Find Your Voice: Cameras are Rolling at the Film Club

“The workshop that took place at Trident Technical College was an invaluable experience,” said Dan Colella, ’20. Colella and Matthew Gordner ’17 lead the Film Club at the College and last Friday, they took a group of 20 students to Trident to learn about the techniques and equipment of digital film making.

Students learn about digital filmmaking during a workshop at Trident Tech.

The club meets on Thursdays at 7 p.m. in Lightsey Bo8 to screen movies (this week’s flick is the original Blade Runner). On Fridays, they meet at 7 p.m. for production-related workshops. Topics range from writer’s rooms to post-production. The workshop at Trident was led by instructor Tim Fennel and really opened Colella’s eyes to the possibilities of a film studies program. “I think I can speak for the rest of the students in attendance,” said Colella, “that we were a little jealous of all the equipment and access the Trident Tech students have. Hopefully, someday in the future, film production can come to the College of Charleston as a major. But for now, I hope that the Film Club can be a great option for students to learn about and create films.”

Colella has learned a lot from the club over the years, and he has a lot more to offer its incoming members. “My favorite memory from the Film Club was having Professor Rodney Rogers come speak to the club members about screenwriting. Having had experience as a screenwriter and director in the film industry, it was really great to have him come speak to the students about the process of scriptwriting associated with filmmaking,” he said. Colella is very excited to revive the CofC Student Film Festival in the spring.