Students looking to learn more about filmmaking, or to network for their next short film, can join the Filmmakers Guild of OU student organization. The group is currently working on the post-production of their first short film of the semester, an ironic western homage titled “A Man Walks into a Bar.”

Sean Donovan, president of the organization and director for “A Man Walks into a Bar,” talked about the purpose of the club.

“Filmmakers guild is an all-inclusive club, where anyone who wants to make films or just loves films can come and interact with a lot of people,” Donovan said. “We are a community of film lovers and filmmakers. We make films and host editing workshops for our members.”

Donovan also talked about the benefits of joining the filmmakers guild saying, “[it’s] an easy way of networking but also a fun community where we go out and get dinner every few weeks, and we go and see movies. On our discord server, people are very active. Members use the server to get help on film projects with acting and other roles.”

During the month of January, the group held virtual game nights and meetings, where they worked on their newest script and played “Jackbox Party Pack” games. The group most recently took a trip to the theater so they could watch Joel Cohen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, and then went out to eat after to discuss the film over food. The organization is planning on viewing more films this semester in theaters, and would like to invite other students to join them for their next outing.

Emnet Kahsai, the cinematographer for “A Man Walks into a Bar,” talked about her role in the film saying, “cinematographers are responsible for capturing all of the shots seen in a film. Usually, they talk with the director in advance to get an idea of what kind of shots and angles they want to capture, and after that, they work their magic. It takes a lot of skill to know how to capture certain angles or to do certain panning and zooming techniques, but the better it’s done, the more effective they’ll be in conveying emotion and meaning in a film. Cinematography is a lot more important than people would expect it to be.”

Before she went back to manning the camera, Kahsai also gave her thoughts on the guild’s current film project.

“The actors were hilarious, and I think we all had a lot of fun with this one. I love being behind the camera, so any opportunity that gives me the chance to film something is a good one. I can’t wait for the next film we do.”

The organization is finally back in person, and they meet every Wednesday at 5 p.m. in the Oakland Center. You can find their demo reel here, and for more information or to get in contact, you can visit their GrizzOrgs page.