Tag Archives: film

Jonathan Schwartz film still

Jonathan Schwartz’s Films Screened at West Coast Venues

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Jonathan Schwartz film still
Jonathan Schwartz: Animals Moving to the Sound of Drums

Associate Professor of Film Jonathan Schwartz was recently on the West Coast for screenings of his films. “Animals Moving to the Sound of Drums & Other Films by Jonathan Schwartz” was screened at the Cinema Project in Portland, Oregon on February 25–26, and a show entitled “Adjectives in the Halting Speech: Films by Jonathan Schwartz,” presented in association with the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, appeared at the San Francisco Cinematheque on February 27.

The Cinema Project writes that “Jonathan Schwartz is an American experimental filmmaker who has been making poetic non-fiction 16mm films for over a decade. In both his travel films and his more diaristic work he draws influence from certain traditional approaches to observational filmmaking as well as from mentors Saul Levine and Mark LaPore. The soundtracks to his films are stitched together from rich textural field recordings and subdued synch-sound that slides above the images.”

Scene from Their First Misunderstanding

KSC Film Archives Featured on NH Chronicle

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Scene from Their First Misunderstanding
Scene from the lost Mary Pickford film, Their First Misunderstanding

On March 24th, WMUR’s Channel 9 aired a special New Hampshire Chronicle piece on Keene State College’s film collection. That’s the collection that has yielded the only known copies of John Ford’s 1913 film, When Lincoln Paid, and Their First Misunderstanding, Mary Pickford’s 1911 film, the discoveries of which made international news. The archives contain, among other films, the Louis de Rochemont collection.

Academy-Award-winning filmmaker and “father of the docu-drama” Louis de Rochemont lived in Newington, N.H.; besides his feature-length films such as “The Whistle at Eaton Falls” and “Lost Boundaries,” he also produced the “March of Time” newsreel series, and a series of ethnographic films. So who knows what other treasures our film archives have yet to reveal? If you missed the Chronicle segment, don’t despair; you can watch it online.

Jennifer Dunnington ’93 (Photo by Aidan Dorn)

Jennifer Dunnington ’93 Joins the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

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Jennifer Dunnington ’93 (Photo by Aidan Dorn)
Jennifer Dunnington ’93 (Photo by Aidan Dorn)

Motion Picture Music Editor Jennifer Dunnington ’93 was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ class of 2013, honoring her for the work she’s produced during her career. The Academy welcomed 276 members, including Jennifer Lopez, Lucy Liu, Jason Bateman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Pena, and Chris Tucker.

“I am thrilled to be a part of the Academy and to play an active role in the screening, voting, and celebration of  widespread talent in the film community,” Jennifer said.

She was on campus last March to share her craft with students and the community and has plans to be back the March to conduct a weekend workshop. Stay tuned!

More information. …

Scene from Their First Misunderstanding

Maddow, & Others Cover Mary Pickford Film

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Scene from Their First Misunderstanding
Scene from Their First Misunderstanding

The discovery of the long-lost Mary Pickford film in the KSC film archives is making big news around the world. Recently, Rachel Maddow did a very nice piece on it on her “Cocktail Moment” segment, highlighting Pickford’s role as a superstar and the most powerful woman in Hollywood. Their First Misunderstanding will make it’s world premiere on Friday (Oct. 11) at 7 p.m. in the Redfern’s Alumni Recital Hall. Pickford-scholar Christel Schmidt will be on hand to discuss the significance of this historic find and show two other films starring the famous actress.

“Films like this are a window into our cultural past—moving images of the way our culture saw itself in the early 20th Century,” explained Film Professor Emeritus Larry Benaquist. “This will show us the work of a great artist—actor, producer, activist. We’ll learn a lot about how her acting evolved.”
Continue reading Maddow, & Others Cover Mary Pickford Film →

Mary Pickford

Historic Film Buffs: You’ve Got a Big Surprise Coming

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Mary Pickford
America’s Sweetheart, Mary Pickford

7 p.m. / October 11 / Alumni Recital Hall / Redfern Arts Center / Tickets: $5
(free for students with KSC ID)
Plus: Something we guarantee you’ve never seen before!

Mary Pickford, known as “America’s Sweetheart,” was among Hollywood’s first superstars. A remarkably talented screenwriter, producer, and actor, she won the hearts of moviegoers across the continent and co-founded United Artists (with D. W. Griffith, Douglas Fairbanks, and Charlie Chaplin) and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. For her monumental contributions to the art of film, the ‪American Film Institute‬ listed her among the 25 greatest female screen legends.

Continue reading Historic Film Buffs: You’ve Got a Big Surprise Coming →

Award-Winning Motion Picture Music Editor Jennifer Dunnington ’93 to Share Her Craft

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Jennifer Dunnington ’93, winner of two Motion Pictures Sound Editor Awards for her work on Hugo and a documentary on George Harrison. Courtesy photo.
Jennifer Dunnington ’93

Jennifer Dunnington ’93, who won an Emmy and several Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel awards for her work on such movies as Hugo, The Departed, Cosmopolis, Shutter Island, and Boardwalk Empire, will be on campus on March 26 to share her expertise with KSC film and music students. We would have had her here earlier, but she was in London applying her talents to The Hobbit.

During the day, Jennifer will be visiting classes, holding master classes and offering her professional experience to students planning to enter the film industry. At 7 p.m., the College will host a reception for her in Centennial Hall, where she will show some examples of her work.

Interested in knowing more about what Jennifer does as a motion picture sound editor? Check out the article the Sentinel did on her last December.

Coming to a Theater near You: The Monadnock International Film Festival

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FilmFestCan you imagine anything much better for KSC film students than to have an international film festival right here in Keene? They’ll be able to see some of the planet’s best new film, volunteer and intern to get real-world experience in the business, and form relationships with industry professionals. And some of the festival will feature student films. The opportunity is golden, and it’s happening when the three-day Monadnock International Film Festival comes to Keene, and to campus, from April 4–6.

“It provides film majors more opportunities to stay [in Keene],” said festival board member Jaime Comtois. “The question is how you continue to attract and keep young people here to keep the local economy thriving. The answer is to bring the world here, with relevant arts programming.”
Continue reading Coming to a Theater near You: The Monadnock International Film Festival →

Screening of Metropolis with Alloy Orchestra Wins $1000 Grant

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Director of the Redfern Arts Center Shannon Mayers has secured a $1,000 grant from the New England Foundation for the Arts to fund outreach efforts around the screening of Fritz Lang’s 1927 futuristic epic, The Complete Metropolis, in the Alumni Recital Hall at 7:30 p.m. on January 30. Boston’s Alloy Orchestra, which film critic Roger Ebert calls “the best in the world at accompanying silent films,” will provide their unique and brilliant music for the film. This internationally-known trio blend their distinctive mix of clarinet, accordion, electronics, and junk-metal percussion to highlight the film’s dramatic effect. In addition to the public performance, the Alloy Orchestra will provide a public workshop about live music and silent films. There will be an exhibit of silent-film posters in the Redfern lobby.

Christmas Gift Idea: Redfern Tickets, with Alumni Discount!

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Use your alumni discount to see the Alloy Orchestra’s brilliant accompaniment to the newly restored version of Fritz Lang’s 1926 silent film masterpiece The Complete Metropolis.

The Redfern Arts Center has made the dilemma of Christmas-gift giving a lot easier by offering alumni discounts on tickets. KSC alumni receive discounts of $5–$10 per ticket, depending on the event, for all the Redfern’s exciting season events.

This winter and spring offer a diverse roster of performing artists bringing spectacular music, theater, dance, and film to campus. Give the gift of a performance by the well-loved Apple Hill String Quartet with composer Christine Southworth or the futuristic silent film The Complete Metropolis (accompanied by the Alloy Orchestra). There’s something for every taste, including hip-hop artist Baba Brinkman’s take on evolution, Alaskan-born dancer Emily Johnson’s new work that explores cultural identity, and Chicago’s Griffin Theatre’s hit production, Letters Home.

Gift tickets for performances are now on sale at the Redfern Box Office, and can be purchased by phone (603-358-2168) or by visiting the Redfern online.

When Lincoln Paid Shown at MoMA

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Francis Ford, older brother of and greatest influence on famed director John Ford, as Abraham Lincoln in When Lincoln Paid (Courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)

Remember back in 2010 when the 1913 silent film, When Lincoln Paid, was resurrected and premiered at KSC to international acclaim? The KSC Film Archives discovered that it owned the only known copy of the long-lost film, secured a grant, and worked with the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY, and the National Film Preservation Foundation to restore the historic film.

MoMA (the Museum of Modern Art in New York) screened the film as part of its international celebration of film preservation, “To Save and Protect.”  When Lincoln Paid was the first shown in the festival’s Oct. 28 day-long screening of films about presidents.

Dr. Benaquist Receives Grant to Restore Long-Lost Guy-Blaché Film

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Announcement in the Jan. 13, 1912 edition of Moving Picture World.

Larry Benaquist, KSC film professor emeritus, has been awarded a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation (NFPF) to restore another of the films from the “Nelson Collection,” which are now in the possession of Keene State College. The film, Parson Sue, is the only known copy of a one-reel 1912 comedy by Alice Guy Blaché, who is the world’s first professional woman filmmaker and one of the key figures in the development of narrative film. The discovery of this long-lost film has already excited several film scholars and preservationists, so the film history spotlight will be on KSC when the film is ready to premier.
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Jennifer Dunnington ’93 Puts the Music in Hugo, The Departed, The Hobbit …

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Jennifer Dunnington ’93, winner of Golden Reel awards for her work on Hugo and a documentary on George Harrison. Courtesy photo

There are some advantages to studying film at a school the size of Keene State, where the classes are small, according to Jennifer Dunnington ’93. She brought many interests and talents to KSC, including music and dance, but eventually settled into a film major. Because of the intimate class size, she was able to try her hand at several aspects of movie making and combine her interests to eventually find her perfect niche: that of motion picture music editor. She now works closely with the composers, film directors, and picture editors of each project, constantly adjusting the music in the film as the flow of the action changes during the film editing process. “So that’s one of my jobs,” Dunnington explained, “to keep editing the music to fit the new picture while still keeping the emotional and dramatic impact that the original placement had and respecting the structure and integrity of the composition.”

“Music and dance have always been a part of my life,” Dunnington explained, “so when I had the opportunity to put them together with film, it was a perfect fit for me. The music in a film is choreographed against the images, so being aware of that connection in conjunction with the musical structure is crucial to the effect that the score has in a scene.”

She’s worked on several Martin Scorsese films and recently won two of the Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel awards for her work on the hit 3D movie, Hugo, and for the HBO documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World. And those are not the first: She’s got two previous Golden Reels and an Emmy, plus several certificates for having been nominated for other Golden Reels and Emmys.

Dunnington’s movie credits also include The Departed, Cosmopolis, Shutter Island, and Boardwalk Empire (for which she won the Emmy). She is currently working on The Hobbit.
Continue reading Jennifer Dunnington ’93 Puts the Music in Hugo, The Departed, The Hobbit … →

KSC Film, Enter to Learn … Go Forth to Serve, Now Available on Amazon!

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The remarkable film by Larry Benaquist and Lance Levesque (and a wealth of film students), Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve: The First Hundred Years of Keene State College, is now available at the KSC Bookstore, and on Amazon.com. That makes it easy for anyone to get a copy of this excellent record of the historic events that led from a normal school established in Keene in 1909 to train good teachers to the development of New Hampshire’s premier public liberal arts college. The film aired on New Hampshire Public Television several times this fall.

Film Students on Film

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For many recent film grads, most of their time at KSC was spent working on Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve: the First Hundred Years of Keene State College. The film, which airs on New Hampshire Public TV at 8 and 9 p.m. on Sept. 26 and several other times this fall (see the schedule), was a grand and serious project, and 80 or so students spent many long hours creating this excellent documentary. As film studies adjunct faculty member and the film’s co-creator Lance Levesque noted, “We set the standard so high that nothing but perfection was acceptable. That doesn’t just happen; you don’t just go out and take a picture. Some of our shoots were eight hours long, to get one shot with the perfect lighting with no shadows, and the prefect movement with no jittering.”

Continue reading Film Students on Film →