Augustana Student Film Showcase

The Augustana Student Film Showcase is a juried event that included a lineup of short videos created in film courses during the previous academic year.

Watch "Smores" by Matthew Chezum '25:

Q&A with Matthew Chezum

How did you come up with the concept?

I actually had something completely different all planned out, but right before I had to turn in my concept, I had this lightbulb moment that I decided to take a risk on. I had not thought out anything other than, "Wouldn't a witch burning be a funny plot device to explain why s'mores exist in a marshmallow's universe?"

What made up your set? What's covering the ground and how many marshmallows did you use? 

I created the set in my kitchen using some foam board as a base. I sourced the buildings from Dave Graffam Models who makes these paper templates for tabletop roleplaying type games. I used cardstock to give them some structure, and this method allowed me to obtain a much better-looking set in a much more realistic time frame and price range. The "road" is crushed up graham crackers. Not only does it look fairly good on camera, it is a great little easter egg. I experimented using different sizes of marshmallows. I tried making children using mini marshmallows, but ended up scrapping part of my script because I didn't like the way the mini marshmallows looked through the lens. I ended up going with just regular-sized marshmallows, stuck some googly eyes on them to give them character, and clothed them. The clothes were a combination of cut fabric and some cardstock, and some flax rope (as well as a little toy chain for the witch-hunter). The rest is lighting and camera angles to cement the style that I was going for. 

Tell us about the sound of this production. Did you create it or source it? 

I used the professional DAW (digital audio workstation) Logic Pro X. One of the fun parts of creating this film was crafting the audio. I recorded direct sound for the live action scenes, but I did not record any sound while I was filming the marshmallow scenes, so every sound that you hear had to be added in post. The voices were my own, just pitched up a couple of octaves, and the music is also totally my own work. The rest of the sound effects I pulled from Logic's sound library, and then it was just a matter of combining sounds and editing them to make the scenes come to life.

How did Augustana's film facilities help you produce this?

Besides the teaching from Prof. Barton, Augie provided the necessary equipment and software for creating a film. Professional cameras, lights, sound equipment, etc. can become very pricey, and that's one the most prohibitive aspects of filmmaking by far. Not having to sacrifice quality because of hardware allows students to focus on correct technique and creative flow while creating their films. Without Augie, I would have most likely been too limited to my own resources and would not have had the freedom to create this film the way that I envisioned.

What was the most challenging part of creating this?

Like most films, getting the story just right always takes some time. I had quite a few script revisions, and I even had to change some things on set. There were also some technical aspects that became a bit laborious. The set took a lot of experimentation, and once I found the building models, each one took at least an hour to build (I believe the clock took upwards of three hours). The last challenge I faced was trying to film fire. Fire is notoriously hard to shoot for myriad reasons, and it took a lot of tweaking of camera settings (and adding lots of light) to get it to come across the correct way.

How long did it take for you to go from idea to completion?

I had just over 20 days, from concept proposal to turning in the final revision. For film, that's not very long. Couple that with learning different parts of making a film, and it was a very busy couple of weeks. I did not sleep the night before it was due (which is common for most film deadlines). All's well that ends well, however, and I feel very happy with how my film turned out, especially with the short time frame that is so common with a lot of projects.

How did you feel being named the showcase winner? 

It's a very gratifying feeling. It feels really nice to be recognized for something that I put a lot of work and heart into. "S'mores" does not have a deeper meaning or big moral message that I was trying to push; I just wanted people to have a good time while watching. Winning the audience choice indicates that people did, and I'm just glad that the film achieved what I meant it to do.