Some of Maclellan/Rymer's residents, dressed to the nines for Mac Movie. (Photo by Debra Patricia.)
Maclellan-Rymer residents dressed in their best and gathered, along with the rest of campus, in the chapel on November 4 for Mac Movie 2017.
Fiona Glaser (’20) did double duty, hosting the event as well as starring in both Harambe! and Sutherland’s movies.
Each year, Mac halls create an eight-minute video fulfilling certain requirements. This year, they had to include a hall relic, a faculty or staff member, a member of their brother/sister hall, a cartwheel, and the phrase, “Look what you made me do.” They also needed one hundred percent of hall participation in making the movie. Halls have a little over a month to develop a storyline and then film and edit.
Mac Movie is a beloved tradition. Mac President Molly Lattner (’19) said that the event has been happening for over nine years.
This year’s judges, Student Leadership Coordinator Neely Goree, Chaplain Grant Lowe, and Founders Resident Director, Isaiah Barnfield, awarded first place to Sutherland’s “Marriage Mill/Contrôleur 2.” Sutherland also secured awards for “Best Soundtrack” and “Best Actor” for Caleb Myers' menacing performance. The film reveals a shadowy organization called M.M.O.T.H. controls which Covenant couples get together and follows its efforts to take down a couple “that never should have been together.”
Sutherland resident Drew Dempsey (’19) said he and some of his hallmates started planning their movie last January.
“When it comes to Mac Movie, to make a good movie, the whole hall needs to be excited about it, but to make a winning movie, it needs to take priority [even over schoolwork],” Dempsey said.
Dempsey said to make a good movie, you need to be constantly thinking about how to use every available resource you have. Dempsey got his brother, Samuel, to make a five-hour round trip so the hall could use his drone for filming. Sutherland resident Will Payne contributed camera equipment. Sutherland not only asked President Halverson to be in their movie but also for Safety and Security to let them use their vehicle for a scene.
Dempsey said they put a lot of thought into who could play their parts well, especially for the female lead. “We were looking for someone that everybody knows and likes on campus, because that makes them like the movie more.”
“If everyone wasn’t so willing to help, even people on competing halls, we wouldn’t have done as well,” Dempsey said.
Lawrence took second place for their film noir-inspired “Incognito,” and Harambe! won third for “Hear I am, Bae,” the story of a girl falling in love with a voice she hears through the bathroom vent.
Suburbs nabbed the People’s Choice Award for Covenant-themed spoof “Harry Potter?.”
Chi Alpha’s Lily Payne and Julia Price tied for Best Actress for their performances in “The Consultants,” as a devil-angel duo who try to influence students' decisions for good or ill.
The Five Points’ “Forever Young” follows Dr. Brian Fikkert and Dr. Brian Crossman who, fed up with their students, jump into the pool and transform into their younger selves, played by their sons Josh Fikkert and Johnny Crossman.
Rowan’s “Covenant Crushed” played off the Covenant stereotype that when a guy and a girl hang out, everyone thinks they are dating.
Halcyon’s “No Place Like Covenant” depicted a campus visit gone horribly wrong.
“Out of the four years of Mac Movie that I’ve witnessed, the plotlines were the best this year, whether executed well or not,” Lydia Bergler (’18) said. “The halls did a good job with the sets and making use of the campus.”
Bergler also enjoyed seeing faces from other parts of campus. “I liked that they got a lot of actors from different halls and buildings,” Bergler said. “That seems to be a trend over the years. It seems like a few years ago, it was just students from Mac.”
Mac Movie takes a lot of work. But it’s worth it, Molly Lattner said. “The best thing about Mac Movie is that it showcases all of the various talent around the building,” Lattner said. “It takes lots of skills working together (such as scriptwriting, editing, acting, directing, etc.) to pull off making a movie. It brings halls together in a unique way. And at the end of the event, your hall has a final product you can keep and look back on!”