For their first semester final project, Alliance Studios, a group of Multimedia Teacher Brad Liber’s students in his Multimedia 3-4 class, assembled to create the short film Point Blank, written by  Junior Maverick Mattingly, which will be premiering at the UC High Auditorium soon.

  The film is directed by Mattingly, produced by Alliance Studios Partner Kaes Sorensen, and scored by Band Orchestra Teacher Brandon Rhinehart.

   According to a movie database that already holds information about the student film, the movie follows United States Military Operatives James Hays (played by Senior Jace Frazier) and Nathan Kane (played by Senior Nicholas Oshmago) as they are sent on a high-stakes mission to deliver a briefcase. Along the way, they are compromised by Weapons Manufacturer and Crime Lord Christopher Dalton (played by Junior Trae Lizalde) (themoviedb.org).

   “I first thought of the idea for Point Blank at three in the morning after being inspired by The Fabelmans. The first scenes I wrote were the action and interrogation scenes, and the story came shortly after,” said Mattingly.

   “I’ve seen elements of this level of involvement, but from start to finish, I haven’t seen this level of student leadership in a project,” said Liber.

   “They’re filming it almost entirely off-campus, they’re renting out equipment from our studio, organizing their own shoot schedules, their own equipment, their own shot list, their own script,” said Liber.

   Point Blank is almost entirely student-led, with over 30 students in the cast and crew, ranging from students in Multimedia to friends of the class. The only adult presence in production is Professional Actor Christian Waples’ role as the “Boss” character and Rhinehart’s composing.

   “I started filmmaking when I was around 13 years old. I started the hobby by using free editing software and cutting together family videos for fun. Going into freshman year, I took Video Production 1-2. I realized film was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life after making Hunted [Maverick’s last short film]. Last summer, I spent every waking minute studying film, cinematography, editing theory, and every other aspect of film,” said Mattingly.

       “I have no prior scoring experience, I’ve written for different themed events and it is kind of similar but in this case it is recorded and preplanned,” said Rhinehart.

   Oshmago said, “[Having a leading role brings] some pressure in terms of publicity, because I am what will be associated with the film, but it is still a big honor to be a part of this movie. Since I was a little kid, I have always wanted to be under the studio lights. I’m sure younger me would have been proud.”

   “Overall, I had a fun time making this project come alive, even though the filmmaking experience could be a little bit tiring at some points,” said Frazier.

   “On one hand, I am surrounded by a bunch of friends and people I know. On the other hand, they are giving their all and taking the process seriously, which has only made me want to do the same. It is a dream come true for me to be working on a large-scale production and it is something I will never take for granted,” said Assistant Director Senior Jose Wicklund.

   Outside of Liber’s equipment, Alliance Studios borrowed the camera used to make the film from Sorensen. He said, “Working minimum wage for a film studio, after saving for around eight months, I was able to get a basic rig [for a camera]. After that, I kept adding on and buying more gear to make the camera more usable.”

   “On set, my main role is Director of Photography. I work with Maverick directly to create angles and direct scenes. I mostly work with lighting and camera to create the tone of the movie,” said Sorensen.

   Mattingly said, “There is something so magical about seeing characters you created by writing them on a page get turned into real people and seeing the dialogue we wrote  actually be spoken and filmed.”

 “While at times it can be stressful and a little overwhelming, I always try to put my best effort into it. The work ultimately feels fulfilling,” said Assistant Editor Senior Adian Chowdhury.

   “After every shoot, we would dump footage onto a Drive, then take the footage and make a rough cut of the scene. After visual effects, we finalize the footage and after that comes sound design and final color,” said Sorensen.

   Mattingly said, “Alliance Media Production has now been registered as an official business and the best is yet to come. From here, we plan to make more projects, each one better than the last.”

   At the film’s premiere, popcorn will be sold and a red carpet will be occurring prior to the screening. Point Blank will be available on YouTube shortly after, on Mattingly’s channel, which is called “maverickmattinglyfilms.”