BOISE, Idaho — The next generation of Oscar nominees has to come from somewhere, and Boise State might be just the place to get started in the entertainment industry. Idaho News 6's Jessica Davis recently checked out the movie-making magic happening at Boise State.
"The coolest thing about being a director is being able to think about an idea that you have and try to communicate that to other people," said Tucker Hoggan.
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Lights, camera, action. Students at Boise State University are learning the skills needed to be the next Steven Spielberg.
Hoggan, says, "You're playing to the back of the theater, right? And make sure everyone can see it. On film, we don't have to do that."
“It's kind of how you direct the actor, how do you occupy space with the actor, how do we efficiently, actually direct the actor?”
Darius Dawson is an assistant professor specializing in film production. His students are practicing spacing, directing, and production for their final projects.
Tucker Hoggan is a junior at BSU with an emphasis in screenwriting. He says his film Haruspex is the first script he’s written from start to finish that he's also directing.
He says, "What I'm doing today is directing a scene from a short film that I wrote called 'Haruspex.' It's about witches. It's about finding acceptance in who you are as a person. We’re kind of blocking the scene, directing it so that when we do eventually shoot here in a couple of weeks, we've got a really clear idea as to what we want and what we're looking for."
Hoggan directs one of the actors, saying, "That moment will be your cue like, ‘can I come in?’ You're just going to jump right in here."
BSU's film department grows each semester, with students finding their voice through the camera, audio, directing, and overall production, creating the next generation of world-class filmmakers.
Corinna Armstrong is a junior at BSU and also the assistant director for Haruspex.
She says, "I come from a music background. The thing about music performance is that you just do the performance, and that's it. You don't get a do-over. So, I like that you can just keep doing film over [and over]. You can keep getting the performance you want from actors, and I think that's super fun to me."
There are many ways for you to see some of the short films created by BSU students. They’ll be showing at Treefort and Boise Film Festival, just to name a few.
