Pitt folks craft feature-length film

Pitt students and faculty are the masterminds behind “Serpents and Doves,” a feature-length film involving secret societies in Pittsburgh and their “experimentation in human manipulation,” according to the movie’s synopsis . “Serpents and Doves”

Directed by Andrew

Wormsley and Chris

Jenkins

Tonight at 7 p.m.

AMC Loews Theater

Waterfront

Tickets $12.50

412.303.6426 or

candiceburks@comcast.net

Pitt students and faculty are the masterminds behind “Serpents and Doves,” a feature-length film involving secret societies in Pittsburgh and their “experimentation in human manipulation,” according to the movie’s synopsis .

Gregory Allen, Pitt professor and producer, wrote the script chronicling Glen Regal who, while on a quest for answers, becomes involved with a mysterious group of time travelers who decide Regal will be involved in their human manipulation plot.

The filmmakers were keen on keeping the whole story very hush-hush until tonight’s premiere, offering only a brief description and the cryptic tagline: “The biggest mistake you can make is believing that your life isn’t epic.”

“We want this to be as open as possible — to get the biggest spectrum of ideas and questions, questions that we would never even think of asking,” said Chris Jenkins, a Pitt junior and co-director. The English writing and film studies major became invested in the film after taking classes with Allen and being invited by the professor to join. This is his first directing gig in a movie of this magnitude.

It was also his co-director Andrew Wormsley’s first big project. The 2001 Westminster University graduate approached Allen about an idea he had for a movie. After several conversations during which Allen told Wormsley he needed to learn to write a screenplay, Allen invited Wormsley to join the project.

“We’re taking it from words on the paper to actually manifesting into the film,” Wormsley said.

Although the film is part of a four-part series, the directors assure audiences that the plot of “Serpents and Doves,” can stand on its own. Jenkins compares it to the “Twilight Zone” were each installment is its own separate story.

Co-directing would seem problematic, but Jenkins and Wormsley agree that they synthesized well creatively and rarely disagreed. In fact, though they each worked on scenes separately, they believe the audience won’t be able to tell.

“They worked well together and they communicated well, so they knew what direction to take the film and usually it would be one or the other when we were doing a scene,” said Ryan French, an actor in the film and a Pitt senior.  French was also brought in by Allen, who insisted he would be perfect in the role of Brad, who starts the movie as one of Regal’s best friends.

In addition to directing, Wormsley said he also played the role of fundraiser. He asked family, friends and coworkers for donations, which supplemented a generous gift from one of the producers. In total, he estimates that their budget was $5,000. On such a tight budget, the directors had several jobs.

“We’ve worn so many hats through this process and Chris and I have been involved in every aspect of this film except writing the script,” Wormsley said.

Wormsley explained that in a Hollywood production with a big budget there are several jobs — for example: casting director, production coordinator, location scout and wardrobe manager — that he and Jenkins took on. They also had a hand in editing, music and promotion, for which they primarily used Facebook.

But the film crew was fortunate because it didn’t have to spend much money on equipment. A Pitt student production group, The Sprocket Guild, donated the use of its devices for video, sound and other technical aspects of the film. This allowed the group to put money towards things like paying actors and booking certain locations.

Several of the film locations are on Pitt’s campus. Though some might think the Cathedral is best suited for eerie scenes about secret societies, Jenkins decided to use other options on Pitt’s campus.

“The Cathedral — that’s cliché. We have to use the other creepy building on campus,” such as Posvar Hall, Jenkins said.

The directors insist that the best way to find out the story is by actually seeing the film, explaining that they hope the movie allows the audience members to reflect on their own lives. But, Wormsley did give one more cryptic hint about the plot: “There’s a ripple effect to everything you do.”