harbinger SHAWNEE MISSION EAST
What’s Inside
ISSUE 13, APRIL 5, 2004
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Royals preview Dealing with griefce A look at soccer
NOT TOO CHICKEN: Junior Kevin Lander films his movie for the Five-Minute Film Festival, which will be held April 8. One of Lander’s films is
minutes
composed of clips he filmed over the summer and features a chicken, played by Casey Byrom. photo by Tierney Weed
of
fame
As the fourth film festival approaches, one director prepares for his film’s time in the spotlight by Sarah McElhaney
“Sparklers are legal,” Junior Kevin Lander says with a mischievous grin as $60 worth of them sends a treetop-high streak of light into the atmosphere. This is just one example of the jackass-style antics in his film “Troublemakers,” which he submitted to the Five-Minute Film Festival. His other film is a black and white foreign-style tribute to breakfast. Dramatic toast-popping scenes are heightened by fortes in the classical music. Both films illustrate Lander’s outrageous and occasionally quirky sense of humor. Lander’s inspiration comes from one of his favorite directors, Spike Jonze, responsible for Being John Malkovich. Jonze’s music videos and others on the music video station FUSE have influenced Lander’s work, which he describes as “themed” rather than structured and planned out. Lander enjoys the challenge of squeezing a whole story into less than 5 minutes, as music videos do. Most of his films begin with just a basic idea, which he and his friends improvise and build on during the filming. After that comes Lander’s favorite part: editing. A meticulous editor, Lander could spend hours perfecting and trying new things on Vegas 4.0 and Adobe Premiere, video edit programs, until they look just right. Between homework and working at ACE Hardware, nights staying up until 3 A.M. are not uncommon. “It’s like writing... if you’re writing a good story, you don’t stop.” he said.
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