Here’s a video we produced with Ole Miss Chancellor Dan Jones and Oxford Mayor Pat Patterson advertising this year’s UM Big Event. An annual day of service for Ole Miss. For more information on the event and how you can volunteer click here.
Black Alumni and Family Reunion
This past weekend, the Ole Miss Black Alumni and Family Reunion was held on campus. We taped several of the events and were able to capture interviews from several of the attendees. These oral histories will be used in part for the documentary we’re producing on James Meredith and the integration of Ole Miss for the 50th Anniversary of the event this fall. Here is a short video we produced that was played Friday night at the awards banquet. Think of it as an extended teaser for the larger project. Enjoy!
Getting Ready for The Big Event
In preparation for the annual Ole Miss student leadership event, the UM Big Event, we’ve been out collecting interviews around campus and Oxford. Pictured is Ole Miss student Toran Dean who shared her experiences as a student leader. This afternoon we were on the square shooting an intro by Chancellor Dan Jones and Mayor Pat Patterson. For more information on the UM Big Event click here.
The Oxford Film Festival
This past weekend’s 9th Annual Oxford Film Festival was a great success for Media and Documentary Projects. We had a wonderful premiere of this year’s community film, The Show Must Go On directed by Matthew Graves. Joe York’s short documentary To Live and Die in Avoyelles Parish had a great screening as well as several student films from the documentary film class that Andy Harper teaches including, Back in Oxford, Proud Larry’s: In Between the Scenes, and The Beacon. It was great weekend of music and movies. For a full list of winners from this year’s festival, check out www.oxfordfilmfest.com
The Show Must Premiere
We will be premiering the 2nd Annual Oxford Community Film for the Oxford Film Festival this Thursday night at 7:30pm at the Lyric Oxford. The Show Must Go On will be the opening night film to kick off the festival which continues throughout the weekend at the Malco Theater. For more information about the film including additional showtimes visit www.oxfordfilmfest.com.
Rex Hits the Road
Rex Jones, aka the new guy, has hit the road in search of Mississippi Stories. The first installment in this new MDP project, “Cherish the Music,” features M.B. Green, a custom instrument maker and musician from Louin. Nice job Rex. We can’t wait to who’s next.
That's a wrap!
Last weekend, we finished production on the community film for this year’s Oxford Film Festival. It was a busy, whirlwind weekend to say the least, but I truly thought we captured some great moments that will help create a film we can be proud of. Here’s a short video that Mary Stanton put together from Andy Harper’s pictures and videos throughout the shoot. Check back soon for more info about the film and festival. Enjoy!
The Show Must Get Started
We began principal photography this weekend on this year’s community film for the Oxford Film Festival. Or rather, I suppose we started second unit shooting…or maybe we’ll call it pre-shoot pickups. Either way, actors were acting and cameras were rolling. The main shooting will be done the first week in January but this got us off to a great start. The story revolves around a community theatre’s production of a murder mystery. During the performance, an actor is actually killed on stage. Due to a visiting State Arts Commissioner in attendance, the cast and crew have no choice but to continue with the play. The film is called “The Show Must Go On” and will be the opening night film for the Oxford Film Festival in February. For more info on the film and festival click here. Special thanks to everyone who worked so long and hard on Saturday including our very own student worker, Matt Minshew who’s serving as Assistant Director on the shoot. More soon.
– Matthew
They Didn't Get Famous (but Camilla might!)
Camilla Ann Aikin just completed an independent study with MDP’s Andy Harper on the Southern independent music scene in the 1980s. The class, which consisted of research, writing, and oral history interviews culminates with a short film. And here it is!
Please note that this is the earlier class version. The finished version is here.
O, Christmas Triage
At long last and just in time for the holidays, here is the Christmas short film we produced “O, Christmas Triage”. A comedy about a couple on their way to a Christmas party who meet an unexpected visitor. Actually, I think this film is about answering the age old question of how Santa Claus decorates his Christmas trees. Or maybe it’s a lesson in the dangers of caroling and driving. Either way, it was a lot of fun to make and I hope you enjoy it. Special thanks to Matt Minshew who co-wrote and produced the film as well as Karen Tuttle and Rebecca Camerigg who braved the bitter cold to make the movie. I’d also like to say thank you to Melissa Graves, Micah Ginn, Chris Williams, Matt Minshew, Ben Harper, and of course, Jim Payne for the incredible job they did acting in the film. Merry Christmas!
"Gentle" Ben Williams
We’ve begun collecting interviews for our upcoming documentary project on the integration of the University of Mississippi. We recently interviewed former defensive tackle Ben Williams talking about his time at Ole Miss. Ben was the first African American to play football at Ole Miss exactly ten years after James Meredith enrolled to become the first African American student. Stay tuned for more updates on the project.
– Matthew
Mississippi Innocence Panel at Overby
Monday night the The Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics hosted a screening of Mississippi Innocence and a riveting panel discussion that followed the film. Moderated by Journalism professor Cynthia Joyce, the panel consisted of Former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Fred Banks, Huffington Post Senior writer Radley Balko, New York Times Reporter Campbell Robertson and MDP filmmaker Joe York.
York Mini Festival This Week
Media and Documentary Projects and the Southern Foodways Alliance, two institutes of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, will present Three Recent Foodways Films by Joe York on Thursday, October 20 at noon in Paul B. Johnson Commons on the University of Mississippi campus. The event is free and open to the public.
“Hot, Wet Goobers” is York’s latest film. It honors Hardy Farms of Hawkinsville, Georgia, the 2011 Ruth Fertel Keeper of the Flame Award Winner. Hardy Farms is a family-owned enterprise, in business since 1935, specializing in fresh-dug green peanuts which they sell on the wholesale market, and boil at roadside stands.
A graduate of the Southern Studies Master’s program at UM, York has made more than 30 films with the Southern Foodways Alliance, including the feature-length Saving Willie Mae’s Scotch House. York also made Mississippi Innocence, a film about two wrongly-convicted Noxubee County men exonerated from murder through the Innocence Project, which was shown several weeks ago at the Newseum in Washington and will be screened at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival this week.
This screening recognizes a milestone for the Media and Documentary Projects of which York is an employee.
This fall, Media and Documentary Projects formally joined the College of Liberal Arts as an institute of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture. This partnership will ensure that Southern Studies students have access to an excellent filmmaking program as part of their academic studies. The Center’s documentary photography program, led by Dr. David Wharton, has seen significant growth over the years, and the formalization of filmmaking as part of the curriculum will strengthen UM’s already strong reputation as a center for documentary studies.
MDP director Dr. Andy Harper said “When I took over Media and Documentary Projects eight years ago my goal was to find an academic home from which to tell stories of the people and traditions around us. The Center for the Study of Southern Culture has been doing that for over 30 years, and I can’t think of a better place for us to be.”
Ole Miss Monsters
Matthew Graves is a Monster. A film making monster who has now logged his second short promotional film to play in front of more than 60,000 fans in Vaught-Hemingway stadium. And even though the Rebels didn’t pull it off against Alabama, Matthew’s short film promoting Ole Miss hoops was a clear winner.
Ole Miss Monsters
A short film produced for the 2011-2012 Ole Miss Men’s Basketball team by Media and Documentary Projects in association with Ole Miss Sports Productions featuring players Reginald Buckner, Demarco Cox, Terrance Henry, Dundrecous Nelson, and Nick Williams with additional cast and crew from students, faculty, and staff at the University of Mississippi.
Written, Edited, and Directed by
Matthew Graves
Produced by
Micah Ginn
Robi Coker
Matthew Graves
Executive Producer
Andy Harper
Makeup Artist
Jaclyn Austin
Assistant Makeup Artist
Bethany Reeves
Fan Makeup Supervisor
Bethany Stooksberry
Production Crew
Greg Gray
Andy Harper
Rex Jones
Matt Minshew
Mary Stanton
Mack Turner
Karen Tuttle
Chris Williams
Starring
Reginald Buckner
Demarco Cox
Terrance Henry
Dundrecous Nelson
Nick Williams
Adam Brooks
Logan Waites
Michael Shorter
Johnny McPhail
Amy Anazia
Caroline Godwin
Daryl Porter
Michael Funt
Lauren Loyless
Kim Hobgood
Nick Poland
Chris Williams
Special Thanks
Melissa Graves
Andy Harper
Micah Ginn
Robi Coker
Andy Kennedy
Michael Thompson
Brandon Hudspeth
Bethany Stooksberry
Paris Buchanan
Ty New
Stewart Buchanan
Lauren Loyless
Newswatch
Kappa Alpha
Delta Gamma
The Class of 2015
Michelle Emanuel
Stan Whitehorn
Dean Julia Rholes
Shane Sanford
J. Stern
Dan Pellegrino
Darius Thomas
Ole Miss Men’s Basketball
For more information on Ole Miss Basketball visit olemisshoops.com
The Wright Stuff
MDP covered a very interesting discussion today at the Overby Center featuring Oxford’s ESPN correspondent Wright Thompson and Executive Editor John A. Walsh. The topics ranged from conference realignment to pay for players to the guy who sits behind Wright at Ole Miss games who constantly yells out obvious things (he publicly asked him to stop doing that).
Hello Guvnah!
Media and Documentary Projects was at the Overby Center tonight to record the discussion between Journalism Assistant Dean Charlie Mitchell and Governor Haley Barbour. Karen Tuttle was on the camera and Andy Harper handled moral support.
Mr. York Goes to Washington
Joe and Andy just got back from DC where Mississippi Innocence screened to an enthusiastic crowd at the Newseum.
The show included a panel discussion featuring Judge Harry Edwards, Professor Angela J. Davis, John Grisham, and Tucker Carrington. Dahlia Lithwick moderated a lively discussion on the state of innocence cases and the use of DNA evidence.
Thanks to Charles Overby, The Freedom Forum and the Newseum for hosting the event and for Chancellor Dan Jones and Dr. Alice Clark for supporting this project with a reception after the screening.
Joe York Profiled
Joe York is featured in this month’s Garden and Gun magazine. The article includes a link to Joe’s SFA films and also a photo of the recently deceased schwagon–the car that Joe logged some 40,000 mile in over the last two years while he made all these films.
Harrison Screening
Joe York and Andy Harper spent last weekend in Harrison, Arkansas for a screening of Mississippi Innocence as part of the Ozark Art Council fall arts series. The event, sponsored by the Harrison Community Task Force on Race Relations was outstanding and Levon and Kenny were moved by the outpouring of support from the full house in attendance. Thanks to Jamie Stevens and everyone in Harrison who helped pull the event together.
They Are Coming…
Last night we started production on a secret project for Ole Miss Athletics. I don’t want to say too much and spoil the surprise but if you look real close, you might find a few secrets. More soon. Are you ready?
Expiration Date
This past summer, Oxford High graduate and 2-time summer film class alum Felicity Flesher interned with us here at Media and Documentary Projects. Over the course of the last few months she has worked hard on sharpening her shooting and editing skills producing beautiful footage portraits of different landmark buildings on campus. In addition, Felicity worked hand in hand with us on some of the productions we did for Athletics including the Brandon Bolden Football Spot.
One of the goals we had for Felicity this summer was for her to walk away with a project of her own under her belt. And here it is. “Expiration Date”. Written, Produced, Directed and Edited by Felicity Flesher, “Expiration Date” tells the story of a young student who is forever changed when an expired cup of Ramen Noodles comes into his life. Shot at the University of Mississippi and focusing on visual storytelling, this hilarious short is a great culmination of all the hard work that Felicity did for us this summer and we couldn’t be prouder. Way to go Felicity!
Here’s Johnny!
I spent the evening yesterday with Oxford actor Johnny McPhail shooting scenes for my upcoming sci fi short, “Exit”. There were some interesting challenges that we faced to get the setups I was hoping for.
I wanted to get a really low (skimming the surface) dolly shot – pushing in on our main prop. We rigged the camera on my photography tripod and extended out past the dolly so we could shoot past the pipes. The camera still wasn’t low enough, so we spun the camera upside down which put the lens closer to the ground. I’ll have to flip the image in post but I was really pleased with the effect.
Another challenging shot was getting a jib shot up to basically an over-the-shoulder shot of a lampost over-looking my house. Unfortunately our jib ,extended all the way, couldn’t reach high enough. The solution was a bit precarious but effective. We (very carefully) set up the jib on top of Johnny’s car and were able to get the height we needed for the shot.
An extra special thanks to Matt Minshew and Johnny for all their help last night and my very patient wife Melissa for putting up with her home being invaded once again. I’ve got a few more insert shots to grab in the next few weeks and we’ll have a finished film soon after. Stay tuned!
– Matthew
Would you like to report a U.F.O.?
A few weeks ago, we started production on a short sci-fi film for Ch. 99 called “Exit”. It stars Highway 61 producer Eric Feldman and Oxford’s acting standard, Johnny McPhail. The story revolves around a mysterious unmarked package and a newly installed street lamp (with a really bright bulb). I’ve got a few more shots to get in the next few weeks so be on the look out for the final film. Until then, enjoy these behind the scenes pics from the shoot taken by our set medic, Matt Minshew. Be on the lookout for my demon dog Riley.
– Matthew
Crew Call
This week, we had all hands on deck shooting a “State of the University” video with Chancellor Jones around campus. Special thanks to everyone involved who worked so hard for the last few days including Andy Harper, Karen Tuttle, Joe York, Rex Jones, Mary Stanton, Todd Lauterbach and Matt Minshew.
– Matthew
Let's Jib It
Yesterday, our summer interns Felicity Flesher and Joseph Modirzadeh decided to beat the summer heat by spending two hours outside lugging our portable jib around campus. Here’s a few pics of the “fun”. The shots they collected will be utilized in Felicity’s upcoming video drawing from the best of the best of the footage she’s shot of the campus over the past few weeks. Check back next week for her video. Great job guys!
The J.D. Williams Library
Here is the newest update from our summer college intern Felicity Flesher. She’s continuing to expand her toolset, this week utilizing our portable dolly system as well as our new fader ND filter. The videos keeping getting better and we’re all really proud of the work she’s doing this summer!
"Preparation" – Ole Miss Football
As promised, here is the Ole Miss Football spot we produced last week featuring senior Running Back Brandon Bolden. A special thanks to everyone involved from Media and Documentary Projects and Athletics. Go Rebs!
We Need More Sweat!
On Thursday, we spent the afternoon at Vaught Hemmingway stadium on campus filming an upcoming commercial for Ole Miss Football with Senior star running back Brandon Bolden. The spot is a “Nike-esque” commercial with Brandon going through a rigorous training regimen in preparation for the upcoming season ending with a leap that’ll make Superman jealous! I wanted to quickly share a few notes of the shoot in case you’re interested.
It was a crazy hot day and we only had a limited amount of time with Brandon to get all the shots we needed so we shot with multiple cameras to double our coverage. The primary camera was the RED One Digital Cinema camera which filmed at 4K resolution and 2K resolution for some of the shots that were filmed at 100 fps. Former Producer, Micah Ginn (now the Creative Director for Ole Miss Sports Production) filmed with Panasonic’s new AF100 camera with a PL mount Red Zoom lens. Pictured here you can see most of our crew including student workers Matt Minshew and Chris Williams, summer high school intern Joseph, and Athletics Producer Bethany Peters. Not pictured is our summer college intern Felicity Flesher. An additional shout out goes to Darrias Thomas and Ole Miss Track long distance runner Logan Waites for their help on the shoot.
I’ve been experimenting a lot lately with my old Glidecam 2000 after seeing some really nice uses of it online. We recently purchased a vest and arm for it so this was the perfect opportunity to put it to work. My Glidecam could only support up to 8lbs so we used the Canon 5D with it which was great since it shoots at such a high resolution anyway. I knew there was absolutely no chance that I would ever be able to keep up with Brandon at a dead sprint so I shot out of Athletics gas powered cart (our electric cart was no match for Brandon’s speed!).
All in all I was pretty happy with the way the glidecam footage turned out and it was actually pretty cool to wear the vest and arm. Although looking at this picture I realize it’s very difficult to determine who the star athlete is and who the camera guy is.
One of the more challenging shots to pull of was this shot that happens at the beginning of the spot where Brandon spins the football down toward the ground to start his workout. I wanted to basically have the camera at ground level looking up at him. Unfortunaly, Ole Miss Athletics was not into the idea of digging a giant hole in the football field for me to get the camera low enough, so we got Brandon as high as we could with the camera below him. We clamped a sheet of plexi-glass onto two tripods just above the camera lens and had him spin the ball right down onto the camera. I think it turned out pretty well and will be a cool way to start the commercial.
It was a fast and furious shoot but I really felt like we got some great footage. A huge thank you again to Matt, Chris, Felicity, and Joseph from MDP and Micah, Bethany, Darrias, and Logan from Athletics for setting up the shoot. And of course, an ENORMOUS thank you to Brandon Bolden for his time, patience, and stamina running sprints on camera for me for 2 hours! Keep an eye out for him this season!! I really enjoy short projects like this because you totally get to flex your cinematic muscles in terms of visual storytelling. Check back soon for the final spot!
– Matthew
Ventress Hall
Our Summer intern Felicity Flesher is at it again. This time she’s set her sights on another beautiful location on campus, Ventress Hall. I challenged Felicity this week to utilize our portable dolly system to add some small moves to her shots. She rose to the challenge and captured some beautiful images of this historic building. Nice work Felicity!
The Lyceum
Check out the new visual profile video our summer intern Felicity Flesher shot on the Lyceum. It’s a great collection of images on the iconic building at our campus.