Bring your own damn movie!
Cinéaste to showcase student-made films
Stephanie Phillips
Issue date: 3/3/10 Section: Campus & Life
Motion pictures have taken over baseball's reign of "America's favorite past-time" and it is quite evident that the film industry is the most influential past-time when it comes to American culture. As the age of technology progresses, it opens the flood gates for independent film makers on a low budget to produce their vision. Shawnee State's film appreciation society, Cinéaste celebrates these films at 7 p.m. every other Thursday in Massie 438.
"This is Cinéaste's third year, and we have shown a lot of different films from various countries, with budgets that have ranged from Hollywood blockbusters to more moderate films, but this semester I wanted to focus on some great independent movies that were made on a shoestring budget," said Cinéaste president Mark DeWitt. "It is amazing how impressive a film can be even though it has a low budget. Lloyd Kaufman's company, Troma,are notorious for putting out enjoyable low-budget films."
Troma Entertainment is an American film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974. Troma is still the most prevalent of the modern independent studios after over 35 years of film-making.
"Too much of what we see, hear, breathe and respond to is controlled by a small group of gate-keepers. I think that a lot of young people are brain washed into thinking that everything has to be Jay Leno or the Today Show standards," said Kaufman, President of Troma Entertainment. "There's always more than one way to go about doing things."
Troma productions are known for their surrealistic nature, along with their use of shocking imagery; some would categorize them as "shock exploitation films."
Their most popular release was "The Toxic Avenger" (1985). The satirical spoof features a nerdy health spa janitor that falls into toxic waste and becomes the superhero the Toxic Avenger. Kaufman's most recent film, "Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead" was released in 2006 in theaters and 2008 on DVD. Many stars including Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of "South Park" and "Cannibal! The Musical" got their start with the Troma team.
"This is Cinéaste's third year, and we have shown a lot of different films from various countries, with budgets that have ranged from Hollywood blockbusters to more moderate films, but this semester I wanted to focus on some great independent movies that were made on a shoestring budget," said Cinéaste president Mark DeWitt. "It is amazing how impressive a film can be even though it has a low budget. Lloyd Kaufman's company, Troma,are notorious for putting out enjoyable low-budget films."
Troma Entertainment is an American film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974. Troma is still the most prevalent of the modern independent studios after over 35 years of film-making.
"Too much of what we see, hear, breathe and respond to is controlled by a small group of gate-keepers. I think that a lot of young people are brain washed into thinking that everything has to be Jay Leno or the Today Show standards," said Kaufman, President of Troma Entertainment. "There's always more than one way to go about doing things."
Troma productions are known for their surrealistic nature, along with their use of shocking imagery; some would categorize them as "shock exploitation films."
Their most popular release was "The Toxic Avenger" (1985). The satirical spoof features a nerdy health spa janitor that falls into toxic waste and becomes the superhero the Toxic Avenger. Kaufman's most recent film, "Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead" was released in 2006 in theaters and 2008 on DVD. Many stars including Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of "South Park" and "Cannibal! The Musical" got their start with the Troma team.
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