‘Polyamorous’ to premiere at ESU

Several student filmmakers are planning a Hollywood-style movie premiere for Monday.

These actors and filmmakers have rented Webb Lecture Hall for the 7 p.m. showing of “Polyamorous.” Wearing tuxedos and formal gowns, the cast will greet the audience along a red carpet. ESU faculty dressed as bellhops will serve snacks.

“We want to make this look as much like an actual premiere as we could,” said actor Josh Christoffersen.

The film was written by Drew Shirley and produced and edited by “MKM,” an informal group of friends who spent hundreds of hours of their own time to bring the film to the screen. “MKM” comes from “Men Killing Music,” a wordless musical comedy routine that five of the film’s cast members performed at ESU last year.

The film features familiar locations such as ESU’s campus and dorms, Emporia’s rooftops and alleys, J’s Burgers and a final showdown at the city wastewater treatment plant. Over 50 people

appear in the movie.

“No matter who you are, you’re probably going to see someone you know,” said Erin Schmidt, who plays the film’s main love interest “Faith.”

“Faith,” however, may not be her character’s real name. It’s what Drew Shirley’s character decides to call her as he tries to muster the courage to introduce himself.

Hopelessly besotted, his chance to meet her comes after he picks up bag she accidentally leaves behind -- except it might not really be her bag. It might belong to some very bad men.

Mayhem ensues.

The story is inspired by comic books in its style, dialogue and presentation. Most of the cast have a theater background, but were new to film.

“We learned by doing it,” said Nate Brauner, an actor who also edited the movie on his home PC, working with raw digital video footage.

“I started out with a copy of Premiere 6.5 and a 240 gigabyte hard drive. By the time we were finished, there was nothing else on my computer but the film and the operating system,” he said.

“I could usually turn around a scene in a couple of days, but there was an elaborate fight sequence in the middle of the film that took me all of winter break,” said Brauner.

In planning the shoots, Drew Shirley had to work around class schedules, lighting conditions and weather.

“One night, we shot most of a scene in the rain, but we didn’t get finished. It didn’t rain again

for three months, so that scene has a huge gap in its shooting,” he said.

Brauner wrapped up the last of the editing a few weeks ago. Meanwhile, Shirley and his team were mounting an extensive local marketing campaign. With $1,500 from the ESU Memorial Union, they were able to print 3,000 handbills, along with numerous posters, flyers, t-shirts, buttons and a 7-foot display in Union Square. Mysterious chalk drawings promoting the film also appear around campus.

“If we can get 200 of our friends to come see it Monday, we’ll be happy,” said Brauner. “But if we can get 1,000 people from across campus and the entire community to come, then people have got to notice us. We’ll be able to use the experience to get support to raise the bar on our future projects.”

The Motion Picture Association of America has not rated the movie, but Shirley has given it an “R” rating based on its adult language and comic book violence.

Polyamorous will be shown Monday at 7 p.m. in the Memorial Union Webb Lecture Hall. Admission is free. The audience will be able to sign up for door prizes, including a guitar, TV, DVD player, video game player and cash prizes.

 

Last Updated July 2, 2007>