“This has been a huge amount of work,” admits Gavin Dahl, a senior at The Evergreen State College, of planning for “Shot to the Face,” a competition designed to showcase the talents of local filmmakers.



The competition is a cooperative project involving Mind Screen, an on-campus cinema club, and the Olympia Film Society. The contest is set to begin Feb. 29, when entrants are given guidelines for making their respective films, and concludes March 8, when the resulting works of cinema will be screened for the public as well as before a panel of judges at the Capitol Theater in downtown Olympia.



“Shot to the Face” was conceived by Evergreen freshmen Zach Kreinik and Cooper Sloan, both members of Mind Screen.



“I love film,” says Kreinik, who grew up, he explains, “making short videos with my friends.” In high school, he completed a television production internship.



Sloan, who went through a production internship while in high school, also has a background in filmmaking, and has entered his works in local competitions. When the two freshmen met at Evergreen, “we spent the first month looking for ways to keep ourselves entertained,” Sloan recalls.



Eventually, they discovered and joined Mind Screen, which provides free weekly movie screenings on the Evergreen campus, scheduling films chosen by students and paid for by student fees. The club has been in operation for more than 15 years.



“Mind Screen also strives to catalyze student filmmaking by bringing exposure to foreign, independent, classic and cutting-edge films,” explains Dahl, who serves as the cinema club’s coordinator. Mind Screen also provides student filmmakers a venue for screening their own work.



Dahl, not surprisingly, is also a film buff. “Yes, I’m a cinema lover,” he says. As a teen, he adds, “I worked at movie theaters as soon as I was legally able,” mainly as a projectionist.

“It really is the ultimate appreciation of cinema,” he says of the work of a projectionist, whose tasks include assembling the component reels of a film for threading into the projector.



For the “Shot to the Face” competition, the mainly student-produced films (although any local filmmaker may participate) will be projected not on campus but at the Capitol Theater, courtesy of the Olympia Film Society. Kreinik and Sloan had hoped to attract some 10 teams for the event — a goal they had met by the third week of February, with another week before the Feb. 29 kickoff. On the 29th, entrants receive their “prompts” — a set of parameters that must be incorporated into the finished product. It might be a particular theme or stylistic approach or a particular type of camera shot. Once the teams have received their instructions, they will have 72 hours to complete their films, in time for the March 3 submission deadline.



Dahl says he is glad the final event will take place in downtown Olympia. “This is a chance for the students of Evergreen to be out in the community,” he says. He also sees the city as an appropriate host venue for a showcase of local filmmaking talent. After all, Dahl explains, “Olympia is a DIY town.”



The March 8 competition screening, which begins at 8 p.m., is free and open to the public. For more information about other screenings at the Capitol Theater, visit the Olympia Film Society Web site at www.olyfilm.org.



To learn more about “Shot to the Face,” visit the competition Web site at http://shottotheface.org.



For more information about organizations and activities at The Evergreen State College, call 360.867. 6000.