Kassi Luja
kassiluja.md@gmail.com
The Cal Poly community now has the opportunity to embark on a cinematic adventure each Wednesday night this quarter, thanks to the humanities and liberal arts and engineering studies (LAES) departments. The two recently teamed up to put on a “must-see film” series, highlighting classic motion pictures and various narrative film practices. The Expressive Technology Studios group is also sponsoring the series.
Every Wednesday at 7 p.m., a film deemed essential by theatre and media studies lecturer Steve Luber, liberal arts and engineering studies program director David Gillette and humanities and kinesiology lecturer Jack Phelan will be screened in the LAES lab, building 4, room 105.
“Ever since we started the humanities program, this media arts (and technologies) minor, a lot of students (are) interested in film and unfortunately, because there are so many things we need to cover in media studies, film is a pretty minor (portion) of (a) much larger field,” Luber said. “We asked the students what they would be most interested in and the answer was commonly, ‘What are the films we have to see as people who love film?’”
Luber, Gillette and Phelan originally came up with a list of movies individually and then collaborated to determine the films that would be in the series.
“We went back and forth, (there was a) little disagreement here and there,” Luber said. “It was great.”
The trio tried to incorporate a wide variety of genres in the film series, with the oldest film in the series, Sergei Eisenstein’s silent film “Battleship Potemkin,” dating back to 1925.
“(The series) provides a venue for students and faculty to get together, spark a discussion, enjoy film, put it in perspective with what we discuss and explore in the classroom and in the field,” Phelan said. “Luber put together (nine) great, classic films that really cover kind of the history and I would say groundbreaking filmmakers of the last century, from silence to the most contemporary films including ‘Pulp Fiction.'”
The series will end with a showing of Quentin Tarantino’s crime film, “Pulp Fiction” on May 29.
Though forestry and natural resources junior Kim Zetterlund said she hasn’t heard of the film series, she has seen Tarantino’s well-recognized motion picture.
“(‘Pulp Fiction’) is definitely entertaining if you like movies like that,” Zetterlund said.
Some may find Tarantino’s film “funny,” she said, but she doesn’t deny the fact that the movie has its gruesome moments.
Before each screening, Luber, Gillette or Phelan introduce the film, providing context to those in attendance.
“The idea is to get them introduced to some of these directors, some of these actors, so hopefully they’ll go back and find out more about (them),” Gillette said.
This interest in film is what Gillette, Luber and Phelan hope to see grow.
“I hope (students) get out of it exactly what they’ve been asking for, which is just a better background in film history, a better appreciation for seeing films,” Luber said.
One of the things people struggle with is living in a time where students have streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu, Luber said. Many of the films in the series, Luber said, are not available on streaming services.
“You can’t get (this kind of movie experience) sitting in front of the computer or even in front of a nice TV,” Luber said. “These films were meant to be enjoyed on a very big screen.”
And a top-notch movie experience is what viewers will get.
“The sound in (the LAES lab) is really good; it’s like theater-quality sound,” Gillette said.
An informal discussion follows each screening, providing viewers the opportunity to converse about the film and share some insight.
The screenings are open to students, faculty and staff at no cost. Free movie snacks and water bottles will also be provided.
The next film screening on Wednesday will be “Touch of Evil” directed by Orson Welles, with an introduction by Phelan.
“It’s just a great opportunity,” Phelan said. “I hope the reasons the films have made it onto the list will be conveyed to the students.”