Film and animation students honored at festival

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A scene from Restitution

Three students and an alumnus from Rochester Institute of Technology’s School of Film and Animation were recently recognized at a leading film festival featuring selected undergraduate short films from around the country.

At the third Trinity Film Festival, held at Cinestudio on the campus of Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., May 3:

• Adam Ouellette ’13 (film and animation) won best cinematography for Restitution, produced and directed by Matthew Pickett, a fourth-year film and animation - live action major. The film, shot in Pickett’s hometown of Blacksburg, Va., tells a young man’s story of family and revenge amidst his older brother’s murder in the rural Appalachian Mountains during the early 1900s.
• Miguel Mirasol, a third-year film and animation major from Middlebury, Conn., captured best sound for Deluminate, which offers a gloomy tale about nature, balance and cycles.
• Emily DeVault, a third-year film and animation major from Fairmont, W.Va., took home the “Alumni Favorite” award for Wiggin’ Out, a 2D digital animation about a little boy who sweeps up mountains of hair at a neighborhood barbershop, but no one knows why.
• Ilana M. Schwartz, a fourth-year film and animation student, received an honorable mention for Robots in Space, about a tiny robot longing for attention before finally bonding with his hardworking father in the end. The Woodbury, N.Y., native is headed to Nickelodeon after graduation to work as an animator.

In addition to Regal Cinemas, Panavision sponsored this year’s festival with a $7,500 camera rental package that Ouellette captured for winning the best cinematography award. Winning films were determined by a panel of movie professionals.

Founded in 2012, the Trinity Film Festival has become a national platform for undergraduate filmmakers in just a few short years, enabling student filmmakers to premiere their short films on the big screen, engage other student filmmakers, meet industry professionals and win cash prizes.