PUEBLO, Colo. (AP) - Philosophy and film are much more alike than they may appear.
Most films are chock full of themes, social messages and commentary on the world. Philosophy, at its core, is the study of fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence. In essence, most films relay a philosophical outlook on a topic.
That’s the message that Andrew Corsa, a philosophy professor at Colorado State University-Pueblo, wants to convey to his students. And to get his point across, Corsa decided the best way was to have his students make a film.
So for 10 days this spring, students in three different departments, a local actor and a director from New Jersey joined Corsa to create a one-of-a-kind short film called “Black Coffee.”
PRE-PRODUCTION
Before any of Corsa’s idea could come to fruition, a script had to be written.
The idea sprang from several conversations Corsa and Josh Munson had while at Kutztown University in Kutztown, Pennsylvania.
Munson, a guild-card carrying cinematographer who works at a large film equipment rental company called Ari Rental in New Jersey, had shot and directed short films since he was a teenager. He was also an undergraduate student in one of Corsa’s philosophy classes. While in the class, the two began to throw around the idea of making a philosophy-based film.
“For a project in one of my courses, Josh (Munson) put together a short film,” Corsa said. “I was impressed with that and thought it would be fun to talk to him with a philosophy of film.”
Corsa and co-author Mark Wilk developed a unique, choose-your-own-adventure script, where the audience ultimately controls the protagonist’s fate. Two years later, after Corsa came to CSU-Pueblo, he decided it was time to make the film.
With help from other departments and a gofundme page, Corsa raised more than $2,000 for the project. He then enlisted Munson to take time off work and come to Pueblo to shoot the film.
“About a year ago, (Corsa) reached out to me via email and asked if I wanted to be a part of it,” Munson said. “We’ve slowly been accumulating the details and doing pre-production.”
“I was in New Jersey up until the weekend we started shooting,” Munson said. “It’s difficult because it didn’t seem real until I was here. It’d been two years since I saw Andrew (Corsa). Planning was pretty challenging, but because we started so early it was more manageable.”
With borrowed equipment from the Mass Communications Department, a few of his own items and equipment donated from co-workers, Munson got to work.
PRODUCTION
Production began on March 3 and principle photography wrapped on March 13, with just minor re-shoots and pickup shots following on March 14 and 15. Munson, along with more than 80 students, would film all necessary shots in that span.
At first Munson was overwhelmed by the time he had to work with. But it was soon after the first weekend that he realized he could sit back and not only experiment, but also teach the students.
“Everyone was super-helpful and very willing to learn,” Munson said. “It was a collaborative effort and everyone chimed in.”
Even when problems were encountered, the flexibility of the cast and crew and having time to cover all necessary angles and shots helped.
“We had a few continuity problems because we didn’t quite pay attention to where people should be, blocking wise,” Munson said. “But, we had enough coverage and there’s enough to work with and massage out a lot of the weird points.”
With enough time, Munson encouraged the students to be innovative. In one scene, Munson and crew took a boring shot of writing on a piece of paper and made it much more interesting.
“We could have gone over the shoulder, but I thought that was kind of a boring shot,” Munson said. “We shot lower and across the actor’s lap. We added a light in the hallway and I wanted to make the color a little cooler out there. We didn’t have any gels (a lighting tool that changes or corrects lighting color), so we used blue dish soap to cast a blue light in the hallway.”
Munson was pleased that students caught on quickly and were able to learn on-set skills.
“Everybody gained a different appreciation for things,” he said. “Once they knew the basics, then you can let them go and they have the idea. People got comfortable and I encouraged everyone’s input.”
POST-PRODUCTION
Munson will handle all of the film’s editing back home in New Jersey, and expects to a rough edit of the film soon.
“It’s a long process and I’ve gone through all the footage and taken out the best of each take,” Munson said. “I’ve gone through to get the pacing down and now it’s just laying in what’s going to be needed.”
The film will then be sent to CSU-Pueblo Music Department Chair David Volk for soundtrack composition, and to add musical flourishes to certain scenes.
The music will then be sent back to Munson, who will match the soundtrack and flourishes with the actual film in a span of four days.
“Once we get the audio smoothed out and the music worked in, that’s when it starts to look like one fluid thing,” Munson said. “Up until now it’s in bits and pieces so you’re hoping the thread of the story is running in the whole thing. When you watch it as intended, that’s when you know if you hit the mark.”
Munson will then continue to tweak scenes, making cuts where pacing becomes an issue and cleaning up imperfections found after shooting.
The final product will be sent to the Technology Department at CSU-Pueblo to be placed on YouTube and a website dedicated to the release of the film.
Due to the interactivity of the piece, Corsa wants to ensure that links and passwords for the film work properly.
“They’ll have about three days to complete the website and then play-test it,” Corsa said. “They’ll have about a day and a half to test it and then the premiere will be April 21.”
THE END RESULT
Creating a film is often times a long, arduous process, but both Corsa and Munson hope the students, the audience and they themselves have learned something from creating “Black Coffee.”
“Somehow I had not realized the number of people involved in the process of making a film,” Corsa said. “Now when I watch a movie or TV show, I can’t help think of the number of people holding a boom pole in someone’s face or a bounce board bouncing light all over the place.”
Corsa hopes his students will apply real-world applications after completing the film.
“My hope is that my students will be able to take their real-life experiences working on the film and relate it to the arguments we’ve considered in the course,” Corsa said. “I’m hoping it would give them extra insight on the premises and build on their knowledge in a more fruitful way.”
For Munson, just finishing the film and helping students become more interested in the art form is enough for him.
“We had some students who had to work a set amount of hours on the film and they decided to come out and do more just because they enjoyed it so much,” Munson said. “I feel successful in that people will watch things a little differently and with a different eye and have more of an interest.
“They won’t be afraid to pick up a camera and go film something. That alone is a big win.”
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Information from: The Pueblo Chieftain, https://www.chieftain.com
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