Tag Archives: brown university

WesKids Almost Die Making 48 Hour Film (Definitely Probably Maybe Not an Exaggeration)

Yeah, if you don’t believe me, ask Adrien DeFontaine ’13, Albert Tholen ’15, and Neo Sora ’14. Each one will confirm that the other two chief collaborators died on the set of a movie they made in 48 hours, while working on entirely different movies. Adrien Explains It All:

Glory is the hypothetical origin story of an elderly woman who mans a glory hole in the men’s bathroom of a diner. Yup.

The movie was written, directed, shot, and produced by Neo Sora ’14, Albert Tholen ’15, and I ’13 for the Ivy Film Festival 48 Hour Film Competition. The idea of participating this year largely started as a joke. To explain: Neo has participated in this competition every year of college. I worked with him and a bunch of other friends 2 years ago on a film that ended up winning. We quickly realized this year’s competition was gonna fall on the weekend of several thesis films we were shooting (Will Feinstein‘s and Ethan Young‘s [both ’13]), but decided it would be funny to try and put together some sort of meta-film about shooting a movie while on set. [Neo “Toot Dem Horns” Sora wants to add that Adrien was DPing Ethan’s film while ADing Will’s (THREE FUCKING FILMS IN ONE FUCKING WEEKEND), Neo DPed Will’s, and Albert ACed Will’s. If those abbreviations mean anything to you, they shouldn’t.] Ew. Thank god we actually wrote a story. Anyway, the whole idea of the film evolved from the fact that we were working 10-14 hour days on these thesis films and needed something that could be shot quickly. We started writing on Friday at around 10:30pm and hit upload right at the deadline, 8pm on Sunday. We didn’t really sleep.  [Ed. note: Now they are sleeping, because they are dead.]
The film features Hibiki Mizuno ’15 and John Allison (as well as a couple cameos), a score played by Danny Sullivan ’13 in one take, and Albert giving birth/in a dress. Special thanks to Will and Ethan for being really cool about the whole thing.
Anyway, you can watch and vote for the film here.  We really appreciate your support!

As I wrote last year, and am lazily copypasting this year, “now is as good a time as ever to act out of loyalty towards a perceived ingroup member watch every entry and determine which short film most deserves public recognition for quality filmmaking and an engrossing viewing experience!” I haven’t watched any of the others yet, but I can definitely find myself being off task for the 35 minutes it’ll take to do so by the deadline this Sunday, so you should too, probably maybe potentially in theory (just like communism). The deadline is this Sunday, the 18th, at midnight; Vote, vote, vote!

For past coverage of 48 hour film projects at Wes, check the tag (and ignore that I literally live with one of the filmmakers).

 

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Laying it Bare: Brown Hosts Nude Art Series

For better or for worse, we seem to be living in a clothed era here at Wesleyan. Gone are the days of Art House naked parties (and Art House, for that matter).  Gone, too, is the infamous annual Eclectic sex party.  There are still whispers about WestCo being clothing-optional, but aside from the occasional streakers or Olin prank, people aren’t exactly running around campus in the nude.  Our reputation precedes us.

Is there a stigma around nudity here? Possibly.  For those of us who want to combat that stigma, maybe naked parties aren’t the way to go.  We can derive inspiration from Brown, where a nude art series called “Nudity in the Upspace” took the stage this week.  According to a Brown Daily Herald article, Brown juniors Becca Wolinsky and Camila Pacheco-Fores designed the series to feature “an array of events including yoga, body painting and scenes from Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, all conducted entirely in the nude.”

In the article, the creators of the series explained that they hoped to foster appreciation for all body types and to  “help themselves and others become more comfortable with their own bodies.”  There were also discussions about the “power dynamics of being clothed versus being naked” and the creators’ inspiration for the series.

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Brown President Simmons to Step Down After Year

Breaking news from the college blogosphere: beloved Brown University president and all-around superstar Ruth Simmons will step down at the end of the academic year, with plans to “take up projects that have been on hold far too long.” Whoah—whether or not you got into Brown, this one will be missed.

Simmons is the first female president of Brown and the first African-American president of any Ivy League school. Since assuming office in 2001, Ruth, as she’s affectionately known at Brown, has

implemented need-blind admission standards, raised over $1.6 billion, opened a new med school building in the Jewelry District, and enjoyed the revival of Brown University’s positioning in the national eye. Ruth has enjoyed a cult-like support for her position, often holding astronomical approval ratings due to her open office hours, her willingness to interact with students on a personal basis, and her general charisma. [MORE LINKS AND A LIL BIT O’ WESLEYAN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORY AFTER THE JUMP]

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weSLAM Takes 1st @ WLPSI, Breaks Tie

Our immediate slamily, along with their coach, Morgan Hill ’14 (second from left).

(Not pictured: Randyl Wilkerson ’12, desperately missed at this moment.)

Wesleyan has taken 1st place at the Wade-Lewis Poetry Slam Invitational at SUNY New Paltz.  An account follows.

The first night of WLPSI (Friday, March 5th) saw Wesleyan competing against NYU and UMinn-Macalester, and the finals (Saturday, March 6th) saw Wes competing against Brown, SUNY Oneonta, and UMinn-Macalester.

But on Saturday night, there was a tie between the final two teams.  Just as shocking?  One of the teams, University of Minnesota, is a veteran, well established in the slam world since its inception, while the other, Wesleyan, is a bouncing baby ze, having only started this year.

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