An emotional journey to sustainability

By Margaret Ulrich

Who would expect a CEO and his story to tug on heartstrings, but “So Right, So Smart” shatters their unemotional stereotype. The film follows Ray Anderson’s company, Interface, and other businesses’ journeys toward sustainability. They show something unheard of by the majority of the corporate world: concern for the earth’s well being.

Through intimate interviews, an inspiring soundtrack and a message that can’t be ignored we start to understand the importance of this documentary. It focuses around a single man, Anderson, who inspired a thriving and successful company to go from a wasteful, yet legal business into one with a goal to eliminate their carbon footprint. Not only is the story inspirational, it sets a precedent. In a time where global warming is nothing to laugh about, the need for leaders of change is imperative.

Since Anderson became inspired in 1994 from a book by Paul Hawken, “The Ecology of Commerce,” he and his “dream team” have worked tirelessly toward the goal of sustainability.

While telling the story of how they gained support by accidentally holding a brainstorming conference at one of the most wasteful Hawaiian resorts, they showed the need for innovative thinking. They used this as an example of how a week’s worth of environmentally friendly decisions can increase sustainability.

With the company rallying behind Anderson, he turned his company into creative, forward thinkers who adamantly strive for a greener tomorrow. Many companies also shown in the film began with the simple principle of sustainability: Patagonia, Stonyfield Farm, Seventh Generation and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters to name a few.

This fact sets Interface apart because not many profitable businesses are interested in undergoing serious change to save the environment.

Since Anderson not only made a bold move creating their green goals, but also became so passionate about this change, he eventually received the attention of other companies.

Although many doubted the economic gain, they were drawn to Anderson’s ideals. So he hit them with a fact: green is imperative and it’s also cheaper. Not only do they feel the moral gift of helping the earth, it actually saves money.

Through their hardships we see a human side of this hyped-up green thinking. Yet all who were interviewed seemed to discuss their difficulties with a chipper spirit since, in the end, it was their efforts toward sustainability that helped them overcome economic troubles.

Each interview collaborated to tell this emotional story of the need for change. Asking questions like, “What will the future be like for our children?” and, “Can we ever really undo the horrific damage that we’ve seen?” they address the issues head-on because they know it’s not asking too much.

The messages are delivered with humor, reality, despair and hope. It reaches all emotional receptors, making the film empowering.

This isn’t just a documentary about a single company’s story; it’s a challenge to all others. As Anderson says about saving the earth, “It’s just so right, so smart.”

“So Right, So Smart” will play again at 2:30 p.m. Nov. 5 at the Lucas Theatre.

Past, present and future, all in 14 minutes.

By Margaret Ulrich

The short film “Welgunzer” confounds the mind by addressing the technicalities of time travel. It delves into the wonders the mind of the main character, in such a short time through the use of Donald’s present and future selves.

Donald’s creation of a time machine is for his need to transport into the future and kill himself. This abrupt decision stems from his depression over the separation of his wife, leading to his lack of upkeep to his house and an infatuation with alcohol.

He cannot see a way out of his misery he has created and thus decides it is not worth living through.

When wading through murky bathtub water to push the button of an impossible-looking time machine, two future Donalds appear. The three Donalds travel back in time to witness his wife cheating on him (or them?), creating a chain of events, all in a boggling time warp effect. It is their continuous reference to “the feeling” that alludes to an omniscient knowledge of time and fate.

In an almost eerie twist, the most future Donald kills himself with a toaster. Though we are prepared throughout the film for the ending, the quirky character and dark humor begs for a different finale. With that sudden conclusion, the film clearly evokes the feeling of Donald knowing his fate yet becoming unsure of his commitment to it.

Its drab colors and choppy film style work to portray this feeling further. All aspects of the film create a surprisingly unsettling feeling, deserving applause for attaining that in so short a time.

“Welgunzer” will play again at 2:30 p.m. Nov. 5 at the Lucas Theatre.

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Behind the scenes with Bumper Contest finalists

By Margaret Ulrich

With the Savannah Film Festival just around the corner, a few lucky students anxiously await the results for the Break Into The Spotlight Bumper Contest. The winner of the contest will have their bumper played during the festival as well as receiving a golden pass to the events. The winner will be announced at the start of the festival, though voting is now closed.

I was fortunate enough to get behind the scenes of a few of the videos with the help of some very enthusiastic finalists. First-year visual effects graduate student Stephen Withers, who submitted “The Magic of Film,” and collaborated on “Frames,” Charlie Curran and Emily Van Horn, both first-year film majors who created “The Movement Image,” shared their experiences and secrets of this year’s Bumper Contest.

Withers’ bumper is dedicated to the magic of film, and is a tribute to the tricks of the early 1900’s. It shows a black and white comedic sequence where a crew is filming an impossible croquet shot while exposing primitive special effects that used to seem like magic to the audience.

In discussing his inspiration, Withers said, “There is an early visual effects pioneer called Georges Melies, a French director, and he’s credited with creating the first special effects tricks in the 1910s. I was watching some of his work and I thought I could do something related to that. I wanted to portray the magic of film, how it can create magic and sort of the tricks that go on behind the scenes.”

Withers’ professor, Joerg Schodl, required his graduate film class to create bumpers as an assignment. By working on this project in class, he had the benefit of seeing other students’ ideas as well.

When asked about their input, Withers said, “I came up with the concept and a classmate suggested to have the comic interaction between the director and the croquet player.”

While discussing the outcome, he attributed most of his success to his team.

“This is the first film project that I’ve done that’s turned out exactly how I wanted it to,”
he said. “Actually everything went very smoothly. I’d have to give credit to the people I was working with more than anything else.”

Withers also worked on the finalist bumper “Frames,” which was directed by fellow classmate David Kendall.

Charlie Curran and Emily Van Horn, however, used a different approach for the contest.

Instead of having it as an assignment, Curran said, “We heard a lot about the film festival. Everybody we talked to said it was really cool and we should try to get involved with it.”

After deciding to volunteer, they were browsing which movies to help out with and they stumbled upon the Bumper Contest.

Both film majors, they took Curran’s camera and started shooting anything and everything.

“We shot a bunch of different things and were really looking for inspiration around Savannah,” Van Horn said.

“Emily and I talked about what cinema meant to us. We wanted to pay homage to the illusion that allows us to see movement,” Curran added.

With their fresh take on the art of cinema and the contest’s colorful, youthful angle, they created a film with a big secret. The bumper is a kaleidoscope of colors in a choppy, frame-by-frame scene with a girl wandering in and out of sight. This girl happens to be Van Horn.

The team revealed the importance of a quote by Gregory Flaxman, “Cinema provokes us to see, to feel, to sense and finally to think differently.”

This appears in sections throughout the bumper and ties the simplicity together with their message.

“Often with film people get so bogged down with things all over the place. Sometimes the best things are one simple shot, something interesting and something that means something. Putting the quote out there tied it together, the simplicity, the simplicity of film,” Van Horn said.

The two first-year students managed to have an exciting adventure through this city, where everything was new to them, and in the process became one of the five finalists.

“I think it’s a great way to get involved in the film community and especially the school as incoming film students. It’s really fun to even be apart of the contest and to be a finalist is awesome,” Van Horn said.

All five bumper finalists can be viewed at www.filmfest.scad.edu and at the Film Festival. The Savannah Film Festival will be held October 31-November 7 where the winner of the Bumper Contest will be announced.

For outtakes of “The Magic of Film” and more info about Withers’ bumper visit his Web site. www.unusedbagels.com. To see the rest of the finalists, visit http://filmfest.scad.edu/student-contest/.

The Movement Image:

The Magic of Film:

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Photos by Kristen Albo

Get to Know: National American Artist Drawing Magazine scholarship winner

By Margaret Ulrich

At this year’s Art Materials Trade Show, third year illustration major Casey Crisenbery was the Grand Prize winner of the National American Artist Drawing Magazine Scholarship Competition.

They awarded Casey $5,000 toward classes at SCAD and an artist’s kit of over 115 items.

Crisenbery’s winning submission is entitled “The Pack-Rat.” Crisenberry drew this 32’’x40’’ charcoal and pastel piece for his Drawing II class with professor John Rise. Casey filled the image with mostly metal objects: a gasoline can, a trash bin and bicycle, to name a few.

Though Crisenbery created this piece in his first year at SCAD, he chose to submit it because of the five weeks of effort and attention to detail he put into it.

The award will take some of the financial burden off of Crisenbery’s scholastic career. It’s a much-desired validation for any artist.

With the support of his parents, Casey has pursued his interest in the arts since elementary school.

“I always loved playing with crayons or markers and I guess it’s translated into a career, which is exciting,” Crisenbery said.

He plans to continue drawing after graduation through freelance work. Crisenbery looks forward to the challenges of his and hopes to keep his life fresh and dynamic.

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