Sarah Jones is like a lot of students. The junior telecommunications major echoes the complaint that often reverberates through the Ball Communication Building, ricochets off Shafer Tower and rebounds back though the Art and Journalism Building. Many of the students in the College of Communication, Information and Media who regularly occupy these buildings don't see an acceptable film culture in Muncie -- and it's not for lack of looking.
A filmmaker herself, Jones said, "The University Film Series is okay. But the theaters here don't bring in arthouse-type films. You have to drive all over." -á-á-á-á-á-á
As Jones said, the University Film Series does show classics like "A Hard Day's Night" or foreign films like "Cinema Paradiso" at least every month in Pruis Hall. But the commercial movie theaters surrounding Ball State -- those that Jones and her fellow film buffs slight -- simply don't satisfy the needs of students who take their movies seriously.
Cardinal Filmworks is doing what it can to change that. The student-run telecommunications organization sponsors an annual film festival that showcases student filmmaking and aims to raise awareness that true cinematic art can -- and does -- exist in Muncie.
This Saturday, the Frog Baby Film/Video Festival will feature 12 original films, including Jones' documentary, "P.S. The Scene's Not Dead." Ranging from intense, dark dramas to complex narratives, each submission was created under the direction of a Ball State student.
Dave Owens, a junior telecommunications major, is the president of Cardinal Filmworks. When he took over, he realized the organization was more like a film-appreciation club. "It was a group where people came and talked about films," he said. "That's fine, but I can do that over a cup of coffee with people I know. This year, I've been trying to gear Cardinal Filmworks more toward production. I've been trying to get people interested in making student films."
Because Cardinal Filmworks recently held that more passive place in campus life, Owens admitted Frog Baby has been lacking, but, under his direction, he hopes to make the festival a prominent player in regional film culture. "We're still building up. But I want to recruit other schools from the (Mid-American Conference). I'd also like to add a high school competition; I think that'd be a good recruitment tool," he said. "I don't know if a lot of people know how good of a program Ball State has. We have the resources, and we have the talent."
Jaron Henrie-McCrea, one of the festival's featured filmmakers and a junior telecommunications major, agrees. "In the years past, it's been kind of weak. It didn't feel as prestigious (to win) when you saw the level of work," he said. "This year, it's much more organized. It feels competitive, and there will be a lot of good work; people will feel they didn't waste their time watching bad films."
As Owens filtered through the submissions and chose the final 12 films, he said he paid particular attention to quality; he wanted his five judges to see the submissions as if they were part of a professional festival.
From the 12 entries, the judges will offer five awards: the Ars Maxima Prize ("best of art") that goes to the overall winner; a Grand Jury Prize that goes to the audience's favorite film; and there will be awards for Best Narrative, Best Documentary and Best Experimental/Animation.-á-á-á-á
Another of the nominated filmmakers is Kevin Murphy; he solicited two of the 12 entries. A senior telecommunications major, Murphy heard of Frog Baby while he was enrolled at Florida State University. But since transferring to Ball State, Murphy has entered a film to every festival; this year, his films "A Quilt" and "aN historic passion" will be shown.
"Frog Baby has the potential to become great," he said. "The stuff that used to come out of here was a lot more rudimentary. Right now we have a strong faction in the department because there are kids who understand the process and understand how to tell a story."
Murphy sees even greater things for Ball State's telecommunications program. "I am expecting in the next 10 years there will be a film major here," he said. "Technologically, this school is more advanced than a lot of film schools in the country. It definitely could become something big."
Another student filmmaker vying for one of the prizes is Anne Werner, an exchange student from Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany. The 24-year-old filmmaker won a scriptwriting contest and had two weeks to create "Gleisrauschen," a story of a girl stuck in an oppressive relationship with her father. Like Murphy, Werner recognizes Ball State's technological advantages. In Germany, as she undertook "Gleisrauschen," she said it required more do-it-yourself filmmaking; she had limited access to cameras, film or lighting, and sound equipment. At Ball State, she says, the limitless technology allows students to create greater, more professional projects.
Because the Department of Telecommunications has opened its pockets, adding high-end editing equipment and professional-grade cameras, Ball State rivals film schools like UCLA or New York University -- except Muncie isn't a film Mecca like New York City or Los Angeles.
Though students' choices at Muncie's three movie theaters are few and the Frog Baby Film/Video Festival might have been lacking of late, if Cardinal Filmworks and Ball State's promising crop of student filmmakers have anything to say about it, Muncie might yet be transformed into a film lover's Xanadu.
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