Students shine in 'Red Ink'

By: Kim Nolan

Posted: 11/17/05

Described as an adventure into the mind of a troubled writer who is beset by the presence of an imaginary character, "Red Ink" showed Nov. 14 as part of the St. Louis International Film Festival. The neo-noir style film was a senior thesis project for Webster film production alumnus Michael Witman.

Film noir is a style and genre of film that typically refers to films made from 1927 to 1958, Witman said.

"These kinds of films tend to be visually very dark with lots of contrast and they have a technical delivery that is more about mood and style," Witman said.

Noir films are often shot in black and white and portray crime or detective plots.

"Neo-noir refers to the same basic style of films that are presently being created," Witman said. "The greatest example of this is the recent film 'Sin City.'"

"Red Ink" is the story of a writer named Phillip, played by St. Louis actor Jeff Koziatek, who is under pressure to write a follow-up masterpiece to his previous novel. According to Witman's Web site, Phillip starts to mold his world of fact into the fiction of his book.

"Phillip is plagued by the presence of an imaginary character from the noir style world of his first book, as he desperately works on his new novel, during which his grasp on reality slips away," Witman said.

Sophomore Erin Marie Hogan, a video production major, played the supporting role as Kat, the haunting imaginary character that won't leave Phillip alone. Hogan was unable to comment about her role in "Red Ink."

"She is currently working on four films, performing in a play, rehearsing for a dance performance and going to school," said Chris Hogan, Erin Marie Hogan's manager.

Witman adapted "Red Ink" into a film after he saw it performed as a one-act play. The play was written by Webster alumna Laurie Melnik for her senior thesis, Witman said.

"Her play was originally a full 170-page, three-act play, which she altered to fit a shorter one-act play format of 37 pages long," Witman said.

The play was accepted into the Forest Park Community College One Act Festival in 2004 and Witman filmed the performance as a video project for Gorlok TV.

"While taping the performance, I was captivated by the stylistic nature of its presentation as well as the general premise," Witman said of the play version of "Red Ink."

Melnik accepted Witman's offer to change the play into a short film. Witman then hired script writing major alumnus Gregory Kettinger to write the film.

"I imposed no bounds on him, encouraging him to break the solid, single-setting, stage world it was written in and expand its visual possibilities," Witman said.

So many changes were made to the script that Melnik, the original play writer, was only able to recognize six lines from the original work, Witman said. Melnik saw the finished project at its premier in the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase.

"Red Ink" is the result of several Webster students' work, including 13 alumni. Robert Edgecomb, a 2005 film production alumnus, was the director of photography for the film. Kathy Corley, a professor in the electronic/photographic media department, was the associate producer of "Red Ink."

"He (Edgecomb) is the person on the set who is in charge of creating the look of the film and controlling the camera and lighting crews," Witman said.

Edgecomb has worked on approximately 30 student films, including Witman's film "Defining Reason," which showed in the 2003 St. Louis International Film Festival.

"'Red Ink' is very good for a student film; the technical quality is excellent," Edgecomb said.

Edgecomb said "Red Ink" took approximately one month to shoot. Edgecomb credited film production alumni John Dentlinger and Justin Talley with doing additional camera work.

Witman emphasized two key decisions made in postproduction that added to the look of the film. By cropping the frame to match the style used by Hollywood, the shape of the frame appears twice as wide as it is tall. Filmmakers refer to this particular cropping as a cinematic aspect ratio.

"Many darker, richer and more epic films are cropped to this frame," Witman said.

In some scenes the color was manipulated to slightly mute all of the colors with the exception of red. The red was brightened and enhanced to make a richer hue.

"The film has a moody look that depicts the mental anguish of the main character," Edgecomb said.

"Red Ink" has shown at the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase, the Cinemerge Festival in Springfield, Mo., at the Webster University homecoming as part of the alumni and faculty showcase and most recently at the Tivoli Theater as part of the 14th annual St. Louis International Film Festival.