‘Rain’
garnishes award
By Jack Schneider
On-line Forty-Niner
It
took days to shoot, hours to edit, and when
the final product was finished; “The Rain”
won the Director’s Guild award for Most
Experimental Film.
Film and electronic arts graduate Katrina
Deleon’s independent film, “The Rain,” showcases
her ability to tell a simple story shot
in a complex way.
Deleon said that the film follows a rhythm
based on a poem she wrote.
“This film is based on a poem and a dream
I had,” Deleon said.
Deleon said she spent the previous spring
with 11 people under her command, in and
out of the editing station.
“There were times when I would be in the
editing room for 10 hours,” Deleton said.
“I would come into the editing room during
daylight and before I knew it, it would
be dark.”
The story is about a woman who is murdered
and how she communicates with her lover.
Much of the film was shot around downtown
Long Beach and in basements, and the film
uses various colors including bright orange
to black and white.
Since “The Rain” required a lot of technical
shots, Deleon said that the camera angles
and photography required a little more work
than a usual film shoot.
“There were a lot of exterior shots taken
throughout the night,” Deleon said. “I was
doing it to poetry so the camera direction
was a little bit trickier.”
The film features many scattered shots and
quick cuts, which add an edgy and scary
feeling to the story.
“We were going for a little bit of shock
value,” Deleon said. “There is also some
subtle imagery used in contrast.”
Sharyn Blumenthal, chairwoman of the department,
said that she was pleased with Deleon’s
final student project.
“I really thought there were a lot of gorgeous
images in the film,” Blumenthal said. “The
shots were sophisticated, unusual, personal
and creative.”
Deleon’s film also proved to do things most
filmmakers don’t normally do.
“She was very creative in the story,” Blumenthal
said. “She took a lot of chances.
The dream sequence was entirely her own
idea.”
Deleon’s father, Ray Deleon, who is also
the program review analyst at CSULB, said
he is very proud of his daughter’s film
what she has accomplished.
Deleon said that she was heavily influenced
by David Lynch, and foreign films such as
“The Sweet Life” by Federico Felinni.
Blumenthal said that students films are
inspired by both professors and film directors.
“There isn’t one teacher who influences
a student,” Blumenthal said. “People get
influenced by outside directors just like
writers would get influenced by other authors.”
Looking into the future, Deleon said she
hopes to get work wherever she can regardless
of Hollywood or the independent world.
For future film content, Deleon said she
wants to balance both the characters along
with the style movements.
“In the future, I would like to do a film
that is more character driven without losing
the experimental value,” Deleon said.
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