I joined the University of Maryland’s independently published newspaper’s staff on the Diversions entertainment beat.
Washington Film Festival employs a Terp approaching graduation
Diamondbackonline.com February 29, 2012.
As a part of the D.C. Independent Film Festival taking place this week, university student Phil Papiasvili coordinated the Summit on the Hill, a free event tomorrow that runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in room 1310 of the Longworth Building on Capitol Hill.
The summit will have two panel discussions inviting members of the Congressional Entertainment Industries Caucus and filmmakers to debate and promote awareness about controversial issues, such as the SOPA and PIPA anti-piracy acts, intellectual property rights, online piracy and file sharing.
“We are trying to bring together both politicians and artistic types to strike an agreement that everyone is happy with,” Papiasvili said.
Diamondbackonline.com. February 17, 2012.
Female students at this university are taking violence against women seriously with the premiere of UMD V-Day. There have been presentations of Eve Ensler’s The VaginaMonologues on the campus for the past 14 years, but this university has just started its own chapter of Ensler’s V-Day organization, a non-profit that “uses theater as its main vehicle in raising funds to end sexual violence,” according Melinda Pandiangan, a sophomore marketing major and theUMD V-Day president and performance director.
Diamondbackonline.com. February 15, 2012.
On Saturday, Feb. 4, as the clock ticked closer to midnight, a contentious showdown was about to erupt, and it had nothing to do with a pigskin, Tom or Eli. Jason Wu’s highly anticipated diffusion line for Target was about to be released online, with stores opening just hours later, and Twitter was abuzz with contests and trending topics to abate frenzied shoppers.
Diamondbackonline.com. February 9, 2012.
It’s easy to say what The Vow is not. It’s not another Nicholas Sparks vehicle designed to convince female audiences that men, especially the ones they are with, can’t measure up to the unattainable Hollywood ideal. Despite recycled casting from his previous hits, The Notebook and Dear John, and a title that could easily be slapped over a nondescript picturesque cover in his usual fashion, The Vow is not actually based on a Sparks novel.
More importantly, it is not the true story of Kim and Krickitt Carpenter, on whom the film was supposedly based. The real-life couple — whose strong Christian faith, unyielding family support and decades of therapy helped them honor their sacred vows in the face of tragedy — serve as the inspiration for the film, but the drama of it was lost in translation from real life to the screen.
The Diamondback. February 1, 2012. With Zachary Berman
The “found footage” conceit is the latest filmmaking fad, but should it stick around?
Once upon a time, raw footage of an actor looking straight to camera always fell to the cutting room floor. In later years, editors saved the frames to compile a DVD blooper reel.
Now, the slow-burning mainstream movement of “mockumentary” television, along with the “found footage” trend in recent horror and sci-fi films such as the Paranormal Activity movies and the upcoming Chronicle, is gaining traction. The idea is that someone stumbles upon footage of an eccentric community of quintessential Americana or some unthinkable, horrific acts. Luckily, cameras were on hand to record the action.
Hilary Weissman 