As the sun to set, dancers, directors and dance enthusiast gathered in the dance department’s courtyard for the 6th annual 4 The Camera Outdoor Dance Film Festival.
Around 50 people attended, some people sat on the rock boulders in the courtyard while others brought their own chairs.
During the viewing of the films, audience members munched on popcorn that was provided, while some others ate picnic style dinners that they had brought with them.
Since 2009, the film fest has showcased the choreographic works produced by dance students for the screen dance genre.
The idea of the festival came about when coordinator Gregory Crosby discussed the idea with co-coordinator Sylvia Rodriguez-Scholz, after watching films by undergraduate students who worked with him in a portion of the Advanced Composition course at Cal State Long Beach.
The first of the thirteen short films that was shown on the dance department’s new 14.5 foot blow-up screen in the courtyard was The Dance Center at CSULB: The House that Joan Built. Crosby directed the documentary film, which centered on the late Joan Schlaich.
Sclaich was the driving force behind the creation of the Department of Dance at CSULB, which celebrated its 20th Anniversary last semester.
Screen dance is different from a narrative film because there is rarely a story line, and it often needs little character development; much like stage dance, the content relies on movement to produce the intended emotional effect, Crosby said.
“The way choreographers and directors develop choreography for the camera is different
because the camera removes the limitations of the proscenium stage and allows the viewer to view the choreography from 360 degree vs. a static theater seat,” Crosby said.
The film festival is a CSULB event that only accepts films created by dance students, dance faculty, staff and dance alumni.
“People should care about the film festival because it is a free event that showcases the
works of the CSULB dance community,” Rodriguez-Scholz said.
Rodriguez-Scholz also said that every year, it’s hard to pick films, but she always feels that the event provides a great evening for the audience to enjoy.
The majority of the films featured in this year’s festival were produced by Crosby and Colleen Dunagan in Dance 420 at CSULB, a class that focuses on filmmaking techniques for choreography; including preproduction and idea development.
“The tools a performing artist takes away from a course like this go far beyond creating
screen dance,” said Crosby. “Now they have a stronger knowledge base, when managing their video portfolio of performances reels, choreography reels, archived dance performances and techniques for hosting [or] distributing them online.”
Most of the films featured modern dance and had their own emotional and humorous take on storytelling.
All the films featured were well-received by the audience, but some attendees had their favorites.
Artur Varjapetian, a senior dance major who danced in The Quiet and Plucked, said he enjoyed Dark Serenity because it had some interesting settings, the opposition between light and dark.
“There were interesting dancers in the film, I liked the choreography,” Varjapetian said.
Department Chair of Dance Andy Vaca also expressed excitement about the night.
He said the film that he was drawn to emotionally was The Quiet because of its
simplicity; he was also drawn to A Series of Broken Things because he thought it was very
clever, and it takes the sentimental character that naturally takes her into the world of dance.
“I liked all the films, and I enjoyed the whole evening,” Vaca said.