This year’s Visions festival was my first opportunity to be a guest at Visions. Last year’s Visions, I was a volunteer. Being a volunteer, I did not feel like I got much out of it. I did not meet any new people, and I was not able to watch any of the screenings or listen in on any panels or conferences. This year I was excited to be able to watch the screenings. Unfortunately, due to other classes I had to attend to, I was not able to listen in on the panels or go to the conference block. I was able to see both screening blocks in the morning and in the evening.
I was impressed with all of the films in both screenings. I thought there were very well shot and edited. There were of course some that I enjoyed more than others. In the first screening block, I really enjoyed The House that Wren Built by Laurel Cohen from Northwestern University. It was about a girl who went to a boarding school and made houses for little fairies because she did not have any friends. I enjoyed this film because of the narrative. I have always loved fantasy films. I could also relate to the young girl in this film because I myself went to a private school and did not have a whole lot of friends. I was very impressed by the special effects the filmmakers used for the fairies. If I had not known, I would have thought a professional independent film company made this, and not a student. Another film I liked in the first screening was Feast Coast. Not only because it was filmed and edited by UNCW film students, but also because of the subject and how they told the story. They made this documentary very dramatic by adding intense music. Everything was edited well so the documentary made sense. The clips that they used in this film were very specific in how this shark attack event was very scary for North and South Carolina beach goers. Another film I enjoyed was Leroy’s Lobster Shack by Sean Mercado of George Mason University. Not only what this film shot and edited well, the plot was crazy. It was the only film that I found myself laughing from it’s insanity. There was only one film in the first block that I did not care for, and that was the experimental film Arches. I do not usually care for stop motion films, unless they are executed cleverly. This, unfortunately, did not. I understood that it was a film about abuse, but I did not think that medium of film and animation was a good way of sending that message out.
For the 2nd block of screenings, the atmosphere was a little different than the first. Because this block was in the evening, guests and viewers were more lively, and had bigger reactions to the films. The films that I enjoyed watching is this block include: Tyesha, The Bumblebees, Period Stories, Pirouette, and Everyday Heroes: The Story of Doctor Hooves. I liked Tyesha, Period Stories, and Pirouette, similar to how I liked The House that Wren Built; because I could relate to them; as a plus size woman who dances. The Bumblebees and Everyday Heroes: The Story of Doctor Hooves had very clever narratives and had a high energy tone to them. This led to the audience howling with laughter. There were only two that I did not care for, Ronnie Ward and De Profundis. Ronnie Ward was one of those films that did not leave an impression on me, because I honestly cannot remember what happened in that film. As for De Profundis, my only critique was that the subtitles were missing for some of the film. That made it hard for me to understand what was going on.
Overall I enjoyed Visions. I would have liked to have met with some of the filmmakers to network. I definitely hope to be able to submit a film for next year’s festival. Hopefully they will let me since I graduate in December. I am very glad there is a festival for undergrads. This is a good opportunity to get their see what other college students are working on, as well as meet other filmmakers. I had a lot of fun, and hopefully I can come next year.
