Students finish film to graduate

Adam Carroll owes a large part of his livelihood to Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches.\nThe sandwiches help him earn income to support his project, "Conversations with the Almighty." He also hopes he can provide sandwiches to his cast after filming. \nDavid Mickler, Carroll's filmmaking partner, wrote the original script 3 1/2 years ago as a freshman. Now that they are both seniors, the two will use the knowledge they have acquired and the connections they have made to produce the film.\nShooting began in late January, and they hope to wrap up the filming before spring break. Then comes the editing and various additional post-production projects. \nGraduation is in May. The race is on.\nAlthough the film is an independent endeavor, it's also for school. Both Mickler and Carroll are enrolled in an independent film project class in the Department of Communication and Culture. Their raw footage is due March 12, and the final, edited piece is due May 1. Both need to finish this project to graduate.\n"I want to be done shooting by the end of (February)," Carroll said, admitting now that shooting is going slower than expected. "Then we can let the film 'relax' until after spring break."\nAt the end of the month, Carroll and Mickler were still a few scenes short of finishing the raw footage.\nTheir story began in 2001, when Mickler and Carroll were both freshmen living in Wright Quad. They lived down the hall from each other and came from opposite sides of the Ohio River -- Mickler from Louisville, Ky.; Carroll from New Albany, Ind. The two said they share a common love for film and a need to tell a story.\nMickler's script has been in various stages of production for the last three years. \n"(The script) has undergone countless revisions, maybe 17 or 18," Mickler, a theatre major, said.\nThe final copy is expected to take about four to six weeks to film, filling about six hours of tape, which they eventually will edit down to 30 minutes.\nEight actors compose the cast for the project, all selected during a casting call made in early January through the Department of Theatre and Drama, a connection Mickler had established. Likewise, because Carroll is a communication and culture student and a telecommunications minor, most of the cameras and microphones used in the filming came from the department. \nCarroll said he will be behind the camera, focusing on making the action look professional, as well as leading the editing process. Mickler said he will work with the actors to better "flesh out the characters" in the script. \nCarroll and Mickler speak the same way about their film; they say they want to tell a story but not to send too deep of a message. Mickler said "Conversations with the Almighty" is about life, love, choice and what happens when a guy's girlfriend leaves him for bigger and better things. Though the film does have a message, Carroll said he also sees the project as a way for Mickler to release the story he has been working with for the last 3 1/2 years.\n"I'm helping to get the idea out of (Mickler's) head," Carroll said. "(I will try) to facilitate what's in his head with pictures.\n "I just want to get it done," he added. "We've been working (on it) for four years. We can put it in our portfolio; even if it's not good, just have fun. If nobody likes it, if we turn it into a film fest and they turn it down, at least we got it done. It's been in my head for so long, I just want to get it done."\n"Conversations" will be shot around the schedules of the creators and the actors, taking into account school, work and, if possible, sleep schedules.\n"It's hard because we're all students, and we all have various activities and conflicts we have to deal with," said Lauren Clemmons, an actress in the film. "Adam and David have been good about being flexible and working with what can best benefit everyone working in the cast."\nDespite the importance of the film to their graduation, neither Carroll nor Mickler seem too worried.\n"To me, it seems like a valuable use of free time," Mickler said.\n-- Contact Staff Writer Josh \nKastrinsky at jkastrin@indiana.edu.