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Show Film editor recuperates in Utah ) . ; "1 ; ' I .v ; ..V ' ; . - . -r ' ? i I ; - ! A V V ! 1 I ' ' v ' " :' ' f feld added: "Film making is a otal thing, and editing .snghtat Steateecial.yinthem;,ng of documentanes. Its reau cal point of the process smce t a matter of examining all the footage (film) complete to tl a point and making sense of it. t s 11 process of creation SseV' are taking the raw material, the many shots them-Sves them-Sves and putting them into one into one story' As exciting as this work has been for Mr. Rosenfeld,hefelthe needed time to do script writing on his own without the restrictions posed by a work assignment. "Another reason I came here is I thought I'd try living in a pretty place," he added. "New York is a great place to learn about filming, but the pressure and the competition competi-tion is tremendous. Besides, its an ugly city. It was exciting while I lived there, but Utah is a good BY CYNTHIA WOOTTON Feature Editor The talented young man from Midwest, USA, heads for New York City to make good. In the pressure cooker of that great city he comes out on top with various acclaims to his credit. The talented young man then leaves New York City and heads for Utah. Admittedly not the hero of the typical success story, Morton Rosenfeld, visiting professor in the Department of Architecture, is the talented young man who came West. Craduated in English from the University of Wisconsin in 1957, Mr. Rosenfeld initially went to New York to pursue his interest in the theater. Shortly after some experience in the acting and directing di-recting business of off-Broadway productions, he found himself gravitating toward film making, an art which has become his forte. Free-lancing for some 10 years while in New York, Mr. Rosenfeld became more and more involved in the heart of film making-film editing. As a film editor, his work took him primarily into the production pro-duction of documentaries and features fea-tures for such groups as ABC and CBS television networks, NET, Time, Westinghouse, as well as government agencies. Although he took some training in the art of film-making at New York Univer sity Mr. Rosenfeld admitted that the 'major experience has come from work in the field. As he put it, "The way to learn to make films is to make films." Received Emmy Award An Emmy nomination (television's (televi-sion's equivalent to the Oscar nomination) for Individual Achievement in Documentary Films came to Mr. Rosenfeld in 1969 for his work on a documentary documen-tary for ABC entitled "View From Space." This film, using space footage shot during various Apollo orbital missions, presented what the world looks like from space. The Emmy nomination itself formed part of the reasons Mr. Rosenfeld decided he needed a change a year or so ago. These reasons are best elaborated by him: "During the 10 years I was in New York, I had learned my craft very well-film editing. I guess the Emmy nomination assured me of that. I had gone as far as I cared to go in this narrow environment. Actually, I was getting get-ting too specialized. I was more into the editing business and work on commercial scripts than I wanted to be. More freedom in my work, that's what I needed, and I really wanted more time to write scripts on my own." Commenting further on his experience ex-perience in New York, Mr. Rosen- Morton Rosenfeld, professor in the Department ol studies equipment used in his film-making class. Hefct for film editing. change." Utah a Shock "Actually," explained Mr. Rosenfeld, "when I first came here last August, I sort of went into shock. It's the little things I really noticed. I mean I found I could get almost any place in 10 minutes, where in New York a similar distance might easily take an hour. And there aren't as many people on the streets as there are in New York City. The change has been a matter of adjusting to the Utah tempo." Mr. Rosenfeld felt that teaching might very well be part of the change he needed. "Teaching," he remarked, "seemed to be a way to get my own ideas, a way to consolidate them." Autumn quarter quar-ter of 1970 was his first experience ex-perience widi formal teaching when he taught a film production class. The class, cross-listed in the Departments of Art and Architecture, Architec-ture, continues this quarter. According to Mr. Rosenfeld, his class last quarter consisted of a couple of lectures dealing with film making procedures and techniques, tech-niques, and lab work. The workshop work-shop environment of the class made the information he offered the students readily applicable. Films were shown to illustrate styles and techniques. Reflecting on the past quarter's experiences, the students and the course, Mr. Rosenfeld said: "The students have been very exciting.. .teaching is exciting. The course is a very personal type of course. I sit and chat with the students as they are working on their films. It's a matter of working together. The purpose of the class is making films. Must Present Film Because the emphasis of the class is on production rather than theory, one of the main requirements require-ments for a grade in the class is that each student show one of his films to the other students some time during the quarter. Eighteen films were produced by class members last fall, all of which in Mr. Rosenfeld's opinion were interesting. in-teresting. For example, one girl in the class drew on the blank footage foot-age which produced very abstract designs of shifting color and pattern pat-tern when the film was run. One student film depicted "the automobile dream as opposed to the automobile reality." Shots of 1 a girl buying a car and taking dnvmg lessons were juxtaposed with shots of auto accidents and injured victims. Still another film recorded rehearsal sessions of the recent University production "The Bacchae," which involved much body movement. Later, in the spring perhaps, there can be a showing of the best student films which would be open to the University Uni-versity community. Still Making Films Where does Mr. Rosenfeld plan to go from here? "I feel very sirongly," he said, "that to be a good teacher, I have to do my own thing. I have to be making films. My feature is what I'd like to do next." Mr. Rosenfeld's feature, fea-ture, a project he hopes to devote most of the coming summer to, will be a dramatic production complete with actors and scenario. The theme of the fictional fic-tional feature will relate to the shifting affections of individuals. The script for the feature is Mr. Rosenfeld's chief concern right now. Along with Stan Hallett, also of the Department of Architecture, Mr. Rosenfeld has been working on a film for the Teachers Corps in California. A film for the University's Uni-versity's Museum of Fine Arts' educational program is another project he is putting time into. "Free lancing is probably the most difficult route to take in film making," said Mr. Rosenfeld, "but for the right kind of personality per-sonality its the most rewarding." When asked what encouragement he might offer to aspiring student film makers, he reflected on his experiences in New York and the pros and cons of free lancing. "It takes a certain kind of person to make a living in the film making world," he explained. "You have to be excited about the media. Really, I can't tell anyone the route to take. Make films. That's really the essence. See what others are doing. The business is pretty competitive, and the industry isn't in terribly good shape now because of the general recession hitting the country. But there's always room for good people. ..no special way to do it. ..just find a way to make films." As far as free lancing goes, one of the big disadvantages in Mr. Rosenfeld's opinion is the insecurity. insecur-ity. "You plain don't always know when yc-work," yc-work," he said: business requirint:,. and hard work. Ps way to go about -vocation." 0 "A lot of peop!; insecurities oftlr. tion. I find thaUi'1 to work. I ahw choose the tilings !i For anyone to be . to be independent Has Wide t Mr. RosenfeldV.5 films illustrates!;-one illustrates!;-one interested it must see all kini what is being i'F possibilities are it: Among his favor. are: "The Ap. Satyagit Ray (an L ''Zero for "L'Atalante," ar: "He and She" ;D Japanese director and "Yojimbo,"t Akiru Kurosawa. ' A reluctance it: self on a more pi-evident pi-evident during i " Mr. Rosenfeld. "For a film ms-artist, ms-artist, the works To know me.ya films." A Film Co-op: of being organise students from film production :p Tom Sobchack' class. The Gxf ganized by slut; only interested but also the IT itself. Although u basically into ( film society, , stages, it is WK fold, Mr. S; initiating st5 1 could even sp later in thesdi The next niin Co-op will h k; noon in the Depart"; Officers and , procedures if - well as tW ill iho f ization. All ' filmmaking"", s in thePfBJ:S are invited io,c |
