“I don’t like anything else and I’m not good at anything else,” Wolfe said of his reason for involvement in film.

While this passion was not always so obvious for each crew member initially, it was a conclusion to which each of them eventually worked up.

“I was a Biology major at first. That didn’t work out,” Jensen said.

Although she had previously been interested in 2-D animation, Jensen declared that her epiphany to become part of the film industry came upon seeing one of the popular “Pirates of the Caribbean” films.

“I saw “Dead Man’s Chest” in the theater like six times and by the fourth time it hit me—this is what I want to do.”

Panico recalls being interested in movie making since he was a child, and filmed his first stop-animation movie with an old camcorder before he was 10 years old.

Eventually Jensen, Wolfe and Panico ended up as film majors at Wash. U., with the hopes of learning more skills to apply to their art. While the Film department does much in-depth study of film theory, opportunities for actual filmmaking are extremely limited. This, however, did not discourage these three students, who took it upon themselves to make their own projects their extracurricular activity.

The ambitious trio has even received encouragement from a few professors with whom they’ve shared their work.

“Some professors are really willing to help us, but it [the independent projects] is outside the curriculum,” Jensen noted.

The group first joined forces last year to produce a project called “Mason Drift,” which they entered into last year’s WUTV 48-hour film festival. After placing second in the festival, Jensen, Wolfe and Panico quickly realized they made a perfect team. They all spoke of how well they collaborate, which is crucial to getting the production done and done well.
“When we’re working it’s like magic… I think it’s what makes such high quality productions,” Jensen said.

Each filmmaker contributes to every aspect of the production with his or her own specialties. As you’ll see from “A Dark Knight Out,” the acting, makeup, thoughtful script and careful editing from each of the three group members creates a seamless project.

Since “Mason Drift,” the group entered and won WUTV’s sweeting festival. They now work under the production label Do It Live, and their latest project, “The Dark Knight Out,” will be making its screening debut Monday at 7 p.m. in Brown 100. Panico explained the lineup that the audience can anticipate for Monday.

“We’re having a grind house double feature. We’re first going to screen [a recut of] Jurassic Park, then the Dark Knight parody and stweted [recut] trailers. We want to leave the trailers a surprise, but they’ll be of famous movies people will know.”

While some recent Do It Live productions have been comedies, they strive to explore other film options.

“We work with every genre; we try to challenge ourselves by changing it up,” Panico said.
Despite the rigors of life as Wash. U. students, Jensen, Wolfe and Panico have and will continue to make time for their passion for filmmaking, setting new goals along the way. Panico hopes the group’s films will also attract the attention of other students and faculty.

“We want to stir a little interest, especially to Chancellor Wrighton,” he said.

The group would like to encourage others to start student-run film festivals and competitions. They hope that in holding this screening, the student body will get a chance to see what work other students on campus are producing and perhaps be inspired to start making movies of their own.

The bottom line: “We’d like to see students get excited about film production,” Panico said.
In the meantime the crew is taking a little break from production to study for finals, and perhaps come up with a way to allow filmmaking to become more accessible to film majors. As Jensen noted, the hands-on experience is an integral part of learning about film.

“I don’t see a point if you can’t play with it, be creative with it,” she said.

Take a dark night off from studying to see the premiere of “The Dark Knight Out”! It will be screening in Brown 100 at on Monday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m.