Published: July 03, 2009 12:36 am      

Lights, camera ... final thesis

Lebanon — Indiana University student Chad Stum is bringing the “Lights, camera, Boone County” Fourth of July theme to life this week on the set of his short film at Ulen Country Club.

Stum, a telecommunications major at IU set to graduate in August, is shooting his untitled film as his final project. And because of his access to Ulen — his parents Jason and Cindy Stum live in the neighborhood — he is using this area as one of his filming locations. The other two locations are in Bloomington and Greenwood.

Stum and his team of eight IU students and graduates are shooting in Lebanon for approximately two weeks.

“We’ve been writing and producing this for three months,” Stum said. “This independent study is basically my final thesis.”

The 45-minute film centers around a female lead who plays two men against each other, Stum said. She gets a “degenerate gambler” to blackmail a Senator who is having an affair with the female lead for profit. And, spoiler alert, in the end she kills both men and takes off with all the money.

It will premiere in Bloomington on Aug. 14.

Stum, who grew up in Greenwood, spent years in the military and as a professional musician before returning to Indiana to attend IU’s Jacob’s School of Music. But upon realizing he didn’t want to teach, he changed over to telecommunications. At the end of the summer, he will also be working on a film with a director from New York City.

The crew is three-quarters of the way done with the shooting, and will then go into post-production.