The latest film from the telecommunications department will be shown on a screen half the size of a football field.
"Free Wall" is premiering at the IMAX theater in the Indiana State Museum at 7:30 p.m today.
The film is an emotional drama about two young men from opposite ends of the social spectrum.
James, a wealthy white kid from Carmel, goes to work at his father's factory on the south side of Indianapolis. While at work he meets a poor, young African-American living on the south side who works at the factory in order to help his mother. The two bond through a mutual love for graffiti art, and the film details the culture clash that ensues.
The title for the movie comes from the graffiti term "free wall," which is a wall artists can legally do graffiti on.
The movie is the fifth summer HD film and the first to be released by Frog Baby Productions.
The premiere is a telecommunications alumni event but is open to everyone.
It is the first movie of the summer HD films to have its premiere at the Indiana State Museum.
"It's the best we've done so far, and that's a good sign," Timothy Pollard, executive producer and associate professor of telecommunications, said. "If you go back and you look at the previous four you can see an arc upward in terms of the quality."
The film was shot in 10 weeks over the summer on location in Muncie and Indianapolis. Post-production and audio and video editing were done by nine classes in the department over the span of this school year, Pollard said.
During the fall semester, the Digital Corps, a group of professional and student media software experts, did the colorization and graphics for the film.
Crew members we able to receive up to 12 credit hours for working on the film, producer Heather Trojack said.
The movie cost less than $2,000 to make, which was mostly covered by funds from the College of Communications, Information and Media, Pollard said.
Trojack said she enjoyed the experience of making the film.
"It was ridiculously fun," Trojack said. "I mean you think 'Oh my gosh, we are going to work 10 weeks on actually filming, three weeks on pre-production, a whole semester on post production' and it seems a little scary because it's a lot of work. But the minute you actually get on the set, that is when it becomes a lot of fun because you're there doing something you love to do with a bunch of people who are as passionate as you are about making film."
In terms of movie production, the department is looking as far ahead as 2011, Pollard said.
The next summer HD film, a comedy horror movie titled "Blood Bath and Beyond," is set to begin shooting this summer.
"We are trying to create the same cycle you would get out in L.A.," Pollard said. "In terms of getting all the trains in line on that timeline to create these movies so that as the next movie moves out the next movie comes in."
The department is submitting the film for a student Academy Award. Pollard said he wants Ball State to continue growing its moviemaking abilities and acquire more external distributors to bring in revenue to build a film program at Ball State.
He said he doesn't expect to make a profit on the movie though - it's the experience students acquire through making it that's key.
"Students are able to graduate and they have this product that they can show potential employers that just knocks your socks off," he said.
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
