Shooting for the Stars: Six NIU students spend summer working on Anthony Hopkins movie

Six Northern Illinois University film production students and their professor, Laura Vazquez, are pictured with actor Anthony Hopkins on the set of the new movie “Slipstream.” The students spent five weeks in California working on the film. Provided photo

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DeKALB - In Hollywood, it's often said it's not what you know, but who you know. Six Northern Illinois University film production students can now say they know acting legend Sir Anthony Hopkins. They even call him Tony. The six students spent five weeks this summer in the California desert interning on the set of the new movie &#8220Slipstream,” written, directed by and starring Hopkins. The stint was the idea of NIU communications professor Laura Vazquez and NIU alum Robert Katz, a veteran Hollywood producer whose credits include &#8220Seabiscuit” and &#8220Crash.” &#8220Robert comes back regularly and meets with my students and talks about the business,” said Vazquez, who teaches courses in film production and theory. &#8220In February, I said I was thinking about taking a sabbatical and maybe working on a film, and he said, ‘Why don't you bring some students out this summer?'” Vazquez's hand-picked group of students left for Los Angeles June 4 and returned July 8. The students rotated among several departments on-set, working with electrical, lighting, grip, camera, special effects and assistant directors. &#8220It's better than any class I've ever taken,” said Tim Piper, a 23-year-old senior media studies major from Lombard. &#8220You can't teach that stuff.” Jeff Negus, 22, a pre-communications major from Palatine, agreed. &#8220I'm not sure if it was because we were working for free or what, but (the crew) really wanted us to learn things,” he said. &#8220They didn't have to bother. It's not like they had to give us knowledge to help them do their job, they just wanted to help us learn.” Piper and Negus said they were amazed by the amount of work and coordination that goes into creating a feature film. &#8220Just getting up at 5 in the morning and working for 14 hours was a huge life lesson,” Negus said. &#8220I'd never done that before. I got home and I was completely bored. ...We learned technical things, learned about each other, learned about life, learned about the business.” Negus said his most memorable moment was when Hopkins pulled him aside and spoke to him for about 20 minutes about the evolution of the story and his vision for the film. &#8220We were all amazed by how much time Tony took to talk to the interns,” he said. &#8220He called me aside by my name, and I was like, oh God, he knows my name.” Vazquez called Hopkins &#8220sensitive, kind, extremely bright and very creative.” &#8220He created what I would call an unreal experience for us,” she said. &#8220I can't imagine, from the horror stories of what I've heard film sets were like, that our experience was typical.” Vazquez said the cast and crew were impressed with the work ethic of the NIU students. &#8220I asked the staff photographer if he would take photos of my students, and he couldn't tell which ones they were,” she said. &#8220They looked like crew members. ...They did whatever they were told to do. If it meant getting up at 5 and spending 14 hours on their feet in the desert, they did it.” Vazquez also interned with the film's editor. A video documentary filmmaker, she said she was fascinated by the illusions created for a feature film, and said she was blown away by the movie's A-list cast, including John Turturro, Christian Slater and Jeffrey Tambor. &#8220To see these people go out there and give these magnificent performances, then turn and ask, ‘How did I do?' is amazing,” she said. &#8220You want to know what I think? Me? You're Christian Slater, don't you know how good you are?” Piper said one of the most valuable resources the students received was a list of crew members and an invitation to call on them when the students go to Hollywood to find work. &#8220It really is who you know,” he said. &#8220It's not that they're snobby, it's just that they have to really trust the person they put in a position. We've earned their trust.” Piper said he plans to relocate to California after graduating this December to begin a film career. &#8220Every day I was going to set it was a new favorite memory for me,” he said. &#8220Day in, day out, I was loving it more and more.” &#8220Slipstream,” which is described as a reality-bending comedy, is expected to be released early in 2007. Dana Herra can be reached at dherra@daily-chronicle.com.