IU Student Composers Association, the Jacobs School of Music and the Department of Communication and Culture presents "Double Exposure"

Hundreds of people gathered for a night that presented student-made productions accompanied by live ensembles at the IU Cinema.

This event was the second annual “Double Exposure” project, presented by the IU Student Composers Association, the Jacobs School of Music and the Department of Communication and Culture. This was first initiated by the IU Cinema to introduce students to the collaboration of multiple forms of art — film, music and sound.

“Double Exposure” is an experimental program that pairs IU film students and students from the Jacobs Department Composition as well as the Department of Recording Arts. There were a total of 10 “creative teams” that presented their original student work.

These films covered a variety of topics, including family, life and death, serial killers and the pursuit of perfection.

Each student film was accompanied by a live ensemble, which performed an original score by a student composer from the Jacobs Department of Composition. Professors from the department worked with the students to refine their scores.

Students from the Jacobs Department of Recording Arts contributed their knowledge of sound design, dialog enhancement and sound recording and mixing to the films.

The students had continuous advisement from several faculty members from the Jacobs School of Music as well as the Department of Communication and Culture.
Susanne Schwibs, a lecturer from the Department of Communication and Culture, was a prominent mentor in the production process of the students’ work.

“I think ‘Double Exposure’ is a really great opportunity for all the students involved,” Schwibs said. “Both the film students and the music students get to collaborate and so they actually learn a little bit of each other’s craft and of each other’s artistic approaches.”

Their pre-production processes began last fall. This gave them sufficient time to plan their projects beforehand. Film students were met with the music students and were matched up based on their similar artistic interests.

“You want them to create the best project possible,” Schwibs said.

CMCL graduate student and “Double Exposure” veteran Javier Ramirez’s film was the first one to be shown, entitled “Overture.” Ramirez used the technique of contact printing to create this 79-second film.

His film focused on his six-month-old daughter, Harper, from her birth to her first Christmas.

Ramirez’s grandmother passed away from Alzheimer’s and his aunt is currently dealing with it.

“The film is in itself, my own fear of getting Alzheimer’s and memories of my daughter, of her being born, what that might look like,” Ramirez said.

Student composer Nick Cline accompanied Ramirez.

Telecommunications graduate student Russell McGee was the student director of “Grief Stricken.” McGee utilized the techniques of German expressionism to create his film, which included high contrast, shadows and a variety of different angles. He shot his project using 16mm film as well as with a digital camera.

This is McGee’s first time his work will be shown in “Double Exposure.” He said he’s particularly excited about the venue’s networking ability.

“By having films screened in a venue that’s nationally recognized, allows for any student film that is screened here at the University to be eligible to be put on IMDB and that can really help students out as far as being able to get a start into the industry,” McGee said.

“They can start building up professional credits even in a university setting.”
McGee was paired with student composer Ryan Chase. McGee said they bonded over their mutual interests in the Twilight Zone series and Bernard Herrmann, the main composer for Alfred Hitchcock films.

McGee said he and Chase will continue working as a team on an upcoming project as a result of “Double Exposure.”

“You have two different schools on campus that are working together that otherwise don’t have this opportunity,” McGee said. “You have all these awesome students on campus that are very talented, but in a lot of cases, we don’t interact otherwise, so this program is fantastic in that respect.”