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World
Premiere of Student Film “Erasure” at Pomona College
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Film to Be Screened in Conjunction with Award-Winning
Short Film “For Our Man” by Pomona College Alumnus Kazuo
Ohno
Nobody says movie-making is easy. Certainly not Alex Scott.
Scott, a Pomona College English major, dealt with
last-minute casting problems, location cancellations,
breakdowns, car accidents (real ones), forgetful cast
members and exploding containers of fake blood over the
summer during the shooting of “Erasure,” a short film he has
written and directed.
“The experience was a rocky one – and a time of intense
learning for everyone involved,” said Scott, who is now
looking forward to the world premiere of “Erasure” at 8 p.m.
on Saturday, Feb. 21, in Rose Hills Theatre, Smith Campus
Center, 170 E. Sixth St., Claremont. The screening is open
to the public and free of charge.
“Erasure” was shot in and around Claremont over two weekends
in the summer of 2003, using a cast and crew drawn almost
exclusively from the faculty and student body of Pomona
College. The producers rented professional film dollies,
which they used along with digital cameras from the Pomona
College Media Studies Program to shoot the film. Making use
of more than eight different locations, students moved
between campus lands, faculty houses, and public property to
complete the short.
The 13-minute film uses reverse photography in an
experimental narrative technique that addresses problems of
identity, memory, and morality. The film’s main character,
Will, wakes from his own death to find the world around him
running backwards – people walk, talk, and eat in reverse.
Quickly, Will finds that the world in reverse has unexpected
consequences – arguments lead to surprising reconciliation,
terrible accidents bring thousands of people to life, guns
have the power to turn corpses into living people. As Will
struggles to make sense of it all, he finds the shards of
his own life settling into place. “Un-doing” a series of
choices leads him back toward a mysterious accident
involving the disappearance of his brother, Paul. In
bringing Paul back, Will reaches toward the tranquil moments
of yesterday – only there can he find a pleasant ending.
The film’s score is an original composition of electronic
music created by Pomona College seniors Eric Mann and Jason
Lopez. The score makes extensive use of sampled and reversed
instrumentation – from piano to bowed guitar. Much of the
music was recorded in Pomona College’s state-of-the-art
electronic music studio.
The filming of “Erasure” was made possible by a Stonehill
grant – one of the many sources of summer research funding
available to students at Pomona College. The Stonehill
grants are made possible through a generous donation from
the family of the late Dr. Brian Stonehill, a Media Studies
professor who was a dedicated advocate of the program. In
Prof. Stonehill’s honor, the grants fund research for a
variety of theoretical Media Studies projects – from
academic papers to documentary films. “Erasure” is the first
fictional narrative project to be completed using such a
grant.
“Erasure” will be screened in conjunction with the 25-minute
short film “For Our Man” by Pomona alumnus Kazuo Ohno, class
of ‘96. Kazuo completed “For Our Man” as a graduate student
at Columbia University. The short went on to win the Student
Academy Awards in 2002, and screened to enthusiastic
audiences at such prestigious film festivals as Telluride
and South by Southwest (where it won the prize for best
narrative short).
A reception for audience, cast, and crew will follow the
screening of “Erasure,” as well as an informal Q&A with the
filmmakers. |
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