Viking_Yearbook_78

88 Ralph Cunningham, PSU junior, is a man with a vision which consumes his days and nights-quality filmmaking . When you see him on campus or off, he's probably either coming from or going to something which has to do with this goal. Starting in high school with still photography, Ralph soon found that he wanted " something more," and when his family' s trip to Europe gave him opportunity, he shot a Super 8 family film. Soon he was screening fourto five films a week to get a " feel " for film. " Teachers can give you the b)lsics, the mechanics, but you have to get the feel for it yourself," says Ralph. At PSU, he began in the film department as an advanced student, using a 16mm camera instead of the 8mm regularly used by those just starting out. He has produced two films here. One of them, The Runner, is a documentary of a man running in the country. The other, Mannequin, is a fourteen-minute theatrical short subject, for which he wrote his own script. He has sent it to the American Film Institute in application for an inde– pendent filmmaker's grant offered each year to one person in the country. Last summer, PSU students Matt Harrison and Ken Wal– ton started projection on a Stephen Crane screenplay, A Mystery of Heroism. Ralph was director of photography for this Civil War film, now going through its final paces on the editing bench . Last fall Ralph produced a film on the Durametal Cor– poration Foundry. Copies of this 23-minute industrial film have been shown at a seminar for engineers in Oklahoma and will be shown at a larger engineering convention coming up in the East .