The largest student film project in Thuringia, ilmpressions, has started again. Every two years, students of the TU Ilmenau produce a film under the umbrella of the Forschungsgemeinschaft elektronische Medien e.V. (FEM). More than 50 students from different disciplines have formed a team to realize the film project together. For them, ilmpressions is a unique chance to look behind the scenes of a film production and to produce their own film from the initial idea to the premiere on the big screen.
Magdalena Kolywanow and Kim Klein want to work in the film industry - the students of Applied Media and Communication Studies have known that since they were little. At the TU Ilmenau, ilmpressions, the largest student film project in Thuringia, gives them the unique opportunity to direct a professional feature film while still at university. This year, a socio-critical psychological thriller with surrealistic elements is to be made, set in a small town like Ilmenau. 50 students are involved in the production and implement the project in so-called departments such as directing, technology, location, casting or production management. The film project is sponsored by the Thüringer Staatskanzlei.
Shortly before 3 p.m., a white van pulls up at the TU Ilmenau campus. A new day of filming is about to begin; today the students are filming a party scene in a shared flat opposite the Ernst Abbe Zentrum. Directors Magdalena and Kim are already on site and give instructions to all departments for the upcoming shoot, while students from the technology department load camera and sound equipment from the car. With routine moves, the students set up their equipment - including feature film cameras, tripods, microphones, batteries, cables and monitors, which Kim and Magdalena will use to follow the scenes during the shoot. The technology is provided by the TU Ilmenau media lab and FEM, among others, and could also be used in professional TV productions.
Before the cameras and microphones are carried up to the second floor of the apartment, the departments of props and production design get the set ready. The living room is darkened with curtains, and in the shared kitchen, bottles are filled with juice and numbered with great attention to detail to create a party atmosphere. Sebastian from the Script and Continuity department assists the departments to ensure that no connection errors happen later and that all bottles find their correct place in the scene again.
Turning until the night
Before the cameras and microphones are carried up to the second floor of the apartment, the Props and Production Design departments get the set ready. The living room is darkened with curtains, and in the shared kitchen, bottles are filled with juice and numbered with great attention to detail to create a party atmosphere. Sebastian from the Script and Continuity department assists the departments to ensure that no connection errors happen later and that all bottles find their correct place in the scene again.
Kim and Magdalena sit down with the actors at the small kitchen table and go over the script for the shoot. Whether in apartments, in the city or in the forest - six days a week the filmmakers shoot early in the morning, in the afternoon or until late at night. To complete the film within a month, shooting is scheduled during the semester break. This is followed by post-production, which is also time-consuming and labor-intensive. Despite the hard work, Magdalena and Kim are happy about the chance to film their script, as the 21-year-old tells us. As students of Applied Media and Communication Studies, they can also have their work at ilmpressions credited as a media project or practical workshop:
Being on set every day and seeing how the film is made is a very fulfilling feeling. It's the first time we've had the chance to sit in the director's chair ourselves and work with a great crew.
This includes students in each department as well as professional actors and actresses who have been cast online for the ilmpressions film. Many of the supporting roles are also filled by students of the TU Ilmenau who have always wanted to be in front of the camera and who also proved their acting talent during a casting. The directors know exactly what they expect from the actors, as Kim explains:
A director already has the film in his or her head before it's finished. Our job is to figure out how to break down each scene into camera angles to create the most tension possible.
He and Magdalena have been working on becoming filmmakers since they were in high school. Together with friends, they implemented their first film projects as teenagers in order to acquire filmmaking knowledge on their own. Besides their studies, they also regularly work on professional low budget films and therefore bring a lot of experience to the ilmpressions set.
Insights into all areas of a film production
Unlike for the directors, filmmaking is a new experience for Maya Hähndel, also a media student. She, too, is playing a small supporting role today and practicing her dialogue with Kim and Magdalena. As one of the production managers, she is jointly responsible for the course of the production, the budget, but also the financing and communication of the project. In addition, she always gets insights into different areas of work in the production - starting with the script to casting to post-production. If she has any questions, she can always turn to her teammates, who have already been involved in professional TV productions or work in media production alongside their studies. The mix of professionals and amateurs is what makes ilmpressions so unique, as Maya says:
I've been curious about the project ever since I started my studies and I really wanted to be part of it. Illmpressions is a valuable learning experience for me in a great team where everyone contributes their strengths and supports each other. Our skills fit together like cogs, no one has to be able to do everything.
For many years, ilmpressions has been a tradition at the TU Ilmenau. The film project was created in 2004 on the initiative of students and was originally called "Bergfestfilm". Students have been learning filmmaking from each other for generations and passing on their knowledge to each other. Magdalena also worked on the previous ilmpressions production, Phonies. The experience is helping her with the current film work:
Even I learn something new every day. ilmpressions is a great way to try your hand, to look behind the scenes of a film production and to produce your own film from the first idea to the premiere on the big screen. Everyone is welcome
she says, before heading back to the kitchen set. The students will continue shooting on campus and in the city into the night that day, and then the scenes will be in the can. At the end of the shooting phase, the film will go into post-production before its premiere in spring 2023.
Impressions from the film set
