Tall order, short films for students

Orange Coast College film major Marc Kharrat and UC Irvine freshman Elie Ayrouth have been making films together for many years, initially experimenting with the medium as 7-year-old boys recording the unfortunate victims of their ding-dong-ditching pranks.

Twelve years later, the teens have completed their first co-written, co-directed “legitimate” movie, “Coffee Break,” the shortest of the OCC Shorts to be screened today at the Newport Beach Film Festival.

With three people killed in the 4 1/2 -minute live-action film, Kharrat and Ayrouth admit their movie — a commentary on today’s fast-paced society in which man is being steadily replaced by machine — is quite brutal.

“We wanted the audience to be disgusted by it because that’s how they should feel about violence,” Ayrouth said. “We also hope people will learn to take a break, sit back, relax and enjoy life.”

Coming up on its fourth run in the festival, the program has experienced some changes over the years, said Scott Broberg, OCC’s film and video department coordinator.

“One of the things we’re seeing a trend in now is with the technical quality of the videos,” he said, adding that the college is now better equipped to meet the evolving needs of its students.

With many of them enrolled in the two-year certificate program, these students cover the same amount of material while gaining valuable experience in half the time of the local universities also presenting at the festival this year, Broberg said.

“If our films stack up to what the other schools are doing, it’s even more of an achievement” for OCC, he added.

This year, Broberg was able to include eight student shorts, more films than in any previous year. And the line-up of films this year has taken an interesting turn, he said.

“These [films] tend to be a little more actor-driven than I have seen in the past,” he said. “There is a lot of emphasis on monologues and sort of deep emotional drama,” and less comedy.

Here is a look at the rest of the shorts in the series.

‘Overthrowing a Bishop’

For film student Rachael Rode, making this 12-minute drama was an extremely emotional event, as much of her inspiration came from stories of her mother’s adolescence, though her experiences were much exaggerated for the movie.

The film centers on a 13-year-old girl who is abandoned by her boyfriend after he finds out she is pregnant. She is subsequently kicked out of her house.

“It was empowering to know that every inch of that film — everything I wrote into the characters — is stuff I have experienced in my own life,” said Rode, who filmed the movie in 16 hours, assisted by her friend and colleague Nick Medrud. “Filming one scene, I remember having to walk outside as soon as we cut because I was about to lose it.”

‘Bicycle’

Hoping to present audiences with a story everyone can relate to, Michael deLeon contributed a short comedy about a young man who embarks on a long bicycle journey to win back his true love.

The only student to use 16 mm film for his feature, the three-month editing process was quite intense, he said.

“Filmmaking is like getting a tattoo,” said deLeon, who contributed a music video to last year’s festival lineup. “Once you do one film, you just want to do it again, no matter how expensive or tedious it is.”

‘OCC Children’s Center’

The sole documentary in the series, Anisa Delaluz and Gina Gores’ “OCC Children’s Center” highlights the many services provided to parents, students and children at the on-campus facility.

Providing affordable and comprehensive child care for about 160 students’ children every semester, the center also allows students to get practical experience in their major field while teaching children about recycling and the environment.

“We were both emotionally drawn to the subject because we know how much the center means to the school,” said Delaluz, an OCC graduate now majoring in film at Chapman University.

‘Mondays’

Jason Wittenberg had to make a few changes to his short, taken from one of his filmed full-length features, before submitting it. During one of many dream sequences in the film, the main character dreams of the perfect woman — that was originally accompanied by narration.

Feeling that the voice-over would only confuse audiences, Wittenberg ditched the speech and added music, letting the moment speak for itself. The piece gained its title from the last three words in the original narration, “I hate Mondays.”

“It makes it less awkward” and gives the sequence a better sense of suspense, Wittenberg said.

“Before now I’ve only been in school festivals. I am definitely excited to be part of a large festival like this.”

‘Teamocracy’

Having transferred from OCC to Chapman University since submitting his film for consideration, Austyn Jeffs was deceptively surprised at his acceptance into the showcase. What Jeffs called a “concoction of laughter” pokes fun at male insecurity through the eyes of a Frankenstein monster. There is little story, but it will make audiences laugh.

“If you can entertain people, it was worth it,” he said, and it gives him an opportunity to practice creatively.

“I tend to lean toward comedy,” Jeffs said. “I think drama takes a lot more life and experience than I have.”

‘Crooked’

This crime drama from Joseph Britton was probably just what OCC’s Scott Broberg had in mind when he spoke of technical quality of the films. While Britton gives the audience a story to follow, he paid heavy attention to cinematography, basically “getting to know the camera better,” he said.

“The way I am going is dark action-drama, like Tony Scott in ‘Man on Fire,’ mostly with the way they move the camera,” Britton said.

The longest film in the showcase at just over 13 minutes has given Britton the confidence to take the next step and venture into the Los Angeles film industry. But that was not how it started for the 20-year-old who only months ago moved to Southern California from Boise, Idaho.

“It was just fun to do,” he said. “This was definitely a good way to start out.”

‘Such Is Life’

This hollow journey from Thomas Kellogg will give viewers something to debate after the show. Setting the scene in a literal void, Kellogg worked to dismantle any outside influence on the two main characters and watch how the duo deals with nothingness.

“We don’t know how long it has been there or how it got there,” Kellogg said. The focus rests on the characters, who are meant to represent an Eastern mentality versus a Western one. They come to terms with their existence in the void in contrasting ways. Kellogg is pleased just to see his work on screen at the festival, having attended in years past but never as a filmmaker.

“I didn’t think it had a chance,” Kellogg said. “I thought it would just be tossed aside, but people liked it.”

IF YOU GO

WHAT: OCC Shorts

WHEN: 11:30 a.m. today

WHERE: The Regency Lido Theatre, 3459 Via Lido, Newport Beach

COST: $10

INFO: www.newportbeachfilmfest.com