IB Film Students Discuss Final Project "Dead Man Watching" on Ivy Film Show

Mr. Shotwell, host of the Ivy Film Show, interviewed members of Filmfish Pictures about their student film "Dead Man Watching" during a televised segment in front of a studio audience. Editor Max Maina, cinematographer Mel Lopez and director Connor Stack described the film's nonlinear structure, color treatment and symbolic imagery and discussed challenges the team faced during production.

The conversation centered on how the filmmakers used color, inserts and stage imagery to separate flashbacks and to underscore themes. Max Maina, the film's editor, said he “ended up going with coloration” after experimenting with other approaches and cited inspiration from films including Forrest Gump and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Mel Lopez, the cinematographer, said “what I'm really proud of are the inserts that we did afterwards as it kind of, like, gave importance to, like, specific items that would be seen, like, throughout the scene or throughout the entire film,” and pointed to a dinner-scene insert of eggs as an example of symbolic detail. Connor Stack, the director, said a major influence on the film's third act was the play Our Town and described using the stage as a “metaphysical undeath sort of realm” where the protagonist watches his memories.

Why this matters: the segment presented the filmmakers' intent and creative process in their final IB Film project, offering viewers concrete examples of editing and cinematography choices and how theatrical influences shaped narrative decisions. The discussion also documented production constraints that affected the final cut.

Most important details: the team described using distinct coloration to differentiate flashback sequences rather than a repeated TV-sequence device; they used insert shots to add symbolic meaning (the filmmakers highlighted an eggs insert and an heirloom object); and the stage sequences were deliberately treated as theatrical moments to support the story's metaphysical framing. Max noted an earlier approach “fell through,” leading to the coloration strategy; Connor said the play Our Town “spurred the use of our own stage as this sort of metaphysical undeath sort of realm”; Mel described close-up inserts and “top downs” as techniques employed for symbolic emphasis.

The interview also touched briefly on production logistics. Stack said the crew had to “roll with a lot of punches” including cold weather and scheduling changes during filming, describing improvisation and flexibility as central to finishing the piece. The host noted this will be the last film each participant completes as IB Film students before they move on to the next chapter of their careers, and the group screened the finished film for the studio audience during the program.

The segment combined technical detail (editing and coloring decisions, cinematography inserts) with artistic intent (symbolism of objects, theatrical staging) and documented production constraints that shaped the final cut. No formal awards, distribution plans or external reviews were announced during the interview.