Hairless dolls, potato used in displayed student work
By: Brian Stuckmeyer
Issue date: 4/14/05 Section: Culture
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What do a video narrative about a man's strange fascination with dolls and a music video featuring a man and a potato have in common?
These were two of 19 film and video pieces on display in the Winifred Moore Auditorium April 8 and 9 as part of Webster University's fourth annual student film festival, Gorlok Golden Paws.
The video narrative "Living Dolls" featured a young man who cuts the hair off plastic dolls and then hangs them up with string around their necks. His disturbing behavior takes a more dangerous turn, however, as he begins to do the same with a woman he attacked earlier as the camera fades out.
Senior Jennifer Becker, a video production major who created "Living Dolls" as part of a group project for her Video II class, said she based the premise of the piece on the grandfather of an acquaintance.
"The man cut the hair off Barbie dolls, and pasted it on more anatomically correct areas," Becker said. "He never did more than that, but I really wanted to stretch the idea further. It's not every day that such a perfect story line falls into your lap."
Other student productions featured at the Gorlok Golden Paws were more light-hearted.
Junior Scott Helfrich's music video "Potato Pocket" was one of them. The music video featured a young man who enters his house, goes to his bedroom, takes out a potato he has stored in a cabinet and begins to sing about it.
"I didn't think it would get in there," Helfrich, a film production major, said.
Several students had multiple entries featured at this year's show.
In addition to "Living Dolls," Becker also submitted "Spine." Created for the "universal pattern" project in her Experimental Video class, Becker said she chose the spine as the focus of her piece because "throughout history the spine has been a symbol of varying things: kundalini, life and courage."
Helfrich's other entries included "Under Lock and Key," a short black-and-white film and "Corner Kick," a video commercial.
These were two of 19 film and video pieces on display in the Winifred Moore Auditorium April 8 and 9 as part of Webster University's fourth annual student film festival, Gorlok Golden Paws.
The video narrative "Living Dolls" featured a young man who cuts the hair off plastic dolls and then hangs them up with string around their necks. His disturbing behavior takes a more dangerous turn, however, as he begins to do the same with a woman he attacked earlier as the camera fades out.
Senior Jennifer Becker, a video production major who created "Living Dolls" as part of a group project for her Video II class, said she based the premise of the piece on the grandfather of an acquaintance.
"The man cut the hair off Barbie dolls, and pasted it on more anatomically correct areas," Becker said. "He never did more than that, but I really wanted to stretch the idea further. It's not every day that such a perfect story line falls into your lap."
Other student productions featured at the Gorlok Golden Paws were more light-hearted.
Junior Scott Helfrich's music video "Potato Pocket" was one of them. The music video featured a young man who enters his house, goes to his bedroom, takes out a potato he has stored in a cabinet and begins to sing about it.
"I didn't think it would get in there," Helfrich, a film production major, said.
Several students had multiple entries featured at this year's show.
In addition to "Living Dolls," Becker also submitted "Spine." Created for the "universal pattern" project in her Experimental Video class, Becker said she chose the spine as the focus of her piece because "throughout history the spine has been a symbol of varying things: kundalini, life and courage."
Helfrich's other entries included "Under Lock and Key," a short black-and-white film and "Corner Kick," a video commercial.
