thesis film

A Conversation with Curry Sicong Tian, Jumai Yusuf, and Alexa Velasquez “SIMULACRA” is a multiple-immersion experience that incorporates live action shooting/motion capture/3D scan and 3D motion digital art. It is about an elderly Buddhist woman recalls a ritual from her past, undertaking a...

Kyra Gardner Directs Animatronics and Puppet Magic Behind the Scenes of Award-Winning Student Film, “Phoebe” With a dad in special effects makeup, blood and guts became a normality for Kyra at a young age. Combat nursing was her first goal, but she soon discovered that real blood is way...

StudentFilmmakers Magazine: Your award-winning short film, “Variables”, is inspired by a true story. Can you tell us more about the story, how you adapted real-life events into the screenplay, and what kinds of challenges were involved in the screenwriting process? Sabina Vajrača: Years ago, my...

Above behind-the-scenes photo taken by Lynne Chai. Caroline Friend is an award-winning director and writer. Caroline earned her degree in Film Production and History from the University of Southern California. Her latest film, “Under Darkness,” was a finalist for the Student Academy Awards®...

Di Lu is an animator who graduated from Ringling College of Art and Design in 2020. By studying the whole animation pipeline, she rediscovered her passion for animation, modeling, visual development and problem solving in animation. Her thesis film, “Super Generic,” was a finalist in the 2020...

STUDENTFILMMAKERS: Can you tell us about the development and pre-production stages? Rodrigo Chapoy: The pre-production stages were really rough and messy. “Bear With Me” was born out of the need to tell a story that would be personal, and that I cared for. I’ve been in a long-distance...

“Prisoners of the Body” is a metaphorical exploration of movement itself. Music accompanies its journey into the world – along five chapters, set in different scenarios. In this liaison of film and dance, the camera itself becomes the protagonists expression – and dances...

Raised between Malaysia and Miami, Jing Ai Ng is a writer-director currently based in Los Angeles. In 2019, she was awarded the Student Film Award by the Directors Guild of America (DGA) for her AFI thesis film, FLECK. FLECK is currently on the festival circuit, and she is developing her feature...

StudentFilmmakers Magazine: What are some discussion topics you’d love to see people have after they watch, “A Rodeo Film”? Darius Dawson: For me, “A Rodeo Film” was about normalizing black voices, so I want you to talk about this film like you would any other film. I was fortunate enough to do...

João Dall’Stella is a Brazilian writer and director based in Los Angeles. His AFI thesis film, “Dia De Las Carpas”, won the DGA Student Grand Prize for Latino Directors and has been featured in prestigious showcases and festivals such as CAA Moebius, SAG-AFTRA Foundation and Oscar-qualifying...