Visit the film sets of our 3-semester students!
A photo report on the vibrant film sets of some Motion Pictures students, who are producing their first major films during the study programme.
An entry by Lora Veleva
Wednesday, January 24, 2024
Motion Pictures
The shooting processes of our 3-semester Motion Pictures students are going full force! As part of the foundation course Media Project 3 (for short: MP3), students are required to form film crews and produce 8-10 complete short feature films. Many of them have been working on this task since before the beginning of the current winter semester and have continued their hard work throughout it. A lot of diligent preparation has been brewing in the last months, and only recently, from mid-December to mid-January, the teams have filmed their projects. In this article, several of the filmmakers share their impressions, and the high-spirited photos from the sets illustrate them further.
(click on a specific photo to view it up close)
„porta veritatis“
„We had a really nice and, above all, intense time on the set. There was always a sense of familiarity on set. That’s why I think we managed to focus the process entirely on the actresses, which was particularly important for us. Despite some major challenges (especially the weather), everyone pulled together and did a fantastic job!“
– Davide Caspari, director
„Mainhattan“
„We shot our film Mainhattan in Frankfurt and Darmstadt. Loved working with everybody! The crew and cast worked really hard, they even stayed focused during the breaks with workouts and chess games!!!“
– Jan Döring, director
„Faustrecht“
„Faustrecht was the first larger project where I had the opportunity to direct. It was scary, stressful and exciting, all at the same time and I learned so much about writing and directing over the course of making this film.
The ancient Chinese used to have this method of execution, called lingchi, also known as „death by a thousand cuts“, where numerous small cuts would lead to a prolonged and agonizing death. During the most stressful periods on set that’s kind of what I imagined was happening to my vision every time we had to compromise. And yet I dont really regret any of it and in hindsight am very happy with what we shot.
The art you make is worth the thousand cuts and even if you won’t always be happy with what you made, one should never forget why they started in the first place.
What else is there to say?
Ah yes, in that one picture Vito had on some cool glasses that turned lightsources and lens flares into pretty little hearts.“
– Erik Bloch, director
„JULEZ“
„I really enjoyed working together with so many talented and motivated fellow film students! It was a somewhat exhausting project, as we had 3 night shoots from 22PM till 7AM – but in the end it was all worth it, when I checked the gathered material. Now I am looking forward to the editing process and everything that comes with it.“
– Jacob Garms, director
„Zwischenzeit“
„I loved the time I had on the set of Zwischenzeit. It’s a story I wrote about two girls that meet at a train station and start talking. The pre-production process was stressful with a lot of planning and organising to do. We shot three nights at a train station and even though the temperature was below zero most of the time, the energy and vibe was always good. We had an amazing crew and actresses and I can’t wait to see the finished film.“
– Clara Neun, director
„Nebelglas“
„The filming of Nebelglas was very successful despite a few obstacles such as the icy cold on the roof of the parking garage or the 200kg bed that was hoisted through a window. We hope that everyone was able to take away some wonderful memories and we would like to thank everyone who supported us.“
– Ricke Koths, director