Waldorf University
FOREST CITY – Comm. seniors, Phillip Koolhoven and Carlos Ruiz, established the North Iowa Film Festival in 2014 2014 with the purpose of showcasing student work on the big screen.
The festival will take place May 2nd at 7:30pm at the Forest Theatre in Forest City, IA.
Happy Halloween from the Comm. Department!
FOREST CITY – Weekly live broadcasts have keep these students in high demand this semester. Check out their latest work below.
FOREST CITY — Andrea Goedderz of Mason City was presented with the Recent Alumni Award for Service at a banquet ceremony today during the Waldorf College homecoming services.
Goedderz is the daughter of Jerry and Audrey Goedderz of Royalton, Minn., and graduated from Waldorf in 2007 with a degree in communications.
Goedderz was nominated for the award, given to only one young exceptional Waldorf graduate each year, for significant contributions in the fight against cancer and for inspirational leadership and service to community.
The award has only been presented seven times.
“Andrea truly embodies the Waldorf credo of ‘learn, live, serve,’” said Rita Gilbertson, Waldorf College’s director of alumni relations. “She’s done extraordinary work with the American Cancer Society, and she is very involved in her community.”
In addition to helping raise more than $1 million for the American Cancer Society, Goedderz has taken active roles in the North Iowa Corridor Economic Development Corp. and the Iowa Junior Jaycees.
Her past honors include Best Local Vice President for Iowa Junior Jaycees in 2012 and a Top New Jaycee Member award in 2010.
The Globe Gazette named her one of 20 up-and-coming professionals under 40 in the area in 2011.
Jonathan Aguilar, a senior in the Communications Department, recently returned from his European study trip. Through Waldorf College, Aguilar has traveled to Alabama, Nashville, New Orleans, and LA. The study trip was his first time leaving the country. He explained, “I have never been overseas. This was my second time on an airplane.”
The group’s first stop was Rome, Italy. Aguilar noted a sharp contrast between the modern airport and ancient city it sits in, “Rome is in ruins, but it is still amazing.” While in Rome, the group visited the Coliseum as well as Vatican City to see the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica.
Next, the group stopped in Venice, Italy, where legends were confirmed. “You hear that there are no roads and people have to get around on boats. You think ‘NO WAY!’, but it’s true,” explained Aguilar.
Aguilar thought that the lack of cars made Venice quieter than a usual city. He enjoyed an outside concert in Piazza San Marco. The group continued on to see many more locations including Lake Como, Florence, and London, but what was most memorable to Aguilar was the Eiffel Tower.
“We just kept going back,” recalled Aguilar.
The group sat in grass and absorbed the surroundings while the Eiffel Tower illuminated the night sky.
The trip allowed Aguilar to build a closer relationship with his classmates. “We spend months of class time together, but we’re now actually friends.”
Super-senior Chris Parcher and junior Kyle Acker premiered their thriller, “Sam,” Thursday afternoon in the Multimedia Lab on campus.
The audience composed of students, staff, actors, and faculty experienced the culmination of the duo’s semester-long work.
Neither had extensive production experience. They knew the basics of shooting and editing from TV 1 class, but “learning how to put that all together and to tell a story with a character arc was a new process,” stated Parcher.
They also overcame many other obstacles. Parcher explained they had no budget and “relied heavily on the actors to bring props and clothing.”
Filming occurred according to their actors’ and business locations’ schedules. “At the bar, we had two hours to set up, shoot, and tear down,” said Parcher.
More time constraints became apparent as they test drove shooting digitally with Canon DSLRs. “In Hollywood, there is a 6-point shoot ratio. You shoot six times as much footage as you are actually going to use. For us, it 
was different.” Eventually, they found a system that worked best for them.
Mark Newcom, their professor and advisor for the project, thought “Chris and Kyle took ownership of this project from its inception. It’s a joy working with inspiring producers who have a passion for learning the improving their craft. This project sealed my acceptance of DSLR’s as a viable format for film production.”
For students currently working in film, Parcher has simple advice, “Do pre-production, really do pre-production. Again, we were told and didn’t do it.” He thinks shooting would have gone much faster if their shot list was completely full.
Acker advised, “Don’t be afraid to do something because you feel like you are going to mess up. In the industry, you have to be commercial and sell. As a student, you can put your stamp on it however you want.”
Acker is continuing to make films his senior year. Parcher is graduating this month and embarking on full-time work as a Webmaster for a company in Fertile, Iowa.