"If I can make movies for a living and not have to worry too much about money, then I'll be living the dream," - Brandon Carter
Brandon Carter, an ENMU senior and Portales native, recently filmed a short called "American Halloween."
It is a coming-of-age film about a boy named Jake who is afraid of everything, his best friend, Samantha, who loves Halloween, and the frightening obstacles he has to overcome to support her local haunted house.
"The idea of American Halloween really came from a place of nostalgia for childhood experiences and high school crushes. I've also always had a love for horror and Halloween, which has been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember, and I wanted this movie to express the way I feel about those things. It's not really a horror film at all, but more of a film about the people and things that motivate us to break out of our shells and face our feHe's currently pursuing a bachelor of science in digital filmmaking. "Movies are my passion. I've been in love with them, pretty much since birth, and rarely go a day without taking the time to sit down and watch one.
"When I was little, I would go from swimming lessons at the city pool to an arts and crafts program they had in one of the parks. I think that arts and crafts programs influenced my life a lot. I still get really caught up in making things out of cardboard and construction paper," he said.
Carter believes he ended up in the fine arts program because of the influences he had while he was young with the programs that Portales offered kids.
He was a communication major before switching to digital filmmaking. Carter made the switch because of the class ‘Intermediate Television Production' which made him realize where his passion was and that he wanted to pursue filmmaking as a career.
"Pretty much all of the faculty from every department at Eastern have influenced how I approach life and learning. My peers have shaped me even more.
"I don't like to think of myself as lazy, but I know I am very easily distracted and unfocused. However, when I see the effort and passion that my fellow students pour into their work, it motivates me to try harder," said Carter.
Playing piano, and drawing are a few of Carter's other passions. However, he has never learned how to drive a stick shift. "Sometimes, that keeps me up at night," he joked.
"My decision to pursue digital filmmaking was influenced primarily by the encouragement of one of my professors, Jon Barr, and the support of my friend Kristen Garcia who was also a communication student at the time I decided to change majors.
"The list of filmmakers that inspired me is so long that I wouldn't even want to get into it. There's just a lot to appreciate about every kind of film, from blockbusters and independent dramas to B movies on the Sci-fi channel," Carter said, expressing his love for film.
After graduating the aspiring filmmaker plans on applying for internships and entry level positions in the film industry. "My current goal is to be able to financially support myself doing what I love to do. If I can make movies for a living and not have to worry too much about money, then I'll be living the dream," said Carter.
