Written by: Cole Edwards

A short film written and produced at VSU received the “Most Creative” award at the inaugural Central New York Short Film Festival on Sept. 14 in Syracuse, New York. 

“The Chance” was originally developed for the VSU 48-Hour Film Competition held this past March. On the Friday evening of the competition, the team was given a character, a line of dialogue and a prop and was expected to complete their four to seven minute film within 48 hours.

Colin Walker, a lecturer of mass media in the VSU Department of Communication Arts, led the project along with six of his students, Jasmine Bennett, Lucas Hicks, Damian Grey, Carey York, Shalonda Martin and Daniel Shadle. Walker said he only learned that the movie would even be screened at the festival just a few days beforehand.

Walker credits the students’ hard work as the reason for the movie’s success, saying that they lost sleep during long nights of creating the film.

They focused on the script that evening and began filming at various locations across campus the following morning. The team worked for a total of 14 hours straight.

Walker described the Sunday morning editing process as a “sprint to the finish line” and said he and his team finished burning the film to a DVD only 45 minutes before the competition deadline. The movie won second place.

Running a little over seven minutes, the movie tells the story of Charlie, a man burnt out on life looking to redeem himself. Charlie is willing to sacrifice anything in his possession for another chance but does not yet understand that he is part of a larger game that he does not control.

“The Chance” can be viewed at http://vimeo.com/74582045. Walker said he was thankful for the success of the movie and hopes to work with students on similar projects in the future.