Lights! Camera! Augie activates new film major

Augustana senior April Lambert has dreams of becoming a screenwriter and film director.

She’s one of the first film majors at the Rock Island private college, and also majors in creative writing. A Kewanee native, Lambert appreciates Augie’s film program director Stacy Barton.

“She is also a wonderful advocate on the importance of women and people of color in the film industry, which is predominantly male and white,” she said recently. “I am so glad to have someone like Stacy at the forefront of the film program because she truly does love film and prides herself in sharing that love with students.

“I have always loved filmmaking in the way it tells stories,” Lambert said. “Even from a young age, I developed a love for more artsier films and the way they can tell a story that isn’t all in your face about it. It was the quieter films, the ones unafraid to take risks in their storytelling that made me want to be a filmmaker.”

She has filmed a music video for a local band, a documentary on student mental health, and most recently a PSA on gun violence and shootings in America. For Augustana’s October film showcase, Lambert’s PSA showed and she won an award for it. 

At Honsa Tools in Milan, Lambert will film “a ton of videos that range from educational product videos to employee training and all the way to a company documentary on their high quality made-in-the-USA tools,” she said. 

Lambert is among 20 students who have declared a film major or minor in the new program.

As part of a $2.7-million update of Sorensen Hall (at the intersection of 38th Street and 7th Avenue) finished this past summer, the new film production studio on the first floor includes an LED lighting grid, a dynamic set of backgrounds, ultra high-definition professional camcorders, and production equipment students can check out. Film students also have a new iMac lab/classroom.

Barton’s audiovisual work includes short and feature narrative fiction (“Red Pearl” 2016), documentary (“In the Heart of Chile” 2007), TV magazine (“Gumbo TV” 2004), 16mm experimental, video art and multimedia sculpture.

A 2003 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee film program, she has taught in higher education since 2004, having held positions at the University of Colorado Denver, the University of West Georgia and most recently Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Barton was hired by Augie in August 2022, and first taught a film history course, wrote curriculum for the new major and minor, and taught a three-week documentary filmmaking course in January 2023 (for the Augie J term).

This past spring, she taught production fundamentals, and in October, gave out 18 awards in a juried student film showcase. Barton plans to have that as an annual event and wants to have a community student film festival each spring, with the new Last Picture House in downtown Davenport as a preferred venue.

All the student films this fall aimed to convey the concept of transformation in different ways, including a short documentary on how Nest Cafe in Rock Island is transforming the idea of a restaurant and how one can truly serve the local community.

“The classes have been packed,” Barton said recently. “It’s a very robust first cohort, but some of them are graduating this year.”

A re-named department

The planned name change of the Department of Theatre Arts to the Department of Theatre and Film (OK’d by the full school faculty) will soon be approved by the Board of Trustees, Barton said.

The film major requires 32 credits (or eight classes) and 12 credits of electives. Many students do double majors, she noted. There is no overall combined major in theatre and film.

Barton chose UWM, transferring from University of Kansas, because it was a fine art filmmaking program. “They were an experimental film school exclusively,” she said.

Barton previously taught only at public colleges before coming to Augie, the private liberal-arts school.

“The great thing about here is, I believe the liberal arts can firmly ground a filmmaker in ways that are so beneficial for storytelling,” she said. “And just for a student to find their pathway, that’s led by their heart, their passion – that’s not all client-focused.”

There is such a demand for visual storytelling across a variety of disciplines, Barton said, and students use video in social media as second nature.

“We have current state-of-the-art equipment, that’s at a future level – 4K and beyond, but also from ideas and stories,” she said. Augie focuses on educating students who are curious, well-rounded, and inspired to tell responsible stories that reflect them and can help change the world.

“They are going to have a unique voice and be really inspired to do that,” Barton said, noting she minored in biology and planned to make natural science documentaries.

“Movies and stories are about ideas and people,” she said.

Barton will have a visiting scholar from Turkey — Çağlar Çetin-Ayşe, a visiting assistant professor of sociology — teach two filmmaking classes. In fall 2024, he will teach intro to film studies and spring 2025, will teach crew production.

“He’s really different from me and I think that’s really important, that students get a variety of perspectives,” she said.

Barton is planning to collaborate with Moline-based documentary filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle in the program. She showed their 2021 Jean Seberg doc on Augie’s Symposium Day in October, and the Rundles spoke with students that day.

Fourth Wall Films’ award shelf includes four Mid-America Emmys, a dozen Mid-America Emmy nominations, Telly Awards, and film festival Best Documentary Awards.

“I can imagine a collaboration, not only bringing in interns, but them meeting on campus with students,” Barton said. “Looking for ways to partner with them on documentaries into the future.”

She is teaching documentary filmmaking each J term, and potentially traveling in future years. Over the three weeks, they research, shoot and edit a short film (ranging from 3-10 minutes in length).

In mid-February, Augie and Barton plan to have a public unveiling of the new studio space and equipment in a ribbon-cutting. “It’s an amazing space, I can’t wait to show it off. I’m so excited,” she said.

That includes a large green screen, sound recording booth and an editing suite.

Partnering on school musical

Barton and senior Roger Pavey Jr. (a theatre and graphic design major, with film minor) collaborated with Augie director Shelley Cooper on the 1982 stage musical “Nine” in November. Pavey put together film projections for the show.

“He designed everything and when it came time to shoot, I was his mentor,” Barton said, inspired by the Fellini film “8 1/2,” on which the musical itself is based.

There were separate scenes from the show that played out on film. Barton said they want to do more of that with future theater productions.

Pavey served as “Nine” projections designer, scenic designer, and film director/designer.

“This was a really wonderful combination of my skillsets, and a near perfect example of one of my core design and atmospheric aesthetics,” he said recently by e-mail. “I designed a large soundstage-esque set that covered the entire width and height of the proscenium arch, and projected over the entirety of it using only black and white imagery, video, and graphic assets.”

“Nine” used projections during 95% of the musical, with many video footage edited in black and white, and even an entire pre-recorded song.

“I also had a lot of projections that established environment and atmosphere, where I had layers and layers of images and texture blended, distorted, and animated in different ways, largely in production numbers,” Pavey said. “I also hand-animated for a full song, in which I created an animated ‘60s mod pattern using film reel iconography. For the filmed elements, I had an entire film shoot day where I was the film director and lighting designer on a film set.

“Stacy and I were the cinematographers, and I worked with Shelley and Stacy on the staging of the shots,” he said. “This was a behemoth of a creative project, but one that is going right to the top of my creative portfolio. My involvement in this production was a wonderful experience that I am very proud of.”

Making a world impact

Pavey has taken Barton’s classes, noting “her understanding of fueling students’ creativity and making sure they know what they need to know are evident. I have learned a lot about film composition and artistry, industry terms and logistics, and more,” he said.

“While I am not a film major, I have walked away from the program having two successful award-winning short project films, working under Stacy on a film crew, and having successfully run a film set,” Pavey said. “During my time at Augustana, I have broadened my creative and artistic horizons, in a true liberal arts fashion.

“I think my work in the new film department is a testament to that; I have applied my interdisciplinary, multi-hyphenate artist experience to my projects, and have blended my three areas of study in unique ways,” he added. “What I have gotten out of the program in only a year’s time makes me hopeful for the future of the program; that other students may be able to accomplish, learn, and create more in four years’ time. With the new Last Picture House and rich arts scene in the QCs, and the beginnings of a great film program, I cannot wait to see where the film program is at in the next few years.”

Pavey is proud of two films he made under Barton’s mentorship. The first big class project was to create a short film using all the most commonly used camera shots, framing techniques, and camera movement techniques.

“My project was entitled ‘Tomorrow,’ which was an avant-garde short film from the infamous speech in Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’,” he said.

Pavey was accepted into the Student World Impact Film Festival and received an honorable mention. At the Augustana Film Showcase, he also earned an honorable mention for this film, which was also screened at Alternating Currents this past August in the Quad Cities.

His second project was to create a 2-minute public service announcement, called “Drag PSA” that compared the heavy censorship and fear mongering of drag queens in America, and putting that in conversation with the lack of gun control in America, Pavey said.

“I made animated graphics and multimedia TV elements, and got into drag on-screen,” he said, noting that also was accepted into the Student World Impact Film Festival, was nominated for an award, and placed as a quarterfinalist for a film about a social issue.

“This was a major accomplishment, considering the extremely high number of students internationally that submit to the festival each year,” Pavey said. The PSA was also in the October showcase, and won for “Best Visual Effects.”

Using both parts of brain

Matt Chezum, an Augie junior from New Windsor, Ill., is a film major because he just loves the craft.

“It scratches both the left and right side of the brain because you are allowed to be creative and tell stories, but you also must be extremely organized and efficient in order to get anything done right,” he said recently.

“I feel pretty lucky to be part of the beginning of the Augie Film program, and I am super thankful for all of the dedication that Stacy has put into the program,” Chezum said. “She’s pretty awesome and I’m learning a lot from her.”

He noted the best part of creating a film is “compelling other people to truly feel the emotions that the story gives, whether that is through the music or the camera angles or the script or even the makeup and costuming,” Chezum said. “The beauty in a group of people all experiencing the same feelings and sharing in that is quite beautiful to me, and film is the greatest medium when it comes to not only telling a story, but also conveying all of the subtle sentiments and personality of that story.”

He has been part of creating a music video for the Avey Grouws Band for their song “Daylight,” for an Augustana entertainment media class (“From Song to Screen”) and created a suicide prevention PSA and a short film called “S’mores” for a film class.

“S’mores” (watch it HERE) was shown at the Augustana Film Showcase in October, and Chezum won “Best Narrative Fiction” and “Audience Choice.” He hopes to submit it to some local film festivals.

A new QC film festival?

At University of West Georgia, Barton created a student film festival (spanning five states), which was shelved after she left.

The QC summer festival Alternating Currents has a film festival (each August), and Augie may show student films there, Barton said.

“Will we make a film festival? If the demand is there, we’ll do it,” she said. “There’s a lot on the horizon. For right now, I just want the students to make good work and build partnerships.”

Barton is also making a new silent film (“Idle Little Hands,” for which Chezum worked on the crew), based in 1900 and about child labor in the pearl button industry. They filmed this past summer, with four paid students on the crew.

It stars Augie grad Jacqueline Isaacson as a Clara Barton-inspired character and Barton’s nine-year-old daughter, and features the college’s Jeff Coussens and Mike Turczynski. They filmed at Rock Island’s Saukie Golf Course, Moline’s Sylvan Island and the National Pearl Button Museum in Muscatine.

Chezum added he’s now working on a pretty big project for Inspiration Theatre, a nonprofit organization in Winneconne, Wis. Their current production, “David: King of Jerusalem,” has several scenes that are filmed rather than acted out on stage, and he is directing those filmed scenes.

Filming will be taking place in the spring, and Chezum is in the middle of pre-production at this point.

To learn more about the Augie film program, click HERE.