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World War II has always intrigued Dan Mundt.
"I've been collecting odd and strange facts about the period from
1940-45 for a long time," he said. "I've always thought it would
be fun to tie those together in a story.
Mundt has done just that and the result is "Escape Velocity,"
a full-length motion picture produced during the summer of 2000 in central
Iowa. The film will have its local premiere Friday, Feb. 15, at 8 p.m.
in the College of Design Building on the Iowa State University campus.
There is no admission charge for the film.
Most of the cast and crew have Iowa State connections,
including Mundt, an adjunct professor in the Greenlee
School of Journalism and Communication.
"Escape Velocity" uses one of the odd facts as its primary plot
line.
"Most people don't realize that there were women pilots in World
War II," Mundt said. "I thought it would be interesting to take
that fact and wrap a story around it."
In what he describes as an "Indiana Jones" type of adventure,
Mundt says that while his screenplay is fictional and "highly improbable,"
most of the story elements have a basis of truth.
"It may be improbable, but there is some possibility that it could
have happened," he said.
Female pilots during World War II saw no combat action. Mundt says the
pilots were used only to ferry planes across the United States.
"Escape Velocity" tells the story of one such pilot, Claire
(played by Iowa State performing arts graduate Kim Hale), whose plane
is stolen. Claire decides to take it upon herself to find out on her own
who took the plane and why.
The rest of the nearly two-hour film takes Claire across the country and
then onto Europe at the end of the war.
Mundt, who served as the director of the movie in addition to writing
the screenplay, says the movie was a team effort.
Broadcasting students from the Greenlee School served as the crew. Performing
arts majors and other local actors were cast in the six primary and 50
other roles in the film. The male lead is played Iowa State student Joe
Siple.
"Joe was the big surprise of the cast," Mundt said. "We
knew that Kim could act, but Joe was an unknown quantity. He turned in
a great performance though."
In fact the entire film has been a hit. Although it has only been shown
twice in central Iowa since its completion, "Escape Velocity"
won first place in the narrative category of the Broadcast Education Association's
2002 International BEA Festival of Film, Video and Media Arts. Mundt will
receive the award at the 2002 BEA Convention in Las Vegas this April.
Mundt wants to share the award with Hale, Siple and the rest of the cast
and crew of "Escape Velocity."
"It would have been impossible to make this movie if the cast and
crew hadn't donated their time and effort," he said.
In particular, Mundt says he received valuable support from ISU
Theatre and the Greenlee School. Many of the scenes were filmed on
campus, with such buildings as Catt Hall, Beardshear Hall, the Armory
and State Gym serving as backdrops.
The cast and crew also utilized sites at Lincoln, Neb., the Boone Scenic
Railroad and an antique car show in Perry for its production.
"It's amazing what people will do for you," Mundt said. "So
many people bent over backwards to help us get this project finished."
"Escape Velocity" needed all that type of extra help. Mundt
says the total project cost only $7,000. Mundt himself, using miniatures,
created realistic special effects. Individuals donated period automobiles.
An authentic B-17 bomber was used for a pivotal part of the movie.
"It's the cheapest full length movie you'll ever see," he said.
And how did he come up with the financing?
"That's the big magic of this movie," he said. "The major
financing came from the sale of my 1978 Mustang.
"It wasn't a collectors item, but it was a fairly rare car. Unfortunately
it had a gas smell."
A gas smell that led to $7,000 and "Escape Velocity."
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