by Allison McLean, editor-in-chief
One Friday evening last month, I found myself in the middle of 55Here, a small art gallery in downtown Chattanooga off Market Street for Story & Craft, a film lecture series started by Chris Clark, assistant professor of communication studies.
I will admit that, before I entered the gallery, I was a bit wary, for I thought the fact that I was not a film and tech major would be as obvious as a smudge of coal on white amongst the film students and professionals as they discussed vices and virtues of obscure films, which I had never watched. All I knew was if I was going to be engaged in a conversation about movies, I would precede my comments with, “Well, I’m not a filmmaker, but…”
No such conversations happened, however.
As I entered the gallery, I joined about 40 students and professionals, including students from Covenant, who mingled with each other beneath the low lighting and amongst art pieces, such as a mixed-media sculpture that was made to represent a website’s HTML.
The setting was unusual but pleasant as we brought our coffee cups and scones with us to sit in the rows of black chairs in the center of the gallery where the first lecture for this semester began.
Joe O’Brien, a writer, producer and director of the recent independent film “Endure” began his lecture of the “joys and pains” of his craft: film.
“The start of it all was just passion,” O’Brien said about the beginning of his film career. “You have to do it because it is inside, not because you have the tools.”
O’Brien centered his discussion around film but addressed issues that face any artist.
“It costs to do what you want to do, but it’s a price worth paying,” O’Brien said. “I mean, if it doesn’t cost anything was it really worth doing?”
Unlike my first suspicions, the purpose of Story & Craft is not just about becoming good specialists in filmmaking, Clark explained. Its purpose, like film itself, is broader than that.
Story & Craft is a lecture series “by artists and for artists,” says Clark.
“Story & Craft has a purpose for both filmmakers and non-filmmakers,” explained senior Phillip Johnston, senior communications: film and technology major. “We hope that the series will help film students realize that film is a multidisciplinary art that encompasses many other arts – music, design, acting, writing, etc.”
Clark initiated Story & Craft three years ago as a required lecture series for communication: film and technology majors, but this year it has taken a wider focus.
It is no longer required for film majors, but it is strongly encouraged, Clark explained.
Those who attend not only get the benefit of learning more about their craft, but also networking opportunities. According to Clark, more than three internships have developed out of this program.
The guest speakers, ranged from director Joe O’Brien to next month’s speaker, singer/songwriter Bill Malonee, who was ranked #65 in Paste Magazine’s “100 Greatest Living Songwriter’s Poll.”
“The idea is that potters, filmmakers, graphic designers are all doing the same thing. We are all telling stories, just through a different medium,” Clark explains.
The next Story & Craft will be a lecture/concert. Bill Malonee will be performing some of his music and talking about “Faith, Art, and Cultural Relevance and the Christian Artist.” It will be held at 55Here on East Main Street in Chattanooga on Friday, Nov. 20 at 7:30 p.m.