About the project:

When a young army vet turned university janitor discovers that a professor in her building is secretly building weapons for mercenaries she needs to outsmart the smartest person at the university before more people die.

"Diffraction" is a full-length feature film that was shot and produced as a collaboration between students and professionals. Students made up about 70 percent of the cast and crew, including the lead actor roles. They worked hand-in-hand with a professional head of production, director, cinematographer, camera operators, sound recordists, production designer, art director, hair and makeup, fight coordinator and composer, as well as five professional actors.

The film's production process was incorporated into multiple classes, including Special Topics: Feature Film Production, Computer-Aided Design, Editing Techniques and Sound Design. Classes in the digital media, theatre and advertising departments all played a key role in bringing this film to life. 

About the Story:

Jackie believes she is a nobody, but that changes when she runs into a professor who appears to be working on a medical breakthrough. However, Jackie’s military experience helps her realize the professor is actually building a destructive weapon. Jackie must overcome her inferiority complex to outsmart the professor and outrun her dangerous benefactor.

A collaboration with Kris Holodak's film company, Heron Media, Diffraction is a full-length film featuring students, faculty and staff as actors and production crew.

"Feature films are giant, interdisciplinary, collaborative projects," Holodak says. "For many of our students, this is a bigger project than they are likely to do in their professional careers. Once they have done this everything else will seem easy."