitting that my final short film at Shorter was largely shot at my own home and tells a story that is loosely inspired by my own life, making it the most vulnerable piece of art I have ever made. It has allowed me to reflect on the lessons learned and questions answered over the last three years that have made my experiences at Shorter so definitively formative for the future God is guiding me toward. Hopefully, the story of this hurting family will move people and remind them to cherish and cling to their own families and friends. A personal favorite quote of mine comes from a musical I once performed in entitled “Fly By Night” wherein my character, a grieving widower, reminds us that “Life is not the things that we do; it’s who we’re doing them with.” I pray that “Without Waffles” can be my own contribution to that bittersweet thought: a reminder to be at peace with the past, thankful for the present and the people we love, and trustingly anticipate the future that God is preparing us all to share and live together.

By: Cooper Hunt

Photos by: Katherine Dudley Blair