Some filmmakers try to make their audience laugh, and some try to give them nightmares. Others try to raise awareness of important issues.
All kinds of directors with different stories to tell have movies featured in the Garden State Film Festival, which runs March 19-22. The event, held annually since 2003, honors the best in New Jersey’s independent filmmaking, and several filmmakers from Central Jersey have their work entered this year.
Zack Morrison of East Brunswick is a filmmaking student at Columbia University, where he is pursuing a master’s degree in fine arts. But he was a senior at Rutgers University when he made “Five To Places,” which is entered in the Short category.
“I just want people to have a good time when they watch it, because life is too short to take things so seriously all the time,” Morrison said.
“Five to Places” is a play on the old saying, “break a leg.” In the film, set backstage at a local community theater, the lead actor breaks his leg five minutes before his show begins, and his understudy is thrust into a role for which he is unprepared.
“Five to Places” Zack Morrison, East Brunswick What is unique about the film is that its five-minute runtime was filmed entirely in one shot, helping to heighten the insanity of the situation.
“We had multiple rehearsals, and we mapped out floor-plan diagrams, kind of like a football playbook where we knew where everyone was going,” Morrison said. “The rehearsal process was extremely intense.”
Nonetheless, the filming process was “a blast,” he said.
“I really hope that when audiences watch it, they get a laugh, and that they enjoy the artistic insanity that’s very much an exaggeration, but kind of based in the real-life craziness that artists go through,” Morrison said.
“Behind the Scenes” Drew Bolognini, Red Bank Another director with humorous intentions is Red Bank resident Drew Bolognini, whose music video “Behind the Scenes” is entered in the Home Grown Music Video category.
Bolognini was hired by New Jersey musician Alexa Gallagher to produce a music video for her song, “Behind the Scenes,” about the young woman’s determination to meet Harry Styles from the pop band One Direction.
“She’s throwing little barbs at people like Taylor Swift in the video,” Bolognini said. “It’s just a little tongue-in-cheek — she’s claiming she has more to offer than all these other people that he’s dated. It’s kind of a self-effacing, funny jab at the pop industry.” The goal, Bolognini said, was to get Styles to see the video during One Direction’s visit to New York City. Unfortunately, that never happened — but even if Styles didn’t notice it, the Garden State Film Festival did. Plus, the video has reached nearly 5,000 hits on YouTube.
“Blue Dream” Abby Hoffman, Middletown “It’s a very catchy song, so I think that had something to do with it,” he said.
Tom Bentey of Edison made a film about broken dreams and life’s many disappointments — but it’s a comedy. His film, “Flat Brim,” entered in the Short category, tells the story of a man who turns 30 and is dissatisfied with the direction of his life.
But when a “mysterious suburban spirit” gives him a magic hat, his life becomes perfect, and he gets everything he thought he wanted — leading him to realize what’s truly important. “I think a lot of people can relate to reaching a certain point in your life where you thought things would have been a little bit different,” Bentey said. “At least I felt my life would’ve been more established than it is. But what you realize is that life is a never-ending journey — and you’ve got to take chances.”
“Sleep Walk” Justin Chapman, Marlboro In Erik Massimino’s film, “Animus,” the importance of life is told through the eyes of a father who lost his child to a drunken driver. Entered in the Home Grown Trailer category, “Animus” is focused on visuals and contains no dialogue.
“The whole time, you’re in his head and you go through the thoughts he has every single day because he misses his child,” said Massimino, a resident of Eatontown.
Massimino said he was inspired by the impact that people’s actions and mistakes have on others.
“The Drive” Abby Hof fman, Middletown “The drunk driver kills a child, but at the end of the day, it’s the father who’s really suffering,” he said.
Several students from Middletown High School South also had their films entered in the festival.
Senior Abby Hoffman has two films, “Blue Dream” and “The Drive,” entered in the Student Short category. Both films are psychological thrillers about young women’s experiences with death.
“I love horror movies,” Hoffman said. “I just like creepy things in general.”
Sophomore Anthony Raisley shot aboard an NJ Transit train when making his film “The Awakening,” entered in the Short category, about a man being chased by a mysterious creature.
Shane O’Neill and Dylan Mc- Cormick — now freshmen at Montclair State University and Brookdale Community College, respectively — made “The Session” during their senior year. Entered in the Home Grown Student Short category, “The Session” is described as a “comedy” about a man’s schizophrenic breakdown.
For Justin Chapman, a Marlboro resident and senior at Communications High School in Wall Township, the idea for his film came while sleeping.
“When I got home from school, I passed out,” Chapman said. “Then my friend was ringing me. … For just a brief moment, within my dream, there was a sudden buzz, a shake, a quake, and then I realized my phone’s vibrating.”
The concept of dreams and fantasy inspired Chapman’s film “Sleep Walk,” entered in the Home Grown Short Student category, about a sleeping man whose dreams are manipulated by his friends.
Chapman said he was glad the Garden State Film Festival noticed his work.
“I just love the idea of being able to be recognized by a larger community that is greater than myself — and just knowing that people will be able to see something that I put the work into, and be able to tap into my emotions for just a moment,” Chapman said.
For more information about this year’s Garden State Film Festival, visit www.gsff.org.