The Wildcat Film Festival, held on Oct. 29 gave students the opportunity to see seven student-made short films on the big screen in McConnell Auditorium. The seven films submitted were “I Still Love You” by Javier Angulo, “Peanutpocalypse” by Yami Rodriguez, “Timeless” by Observer photographer Trent Meacham, “Tinman Blues” by Owen Gallagher and three films by Dylan Hanson: “Burn Through the Dark,” “The House That Was Haunted” and “Dead South.”

“The House That Was Haunted” and “Dead South” were both directed by Hanson, and he was the director of photography, co-writer and did special effects makeup for “Burn Through the Dark” which was directed by Jakob Burnham. “So ‘The House That Was Haunted’ is supposed to be kind of an ode to halloween specials, and that’s very much five minutes jam packed with gags and goofs and stuff, like he’s walking around in the wizard hat and shit,” Hanson said.

“Dead South” is Hanson’s effort in the neo-western genre, and was accepted into the West Sound Film Festival, a film festival located in Bremerton.

“I’m super proud of it,” Hanson said about “Dead South.” “It was super physically taxing for everybody. We were fighting daylight every day. We didn’t even have a proper sound op, like one of the hillbillies was sound opping in the middle of a take, it was just crazy shit like that and so it’s super put together with duct tape. I had to redo a lot of the sound post, it’d be like me walking around with a mic in a field, like doing footsteps and shit.” Hanson was also proud of his work on “Burn Through the Dark” and the work that the rest of the team did.

“I think my favorite part about it was just kind of forming a community through it,” Cole Delich, the sound designer and sound editor of “Burn Through the Dark,” said. “I feel like after that project and going to the extremes and being in the cold and water and stuff, it’s like we’re all kind of inseparable now and working on our next project together.”

“Burn Through the Dark” was filmed in several locations in western Washington including Bremerton, Seabeck, Everett and Easton. Filming in the cold weather had its difficulties, “Almost getting hypothermia every night, yeah, that was not my favorite part,” Mia French, the film’s producer, said jokingly. “In Seabeck we got the ending sequence of Murphy coming out of the water and it was very very cold, we had heated blankets and everything.”

“Tinman Blues” is a short film directed by Owen Gallagher and starring Marco Gutierrez. “I mean, basically it’s a boxing short film about an up and coming boxer who has the challenge of facing…  a mysterious new fighter,” Gallagher said. “I was inspired by ‘Whiplash,’ like the kind of rhythm of the editing. And yeah, just all kinds of movies. I watch movies over and over and then it just kind of becomes part of my toolbox.”

“Peanutpocalypse” directed by Yami Rodriguez is a short film about a man named Felix who’s best friend turns into a crazed creature due to a mysterious new outbreak, and “Felix must confront his nut allergy, worst fears and embrace survival instincts as he is faced with a gut-wrenching task.” according to the film’s synopsis.

“Timeless” directed by Trent Meacham dives into the life of Abraham Green, “a tormented young painter with a curious perspective on art and time.” This was Meacham’s first short film, “I’ve always loved movies and very musically driven films,” Meacham said. “I didn’t think I was capable of doing a musical, but I wanted something that was more musically driven and more visual with narration. I guess I was modeling it after like a fable or a storybook.”

“I Still Love You” directed by Javier Angulo is about a struggling couple who decides to play a card game that could determine whether their relationship is strengthened or broken further. “The game that they played was mainly the big inspiration about it,” Angulo said. “I didn’t want them to just play it though, but have emotions played throughout, and you get to see this couple either strengthen their relationship or see it weaken.”

Phillip DeRise, an assistant professor in the film and theater departments was at the event to support the students.  “It’s very difficult for people who don’t know filmmaking to understand how much work it takes to make even a very small short film,” DeRise said. “My favorite part is being able to celebrate the effort on the big screen in a big theater with great picture and sound. That’s the most fun part.”