By Sean Halloran
DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR
Widescreen may be considered a special feature of DVDs, but for
members of The Film Foundation, such as Robert Redford, Francis
Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese, it will be the future standard in
home entertainment.
That’s why The Film Foundation awarded Tony Arias for his
film, “The Way It Was Meant to Be Seen,” which
takes advantage of the idea of widescreen when a man sees an old
woman in his window and cuts the window wider to reveal a view of
the woman teaching dancing ballerinas.
Having won first prize, Arias, a current UCLA student, had
his film premiered in Las Vegas. He was then awarded $10,000, given
a digital widescreen TV, and was afforded the opportunity
to meet with Wes Craven and Martin Scorsese.
Arias made his first films at UC Santa Cruz, and after
graduating, he returned home where, like many fresh college
graduates, he floundered from job to job. Eventually, he started
working for the Los Angeles Independent and the American Film
Institute film festivals where the artists’ dedication to
filmmaking impressed him.
“That people mortgage their homes to make, and sink all
their savings into, and that is it,” Arias said. “This
is their one big shot. And if there was anything interesting there
that they were saying, I had to be the critical eye.”
Last fall he was one of three finalists sponsored by The Film
Foundation and Phillips Electronics to produce a 60-second
film showing the greatness of widescreen TV. After winning, Arias
was invited by The Film Foundation to a Hollywood party,
where he met and spoke with his idol Scorsese, who actually
remembered Arias’ film.
“My jaw must have dropped to the ground. I’m like,
“˜You saw it?'” Arias said. “And he’s
like, “˜Yeah, I watched it twice.’ And then we spent
five minutes talking about my movie while everyone is there around
us waiting to talk to Scorsese.”
Arias also spent time in Las Vegas with Craven, the director
behind “Scream” and “A Nightmare on Elm
Street.”
“They got him tickets to Cirque du Soleil, and he took me
with him; he’s like, “˜Do you want to go?'”
Arias said. “I’m like, “˜Hell yeah, of course I
want to go!’ He’s a very simple, straight-forward,
honest guy, very bright.”
Now Arias is in the position of those visionary artists he once
admired from afar. While he doesn’t outright dismiss
directing commercials or music videos, he doesn’t count on
giving up the film director’s chair anytime soon.
“It’s put up or shut up at this point,” Arias
said.
“I want to direct, that is the best thing, that’s
what I want to do. This (last project) was a great opportunity to
try things out; I just hope I get more of those,” Arias
added.