BTV has come a long way from Slice 'N Deis, the sitcom that first premiered in 2007 and that offered, with its own Brandeisian twist, a fairly conventional look at college life. In its 2010 screening of various short student films and trailers for upcoming TV shows last Thursday, BTV made a bold case for asserting its professional identity as an artistic and technical presence on campus. And it succeeded. A sizable crowd gathered in Cholmondeley's the night of the screening. Directors, writers, actors and friends sat with apparent ease and familiarity as well as visible eagerness-this was one of the few student-run events I've ever been to that actually started on time. The first film, Still Alive, made clear that this was a very new BTV: this was one with different values, different motivations and a different intended audience. Directed, written and edited by Chris Lavery '10, Dan Neal '10 and Arun Narayanan '10, it was filmed during Passover break and won the Best 48-Hour Film prize at this year's IndieLouies film festival. Lavery stars as an unhinged man who discovers that he's the only one immune to strange happenings around campus. As he wakes up one morning, he realizes that everyone he meets appears immobile and unresponsive, literally frozen into place. As the subject of an apparently momentous level of embarrassment and bullying by his peers, he greets this newly comatose world with joy and an emboldening sense of power, leading to some great visuals that drew laughter from the audience.

Led by a visually promising and original storyline, Still Alive served as a jarring introduction to the set of student films, filled as it was not only with humor but also with a distinctly Lynchian sense of morbidity. Its frenetic pacing, disturbing content and consistent sense of impending horror engaged the audience on a level of suspense, while its stubborn refusal to offer any kind of explanation challenged viewers' expectations.

In addition to screening films, the evening also offered an opportunity for BTV to advertise trailers for upcoming TV shows, including Roomies and The Forsaken Road, in between films, mostly as humorous breaks. The second film, titled Quagmire, was written, directed and produced by Makensley Lordeus '11, who also starred in it with Angcon "AP" Podder '10, Mahpuja Sultana (an off-campus actor), Alie Tawah '11, Darlene Zephyrine '12 and Xu Zhang '10, and was shot the previous week in just 24 hours. Zhang plays an unscrupulous bro who takes advantage of Zephyrine's drunken state, only to be confronted by his angry girlfriend the next morning. Five weeks later, something not entirely unexpected happens, but the film manages to retain its light and satirical turn with a surprise ending, which prevented it from ending up as the cliché I had feared it would. Although not as challenging in subject matter as the previous film, Quagmire was entertaining, endearing and a great example of what students can achieve with just 24 hours on their hands.

The third film, Art and Jealousy, was written and directed by Leanne Ortbals '12 as her debut film, marking the first year she has been involved with BTV. The film was co-edited and co-produced by Emily Salloway '13 and starred Hillary Crum '13 and off-campus actress Holly Travis. Crum plays a young art student who realizes her feelings for her female art professor. Of all the films, I thought this was perhaps the most consistently beautiful and best shot-various stills of the movie would have served as excellent examples of well-crafted, visually satisfying scenes. Although the storyline was very basic, great care was taken with the characters to make them empathetic, and the movie provided a solid and conclusive structure. In an interview with Ortbals after the show, she described it as an "amazing experience" and said, "Now I just want to make another one!"

As multiple BTV veterans confirmed in conversation with me, the last film of the night, Pinch Me, a 22-minute epic, served as a culmination of sorts not only for the evening but for their time at BTV. Armed with professional equipment, adult actors hired from outside Brandeis and a complex premise, writer and editor Narayanan and directors Lavery and Avi Swerdlow '10 allowed the story to unfold at a leisurely pace, providing various hints that would upend audience assumptions. Pinch Me begins with a typical office drone, John (Tyler Peck), who stumbles from sleepy contentment with his girlfriend Ash (Katie McRell) to the omnipresent murmur of the radio, only to waste time at work with an unsympathetic boss and vague, if deathly boring, commitments.

What makes Pinch Me such a rewarding experience to watch is the details. It does not seem like a student movie. The great sound editing, subtle visuals and unhurried plot indicated the directorial desire to tell a story carefully and deliberately. In particular, I thought the sound elements were superb-the crinkle of a bagel placed on a paper bag, a printer shooting out sheets of paper with crisp rapidity, even the slow motion of a zipper notched upward-all indicated a true regard for detail. Pinch Me was a substantial step forward on many levels from previous BTV productions-the script was solid, the acting realistic and convincing and the editing professionally unobtrusive; it simply seemed like an expensive production with a great deal of thought and time invested. Swerdlow, president of BTV, declared, "In our freshman year, this could not have happened." The resources and combined experience of its members simply weren't there at that time.

BTV may be known as the university's student-run television station that trains students in production, but the overall quality of the films screened indicated that its strengths lie in more than just TV programming. One caveat: I do think that generally speaking, the technical aspects of the films-direction and editing-seemed to exceed the quality of the screenplays. It would be great if BTV were able to take on more challenging scripts in their production. However, the involvement of underclassmen despite the near-uniformity of seniors on the executive board indicates a growing presence on campus, suggesting no shortage of creativity for next year. If you ever worry about the current state of the arts at Brandeis, BTV should provide some measure of reassurance that it is indeed thriving.