HCC Profiles: ‘Men of Science’ Has Formula for Success

Movie Title: Men of Science

Creators: Azman Toy and Zach Myers

Claim to Fame: The film won every major award at the fourth annual Screech Awards

For drama, horror, and laugh-out-loud comedy, Bel Air residents need look no further than annual Screech Awards.

The fourth annual ceremony was held May 13 in the Chesapeake Center, showcasing student film and audio work. Although the night was filled with many original and exemplary films, one in particular fared so well as to claim every major award, including Film of the Year.

“Men of Science” is the brainchild of Azman Toy, a four-year HCC student graduating with Associate degrees in History and Photography.

“I made a film last year, so I thought about doing it again,” Toy stated. “I’m really interested in using a series of moving images to tell a story.”

The idea came in a somewhat sudden and unconventional way. “I think I was watching some cheesy horror movie, like Wrong Turn 4, or something,” Toy said. “In any case, it was like a sequel to a bad sequel to a movie that probably shouldn’t have been made.”

From this film, Toy had the idea of making his own horror flick. Initially, he wanted to make a film that was legitimately terrifying. He soon realized, however, that it would be difficult to make a serious scary student film, and decided that what it needed was some humor.

“That’s when I decided to throw in the documentary,” Toy explained. “And that the film would be about two scientists who make a machine that makes things disappear, and one day they go too far with it.”

It was the second week of the spring semester and he pitched the idea to his class, Digital Video 1 with adjunct professor Dan Rappazzo.

"Along the semester I worked with them offering guidance, tips, and anything else I could help them with. As a group we worked closely together during the editing process as well," Rappazzo wrote in an email. "I would like to mention that all of my students worked equally as hard on all of their projects this semester and that I am incredibly proud of each and every one of them."

According to Toy, not too many people were interested except for fellow student Zach Myers, who joined immediately.

“I knew Zach from school and our bands had played together before,” Toy said. “And really, I couldn’t have done this without him. His band, Video Tonight, made the music for the soundtrack, and he also worked with editing and sound.”

After gathering friends Curtis Paul and Mike Bachman to play the title characters, Toy and Myers began their film project adventure.

“We entered this without a script at all,” Toy said. “I knew that to get past the typical ‘bad student acting,’ we had to tell them just to put things into their own words. ... In Mike’s case, we got him drunk first and had him improv.”

Halfway through filming, however, Bachman was struck by a van and broke his leg.

“Everything changed after that,” Toy said. “We had to take what we originally imagined for the film and just go with something else. That’s why the hospital scene is filmed in P.O.V. Mike literally couldn’t move.”

More trouble ensued when they began looking through the footage to edit it down a week before it was due for judging. Toy approached Myers to ask if they had anything to make a good film, to which Myers said there was “nothing [he] could do with it.”

They both started to panic, but slowly, after many cigarettes and cups of coffee, the film started to evolve and develop. After three and a half months of shooting, they were able to cut down about 11 hours of footage to 21 minutes.

To their great surprise, the film went on to win in every category, which includes Best Original Soundtrack, Best Sound, Best Writing, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Film of the Year. By the end of the evening, Toy and Myers no longer gave acceptance speeches, but simply smiled and waved. When Myers accepted the award for Best Writing, however, he couldn’t pass up saying, “By the way, there was no script.”

According to Rappazzo, the films are judged by a group of professors, alumni, and several professionals who work in the field. The identity of those who comprise this group, however, remains a secret.

“Men of Science” went on to receive one additional award, the NFFTY Talent Award presented by Yuri Butler. Their film will be sent to a Film Festival for Talented Youth in Seattle, the entrance fee having been waived. Then it will be judged as to whether it will be screened or not.

“The Film Gods smiled down on us,” Toy said. “And now I am seriously considering future work in film.”