Jackie Fleishman '07

Each year a number of imaginative students embark on movie making enterprises. While we get to appreciate the fruit of their toil at ceremonies like the recent Widdies, most of us are unaware of the long and challenging process that goes into filmmaking. Balancing filmmaking with other obligations takes a lot of time and effort, and who better to ask about directing a movie than Woodrow Travers '05, one of the most talented filmmakers on campus!

Travers, Killian Clarke '05, Xander Manshel '05 wrote, directed, and edited Farewell the Tranquil Mind, a full-length film that premiered at Deerfield on May 19.

"Junior fall, Xander, Killian. and I got together to come up with ideas for a movie. We started writing in the winter, but we really cranked it out when Killian and I took a co-curricular exemption in the spring." Travers said.

Writing a good, realistic script was essential to making a good movie.

"After we had the script written, we didn't really know how girls thought about a lot of things, so we sent the script to scriptwriters in Los Angeles, and I met with two directors over the summer for feedback," Travers explained. "We even ran it past some girls to make sure we got the right expressions."

After the script was written, casting began. "This took a long time because people have to look good together." Travers said. For Clarke, Manshel, and Travers, filming was the most challenging part of making the movie.

"The hardest part was getting people together because people are so busy. Filming was hard because since there were three directors we had to agree on everything, and we had so many fights. We all hated each other for the entire winter term," Travers chuckled. Following filming came the editing process, which, for the makers of Mind, tested the ability to deal with unexpected problems. "We had to dub a lot of scenes because of the ambient noise, which we didn't expect." Travers said.

Sleep was among the many luxuries the filmmakers had to sacrifice: Travers admitted to having stayed up until 9 a.m. making the final preparations for the long-awaited premiere of Mind.

Many student-directed films never leave campus, but Clarke, Manshel, and Travers have raised enough money to send their film to festivals around the nation.

Two years of late nights, constant planning, and distant dreams have culminated in the production of a remarkable film. Farewell the Tranquil Mind is sure to inspire future generations of Deerfield filmmakers.