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0000017c-60f7-de77-ad7e-f3f739cf0000Arts & More airs Fridays at 7:50 a.m. and 4:20 p.m.Theme music: "Like A Beginner Again" by Dan Barry of Seas of Jupiter

Micro-Budget Film Fest Challenges Midwest Filmmakers' Creativity

Journeyman by Matt Weaver

Low-budget films are often the butt of jokes in today’s movie industry, but on May 15th, filmmakers from the Midwest and a few international artists will attempt to change that. 

North By Midwest film festival in Kalamazoo challenges filmmakers to make the best movies possible for only $5,000 to $10,000. The festival will be held at the Epic Center in downtown Kalamazoo from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are free.

Here's the trailer for one of the films called  Journeyman by Kalamazoo director Matt Weaver:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO8gJ1cgYlY

Nick Eppinga works for Kalamazoo’s Public Media Networkand is a member of the Kalamazoo Film Society—both organizations helped put on this year’s festival. He says having a small budget forces filmmakers to get creative.

“Less reliant on throwing money at problems I guess and having to figure out a way to do it with their limited resources, which makes it a lot more interesting,” says Eppinga.

Probably the most low-budget category at the festival would be the Micro Cam entries. These are five-minute films shot entirely on things like smart phones and tablets.

Ashley Berens does marketing for the Public Media Network and helped organize the festival. She says films shot on micro cams are becoming more common these days - even PMN’s producers use them.

“You know we have a lot of producers that will use any means to get the right shot. And you know with your phone or your tablet or whatever—your GoPro—you can just put that right on the floor and aim it up to get that awesome shot," she says. "And I think, you know, using those small devices is always an experiment kind of way. And that’s what we really wanted to do with this category is see what kind of shots, what kind of stuff you could get.”

Though not every iPhone movie is polished, some of the shots may surprise you. Take Jesse Knittel’s music video to “Holding On To You” by Twenty One Pilots, for example. It’s a black and white montage of her home videos mixed with high quality scenes from the band’s concert and driving through downtown Detroit.

Berens says one of her favorite films on the list takes a totally different approach to a music video. Kalamazoo filmmaker Evan VanderVeen captures an artist swirling abstract designs in a dish pan to the tune of an Animal Collective song.

“They use just a little dish and put milk, food coloring, and dish soap and then just pushed it around and filmed it to a music video. And it is beautiful,” says Berens.

Though the budget is pretty strict for these films, Berens says there’s a sort of loophole—the budget does not include equipment costs. That’s what allowed Michiel Ten Kleij of The Netherlands to rent a RED Camera to shoot his film Steven Caught A Star. The RED Camera Company makes high quality digital video cameras. To buy one can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENEpK9zMTRE

Berens says the festival wants to show wannabe filmmakers that there’s more than one way to do it.

“People want to know what people have shot on, what people used. So we’re also including that, along with the budget, on the website and in the program,” she says.

Another one of the festivals goals is to create a more connected film community in Southwest Michigan. Berens says filmmakers that work together can double their budgets and their creativity.

“You know when you definitely think of a student or someone who does this on the side, you have a low budget. So in order to get these projects done, these wonderful projects done, you really need help," says Berens. "And so we want to make sure that at this festival people are able to meet each other and collaborate on their projects in the future.”

The North By Midwest film festival will be at various locations in Kalamazoo's Epic Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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