NORTHERN TODAY 12 WINTER 2024 News | NORTHERN STATE UNIVERSITY IVEN the choice between chase/ escape film or the theme “technology gone wrong,” Northern’s team for the Four-Points Film Challenge chose technology gone wrong and produced “Hallowed Be Thy N(AI)me” within the 77 hour time limit. “We think we have a submission that is really strong, especially with some of the new techniques and technologies that we worked into it,” said D. Jason Knowles, assistant professor of art/digital media. “It’s so wonderfully written. Kudos to Jensen Eckert and Kane Anderson.” Anderson is an assistant professor of theatre and Eckert is a freshman at Northern majoring in Digital Media. This year, Knowles’ podcast class was part of the crew. The film challenge also requires each team to include three predetermined elements in their submission: a prop (yoga mat), a line of dialogue (“Welcome to a world of endless possibilities”) and a character with a specific occupation (Carl, a fruit stand owner). From that, the team produced a film about a pastor who struggles to produce good sermons and as a result is losing people out of congregation. He turns to religious based ChatGPT and things go really well, until they don’t, Knowles said. The challenge started Nov 3 at 7 p.m. with submissions due by Nov. 6 at 11:59 p.m. No work could be done ahead of time. The team spent three days and three hours working to get their film ready for submission. “We got this festival cut right at the seven-minute mark, with three frames to spare,” Knowles said. Unlike with shorter film challenges, the team had time to sleep, Knowles said. But, there were some hurdles at the start. “We had a story, but we had a little bit of a struggle initially with the screenwriting,” Knowles. “Once Kane Anderson and Jensen Eckart took it over and committed to doing it, they produced pure gold. The script is funny, with a lot of dark humor references to current events. It’s just very well done.” This is the second year a Northern team has participated in the international competition and the team had access to updated professional filmmaking equipment, as well as the new Moving Imagery Lab. A CETL Pedagogy grant won last spring by Knowles and English faculty colleague, Kristen Brown, for a cross-disciplinary podcasting experiment allowed for the purchase of highend shotgun microphones and audio recorders. Knowles brought his personal 6k cinema camera he purchased over the past summer. One of the technological advancements used included motion captured for the special effects. “Ironically, we used AI software to do some animation,” Knowles said. “We’re excited. We think we’re very strong in the visual effects, but the story of course is more important, and we have a great story, excellent acting, and good lighting and cinematography.” For a short period of time, the FourPoints competition allows the public to screen submissions and vote for their favorite short film. Once the public voting period has concluded, the film can’t be shown publicly or submitted to other festivals until the competition decisions are announced in early December. Until the competition decisions are announced in early December, the film can’t be shown to the public or submitted to other festivals. “Kane gave us so much great acting material that the director’s cut is easily going to be 14 minutes,” Knowles said. “This version will fill in a few gaps and help the flow of the storyline.” Knowles already has plans to compete in next year’s Four-Points challenge and encourages anyone interested to stop in, see the facilities and take part. “We’re always open to community member involvement,” Knowles said. A.I. subject of film produced by Northern team Kane Anderson: story, screenplay, “Pastor Pete” Jensen Eckart: story, screenplay, gaffer/key grip D. Jason Knowles: director, executive producer, story, visual effects supervisor, “Carl Pearce” John A. Schwab: story, director of photography, assistant director, post-production supervisor “SermonGPT Robot Voice” Matt Klundt: director of photography, assistant director Tessa Weist: “SermonGPT Robot Stand-in/motion capture,” “Congregation” Kayleen Hermans: “Congregation”, mixer/recordist Abigail Himmerich: “Congregation,” first assistant camera Jalyssa Johnson: “Congregation,” production assistant Delaynie Parker: “Congregation,” production assistant Ksenia Unser: “Congregation,” production assistant Lily McCraw: boom operator Maria Martens: boom operator Hilary Sonnabend: production assistant Lillian Russell: production assistant Scan to watch “Hallowed Be Thy N(AI) me” here. G Challenge Team name: Verdical Productions
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