Throughout the twelve-week course, Culver Stockton College had its first film festival. Students in the COM 289 Digital Storytelling course worked diligently to create mini-films to present at the film festival for the rest of campus. The festival featured a wide range of genres from sports, comedy, travel vlogs, thrillers, workout videos, a tribute to firefighters, and even a cute film about a kitten. 

To start out, our sports and workout films were really all-star material. Having three films on basketball players, you really get the sense of what they go through as college athletes. One of the more personal stories came from Tracy Fauntlaroy’s film titled “Chance”. Fauntlaroy’s a football player here at Culver-Stockton College who grew up in St. Louis. He tells us about his past and the struggles he went through to make it where he is today. One thing his mother would tell him was, “Talent would lead to success, but hard work will make you prosper”. By just hearing those words, he was able to pull himself out of his slump and work harder than he has before. He also pulled his team out of a losing streak, and set new school records. 

Of the three travel vlogs in this film festival, one of the funniest ones would have to be Quentin Wells’ titled “Our Last Driving Vacation”. He tells the story of his trip, starting out with Las Vegas. His sarcastic commentary and choice of scenery for the film are in absolutely perfect balance with each other to really keep you watching. The film starts out with the words “Our Last Driving Vacation. Ever. (Says my father after every road trip)” then continues into telling us how the entirety of his trip went, with top-notch commentary, of course. 

There are many different films to choose from and watch. They are all very much worth the time to sit down and watch, and you can do so with the link attached here. The students put a lot of time and effort into these films to share with everyone.