Lights, camera, action: UW student team’s film, ‘The Fetish,’ wins at WUD festival

 

A group of talented University of Wisconsin–Madison students won first place at the WUD Student Film Festival with their humorous short film “The Fetish.” 

The film was directed by Abie Sprain, a junior from La Crosse majoring in industrial and systems engineering. The production was brought to life by a cast of friends and captivated audiences with its comedic approach and unexpected twists.

“The Fetish” centers around Max, who is invited to his friend Adam’s house. Throughout the film, Max struggles to conceal his secret foot fetish while navigating social situations. 

All characters were named after the actors who played them.  Max was portrayed by Max Roswell, a junior from La Crosse majoring in history and political science, and Adam by Adam Armour, a junior from Oshkosh majoring in history.

The film also included Robbie, portrayed by Robbie Stegeman, a junior from Milwaukee majoring in computer science, as well as Libby, portrayed by Libby Timm, a junior from Mequon majoring in human development and family studies. 

Robbie and Libby contribute significantly to the film’s narrative, observing Max and his foot fetish throughout the story, adding depth and humor to the overall experience.

“At the start of the film, I’m the one who initiates Max’s interest because I bring one of my feet up,” Stegeman said, “that’s my role… I say a few words and do that.”

The film’s concept was inspired by the prompts provided by the film festival guidelines. 

“One requirement was to have the line, ‘make like a banana and split,’ and the other was to have an embarrassing moment where somebody’s phone flash went off,” Sprain said. 

 Sprain’s idea of a secret foot fetish emerged as the perfect embarrassing moment to build upon, culminating in the film’s climax with a flash going off.

At the film’s end, Max attempts to slyly reach for his phone and take a photo of Adam’s feet. Unfortunately, a flash from Max’s camera brings the situation to a cliffhanging conclusion. 

“It doesn’t end well [for Max]… it pretty much leaves us with a cliffhanger of the flash going off,” Sprain said. 

Sprain directed the film while other team members assisted with various aspects. 

“[They] helped me a lot on the days of shooting, knowing what would look good on camera and different angles,” Sprain said, “Grace Serum also helped me edit and figure out how to line up the shots in the best way.”

The team collaborated and brainstormed ideas, finding impromptu creative moments to enhance the visual storytelling. 

“One of my favorite shots involves shadows on a wall,” Sprain said, ‘it was just an impromptu moment, and the light happened to be capturing Max’s silhouette, and we just ran with it.” 

Armour agreed, adding, “That was probably my favorite part, too. The shadow reminded me of a Renaissance painting mixed with comedy.”

While “The Fetish” was Sprain’s first award-winning production, he has always had an interest in editing and filmmaking and prior experience in editing and filmmaking.

 “Film has always been an interest of mine, but I hadn’t really considered majoring in it,” Sprain said. 

Sprain’s interest in film was rekindled after taking the course Communication Arts 355: Introduction to Media Production. 

“That was fun and piqued my interest and brought back that interest of making films,” Sprain said, “I’ve been looking for more opportunities [or] a reason to start making more, and this film festival helped initiate that.” 

The team members cherished the experience of working together and creating something special. 

“It was a really fun environment to be in, and I also just liked doing it with my friends,” Timm said.

 Roswall agreed: “I enjoyed the whole filming process. Sometimes it was hard to keep it together when filming people’s feet, but it turned out well,” Roswall said.

Coming in first place meant different things for the team, but feelings of pride and surprise were unanimous. 

“I just felt like it was a fun friend group thing, and then ‘surprise,’ we won,” Timm said, “I just didn’t go into it knowing any of this could happen.”

For Sprain, the win meant being recognized and validated for all the work put into the project. 

“It just started as a small idea, and then it built into something much more special,” Sprain said. 

“It just shows that if you have this creativity and work together, it can accomplish something cool.” 

Check out “The Fetish” here.