BEHREND BEACON October 30, 2009 www.thebehrendbeacon.com IE FILM Sig heti Student film debuts in Reed EVAN KOSER apart Mitt), From the art galleries all around campus, to The Lake Ef fect, students are presented a number of opportunities to produce and publish their own work. Big Rock Butchering is writ ten, directed, and produced by Sean Perry. Perry, a sophomore majoring in economics, de buted the film Wednesday to a crowd anticipating the blood, obscenity, and laughs it pre sented. While the movie may come off as offensive and over-the top, Perry explained that he "really tried to exaggerate the cliches." Of course, with the archetyp ical horror movie roles present, the typical revenge-driven r --- • Perry's film, Big Rock Butchering will be available —. while supplies last. Students interested in supporting ----- - the film should email the director at slpsl6s@psu.edu IVAL DI WI 61411 06 I Dlal NEW 3 & 4 BEDROOM APARTMENTS FEATURING ALL PRIVATE BATHROOMS Located directly across the entrance from Penn State Behrend On-site office and laundry Fully applianced kitchen High speed internet in all bedrooms Free parking Central air conditioning Walking distance to class Two full baths killer wasn't far behind The movie, an intentionally funny horror film, tells the short tale of some young teens partying in the woods. While inebriated, they face a vengeful, Native American terror. Throughout the film, audi ence members were subjected to the typical horror-movie stereotypes, such as the stoner, sex-addict, and self-proclaimed "badass." Perry says that it was his intention to make the film so "I think the best horror films are the ones that don't take themselves too comedic. "I think the best hor ror films are the ones that don't take themselves too seri ously," Perry said. "The ones that can SEAN PERRY sophomore economics major laugh at the stereotypes are the funniest." Perry has been working on his independent film since the summer. `I started writing the script NOW LEASING this past June," said Perry. "Our first day of shooting was on July 4. By the time I was done shooting and editing, it was mid-August." Altogether, the process Perry described took about three months. "[Making films] is what I love and do," Perry said. "Though, the beautiful scenery and babes in bikinis didn't hurt either." seriously." now, I feel like 1 could have done about 20 times better," Perry said. "It's funny because when I was done with every thing, I thought it was perfect, but that's the journey to becom ing a great filmmaker." Perry says that being a stu dent and a director is hard, es pecially in balancing the responsibilities that come with both. "It's honestly pretty damn tough," Perry said. "I shoot sketch comedies every other weekend and try to find time to edit during the week." While the homework may pile on, Perry says that he has the process down "for the most part." Of course, Perry isn't the only student director on campus, but he is the first this semester to premiere his movie. To prospective directors, Perry says: "Write and make movies all the time." Though the movie was made with a budget of under 20 dol lars, Perry hopes that the sales of his DVDs will pro vide him with enough funds to shoot a new, higher budget film. "It's that simple," Perry said. "The more practice you get, the better you know the process." Students on campus can re ceive the same guidance and support Perry received through particular faculty members of Behrend. Though he is an economics major, Perry says that he'll fur ther his education in learning to make movies. "Looking back "I want to go to graduate school for film out west," Perry said. "1 would love to spend the rest of my life making badass movies with badass people." Perry's entrepeneurship stretches past the theatre space of Reed 117 and onto the inter net as well. His You Tube chan nel, he explained, also holds a number of videos, including a Penn State Rap. THE PLAYLIST Black Gives Way to Blue is Alice in Chains first album released in 14 years. The band hopes to have a welcome return to the music scene. New album sparks Alice in Chains return Alice in Chains was formed in Seattle, Washington, in the sum mer of 1987 by guitarist Jerry Cantrell and singer Layne Staley. They were a big part of the grunge movement of the early nineties, accompanying the likes of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden. Alice in Chains is known mostly for their original vocal styles, in which Staley and Cantrell harmonized in most cases. Since their return, it is now Cantrell and DuVall who often harmonize. On Sept. 29, Alice in Chains released a new album called Black Gives Way to Blue. The new sound is a lot heavier in some cases, yet the vocals don't seem as sharp and original as they once were. Their first single was "A Looking in View," which was released to radio waves on June 30, 2009. Most of the band's loyal fans love the new sound of the band as it doesn't deviate to far from Layne Staley's sound. However, vocalist William DuVall - from the band Comes With the Fall - brings his own smooth, refined vocals to the table. As far as guitar patterns go, the band taps more into dis tortion on this album than even before, as well as dabbling with acoustic tracks, which they always have done. Overall, they seem to have a much harder sound, reverting to how Alice in Chains started - a garage metal band. The release of "A Looking in View" was taken very well by the public, producing a video soon after its release. "Check My Brain" was their next single, which didn't nearly have as much success as its predecessor but showed that Alice in Chains wasn't backing down when it came top following the music they started. While the guitar in this second single is repetitive, the lyrics reveal what the band went through as up-and-coming musicians in the Cali fornia music industry. It reflects nearly anyone's thoughts and feelings when going through things like drug use, crowd pleasing, and struggles with musical technique. The release of their third single, "Your Decision," really solid ified the band as being back on the scene. It's an acoustic track, much like "Nutshell" or "1 Stay Away" from their older material, and plays on the same smooth, flowing vocals that the band be came famous for. Its pattern nearly follows Nutshell completely, but again, the lyrics is where the band truly comes to a so-called rock rescue. "The song is about my fight to overcome drugs after the death of Layne," said guitarist Jerry Cantrell to Guitar World Magazine. "He was a great friend, and he would've wanted me to do so." The rest of the album is a continued testament to the return of Alice in Chains, with some of my favorites being "Private Hell," "Acid Bubble," and the title track, "Black Gives Way to Blue." If you've never heard the band's material, check it out, and if anyone was unaware of the return of the legend, they're back with metal laced ease. Culture NATHAN CARTER staff writer
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