Sitting around a long white table, jokes bounce across the small space like rapid fire. “Can we just say for a minute that the only reason we made this film is so we could each have a profile on imdb?” Bronsen Bloom, co-director of the new student short film Backfired remarked while laughing. “The page is telling me to explain why I was born…I feel like I shouldn’t get into that,” Justin Danzansky explains amused while editing his own page.  On March 7^th, students Bronsen Bloom, Seth Kelman, Justin Danzansky, and Alexis Kessleman released their first professional short film titled Backfired.  After two long months in the making, their final result is certainly something to be proud of.

The thought-out synopsis reads, “A seemingly average day goes awry when an apparently normal hit goes wrong for one hitman.”  While taking a shower, co-director Seth Kelman began creating the plot to a film that would later become this enthralling story.  When described by Danzansky, Kelman can be defined as interested, quirky, and quiet, but don’t be fooled; his discreet humor can light up an entire room.  With such a potent interest in this industry, his passion and fervor for talking about film stands out among the group.  “I watched the last fifteen minutes of The Usual Suspects (film) again last night and every time my mind just explodes; it’s so insane.”  Laughing, a side conversation begins regarding this critically acclaimed film directed by Bryan Singer with the boys nodding in agreement.  Even with the creative side of his brain constantly pumping, his academics do not suffer in the slightest as he studies for a math test next period throughout the duration of the interview.

From my brief period sitting at a table with the three boys, I came out knowing one thing for sure: don’t argue with Bronsen Bloom; you will always lose.  As described by Kelman, Bloom is simply explained to be “loud, loud, and louder”. “EY,” Bloom yells, “you better watch it!”  At this point, everyone’s laughing as Bloom’s hysterical outburst seems to be a casual occurrence.  Although his booming voice and opinionated personality shows through, he is able to answer every question thrown his way in a prolific and defined manner.   His vision for this film seemed clear in his head even before production began. “We knew exactly who we wanted to play both characters.  When we were writing, Lauren Barr and AJ Felberbaum just seemed to be the perfect fit.”  That perfect fit resulted in a triumph, for Barr and Felberbaum became the characters that brought this story to life without muttering a word.  Although it is a complex story, everything that the filmmakers try to convey is revealed in a condensed period of time with no dialogue to express the actions.  Bronsen states, “The idea of a short film is to get your point across with a limited amount of shot frames, which turns out to be a very difficult task.”

The cinematographer of the group, Justin Danzansky, has his future all set up.  Although his soft-spoken personality seems to be hidden in the shadows of the other boys’ radiance, his passion still shines through.  “I knew this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life ever since I can remember, but it all became real for me when I got a new camera and started building my own rig.  The thought of being able to control how a film looks cinematically is very appealing to me.”  He is described by Bloom as meticulous, passionate, and organized, although emphasis seems to be placed on his neatness.  While glancing back and fourth between the three of them, it can be easily seen that Danzansky’s binders are all in order, his backpack is perfectly zipped, and his clothes and hair seem flawlessly put together.  Making everything perfect both in his own life and in the film world requires a good amount of time. “This project was personal.  It didn’t feel rushed, and we didn’t have a time limit, so we could really make it the best it could be.”  Each shot is not only planned out beautifully, but each frame is appealing to look at, keeping the viewer constantly interested.

Alexis Kessleman, who created the original score for this film, was not at the table.  Instead, I talked to her separately, curious about her dynamic with the three boys. “Working with Bronsen, Seth, and Justin was a really great experience.  They’re all such talented filmmakers so their vision was clear for the music.  There were also some hilarious moments in group chat we made for drafts of the score.” Although Kessleman had used Logic Pro previously to write her own original songs, this was the first time using the software to write a film score.  Being only a junior, her future is not set in stone, but a career path in writing music for film seems very appealing to her.  “I’ve had a passion for music since I was little, and film scoring allows me to combine my more recent love of film and my everlasting love of music.” For initial inspiration, the boys sent Kessleman the song used in the credits in No Country For Old Men.  “I definitely drew some ideas from the song, but after starting the process, my score kind of took on a life of it’s own. I ended up deciding to incorporate some electronic synthesizers, so the score went in a completely different direction than we originally planned.”  Kessleman speaks like a true professional, answering each question with deliberate thought and consideration.

The most exciting part of student filmmaking is the future that lies ahead for each one of these talented young adults.  Bloom adds, “Now a days, young film makers have a serious advantage.  Since giant studio films no longer own the market because of online streaming, there’s no longer a need to start at the bottom and work your way up.  Making a small independent film can give you just as much exposure as a studio blockbuster.” All four members of the crew have come to the common consensus that in a decade, studio films will be wiped out for good because the movie theater will not be a necessity when everything can be seen on a couch at home.   While Backfired was made as an independent project, having teachers who were involved in the business and having equipment readily available made this adventure easier to accomplish. Mr. Burgess, director of Pine Crest Television, agrees with this assessment saying, “Anyone with an iPhone can create an amazing film, but the motivation when you have all of this equipment at your fingertips increases a large amount.”

With much deliberation, the group says they’re next project is “a work in progress.”  For now, this film can be seen on Vimeo, and the entry of Backfired into student film categories into all of the major film festivals can be expected.  The meticulous planning, long hours, and hard work proved to be successful because Backfired is one of the greatest student short films of the year.