From liability waivers and on-set insurance to an intimacy coordinator and walkie talkies, Boston University’s co-ed film fraternity made every effort to mimic the set of a real industry film for their latest thriller “Miss Fortune.”
“[‘Miss Fortune’] is a student film that doesn’t look like a student film,” said Director Ellie Pink, a junior in the College of Communication.
The Boston University chapter of Delta Kappa Alpha, a professional cinema fraternity, created a short film about a young queer girl entering in a beauty pageant that takes an eerie turn, according to the short film’s Instagram.
Creating a Hollywood-like production on a bustling college campus comes with challenges, Pink said, especially in terms of budget. The budget for “Miss Fortune,” Pink said, has largely been crowdsourced.
“It’s harder to mimic an industry set in college just because nobody has money,” Pink said. “There’s so few ways of getting it.”
Creative Director and writer Grace Roden, a junior in the College of Communication, said the group used GoFundMe to raise money to maximize the quality of the film. Organized by Roden, the fund raised over $5,000.
“Trying to make it as industry-standard as possible was super helpful for all of us in our future careers,” Roden said.
Roden said the set of “Miss Fortune” is a “magical environment.”
“I was just watching everybody in their element, truly being artists,” Roden said. “I’ve never been just so happy and just completely overwhelmed in joy and appreciation of the people contributing.”
DKA President Eliana Mugar, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she thought the idea for the short film, pitched by Pink and Roden, was “ really awesome and ambitious,” and she wanted to help it come to life.
“I just wanted to be a part of it,” said Mugar, who is also the head of sound and head editor for the short film. “I just fell in love with the idea.”
Mugar said students can expect a “great camp film” that highlights the judgment and portrayal of women, especially in the spotlight.
Pink said she didn’t originally plan for the film to be political, but certain aspects of politics mirrored in the project are hard to ignore.
“When Grace and I first wrote this, it was before Roe v. Wade got overturned,” she said. “It’s hard to look around the parts [of the film] about women’s anatomy and how they don’t have control over it.”
Head Producer Charlotte Smith, a junior in COM, said the film portrays “the male gaze and what that can do to a woman.”
“Obviously, it’s dramatized, and it’s supposed to be creepy and scary,” Smith said, “but it does reflect a deep truth in our society.”
Smith said she decided to get involved after reading the script and seeing Roden and Pink’s PowerPoint lookbook for the film.
“This one really called to me because of how creatively involved I potentially would be,” Smith said. “The set was definitely more creatively driven which I really appreciated.”
Beyond the budget, Pink said, other challenges can come up on set.
“There’s just all these little things,” Pink explains. “We’re shooting this weekend, on Sunday, […] and apparently there’s a tap dancing class going on at the same time.”
Despite the challenges, Pink said DKA is unique on campus in its ability to produce the collaborative environment that makes creating a film like “Miss Fortune” possible.
“Being able to work on a huge film set with so many talented and passionate people is like a dream,” Pink said. “When we saw this opportunity and it felt like the right time for us, we just went for it.”
