Peyton Prichard | Staff Writer
July 17, 2023
Creative, engaging and flexible are the three words Brenna Sherrill used to sum up the Film Studies focus area at Murray State GSP 2023. Brenna was a scholar herself in 2009 at Bellarmine University and earned her B.A in Popular Culture Studies and French and M.A. in English from Western Kentucky University. She also has the opportunity to teach the Film Studies focus area to scholars this year and give insight about narrative techniques, cinematography, editing and much more. When I asked Brenna about the overall theme of the focus area, she described how she chooses a different theme every year to determine the different movies that she shows to her students. She originally planned to have this year’s theme to be all international films but switched to a film genre theme due to what her students wanted to work on in their short films.
As a day in the life as a Film Studies student, I observed that the class is essentially split into four groups where each group is working and planning their own project. One group was planning in the classroom what they were going to film for the project. Multiple scholars were taking notes from their conversation and engaged with one another as they took attention to detail to plan the timeline of their story. I was amazed by how the scholars were thinking of fun ways to include inside jokes into their films and make it interactive for their audience when presented. During this time, Brenna observes from a distance and allows the scholars to work in their own independent time but they still can ask for help or advice if needed.
Brenna gave lists of aspirations for her class as the progression of their work continues. One being to expose the scholars to movies that they might have never seen before and “just getting a better understanding of the industry and how a film is made.” She emphasized the point of creativity and just letting the scholars “run with it,” allowing them to try new things and getting out of their comfort zone.
I was filled with curiosity when hearing the planning of the scripts for the filming process. This would require several different props the scholars came up with. A prop that I was specifically curious about was a cow mask that will be used in one of the group’s films. Brenna stated that early planning in the first two weeks helped allow the scholars to obtain any props or costumes they could during Family Day. Brenna laughed about weird supply requests she is having to make to the GSP office for other props still needed. The scholars finalized the props for their films and continually worked on film production.
Film Studies allows scholars to think freely and creatively on what they want to present in their projects. There aren’t any bad thoughts when scholars are discussing their ideas and there’s no hesitation in conversation when planning out their work. When asked about his experience in Film Studies, one Scholar states, “It’s pretty chill for real.” Film Studies has limitless possibilities for creation, even the inclusion of a cow mask.
