|
|
FALL 2002
|
"Suspect Zero" Gives CFA Students Unique Opportunities
In the near future, expect to see familiar surroundings on the big screen. The movie Suspect Zero, which stars Sir Ben Kingsley, was filmed this fall at UNM and other locales around Albuquerque. Being shot in the University's "backyard," the film gave CFA students some wonderful opportunities. Theatre and Dance Associate Professor Dorothy Baca, who teaches costume design and a cultural studies course called "The Decorated Body," was one of two costume supervisors for the film.
|
|
Baca and David R. Jones, professor of English and theater, helped bring the Academy Award-winning actor to CFA to conduct an acting master class. "When [Dorothy] mentioned that we had a theater department at the University, [Kingsley] volunteered to come here to lead an advanced acting workshop," explains Jones.
|
Sir Ben Kingsley coaches actors from the CFA Department of Theatre and Dance in a scene from Shakespeare's The Tempest. Sir Ben was in Albuquerque shooting the film Suspect Zero. From left: Tara Brinduse, Ed Chavez, Clifford Endo Gulibert and Sir Ben Kingsley. Photo by Kevin Paul.
|
|
Kingsley recommended texts by Shakespeare and Samuel Beckett, from which each group of three or four actors prepared a scene. The students had less than five days to prepare for the workshop, learning lines, making directorial choices and being coached by faculty directors.
During the workshop, Kingsley spoke briefly with each group of actors and then watched their scenes. Following each scene, he gave them new challenges and directorial choices to be used in a second version of the scene. The actors responded with more powerful and often significantly different interpretations in their second attempts, thanks to Kingsley's coaching. He also told anecdotes about actors with whom he had collaborated and stories about productions in which he had acted, such as Peter Brook's famous A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1970, and Sir Peter Hall's production of Godot at the Old Vic in 1997, giving students a behind-the-scenes perspective.
After the workshop, Kingsley chatted with dozens of acting students, lavishing praise on many of the scenes and actors. He was extremely complimentary, saying UNM's acting students came to the workshop "at a very high level of preparation," enabling him to work at an advanced level with them. It was, most longtime faculty agreed, a historic day for the department.
Some CFA students also worked on the film set. Baca took five advanced costume students to the set to be in charge of about 200 extras for a carnival scene shot out of town by Highway 4. The students helped sign out clothes, took pictures and notes, and watched the set for continuity in costuming. They also ensured costume pieces were returned and tagged at day's end. "In our Design for Performance program, we teach several courses with a focus on film production, so it is very valuable for our students to see first hand the difference between film and stage," says Baca.
|
| According to Baca, "They did an excellent job. They were there from 4:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. They also talked to different crew members and asked tons of questions. Everyone was very generous with their time and very supportive." Camilla Nilsson, a CFA costume student from Sweden, worked on the set. She was surprised to see everything involved in film making and was pleased by the friendly, supportive crew and extras. "I was expecting it to be boring, but everything was so interesting. Just seeing the big trailer for the costumes, we were all so amazed," she says. "It was a long day. Everyone was tired, but everyone was giggling on the way home."
|
 |
| CFA costume students with the Zia Pueblo Crow Dancers featured during the Carnival Scene in "Suspect Zero." Photo by Kent Parker. |
| Other former and current CFA students from the Media Arts Department worked on the set as production assistants (PAs). PAs provide a variety of assistance during filming, from running errands to 'locking down' a film location to keep it clear of traffic, to helping with the lighting, sound, camera or grip departments. Senior Ethan Dixon and Arts and Sciences graduate Elizabeth Gabel were key PAs, providing valuable technical and administrative support.
According to Dixon, the days were long and tiring, but the students were well taken care of, and the food was excellent. He said that the work can be mundane or exciting, depending on the PA's assigned duty. Ultimately, he claims, "Ninety percent of the job is paying attention, and the other 10 percent is being responsible for what you're told to do."
Baca feels that each student who participated benefited from the experience. She would like to see more films shot in New Mexico. As she points out, "Besides being very good for the economy, it is wonderful to have the opportunity to expose our students to feature films. As more films are shot here, more of our students will become involved."
|
|
|
