The Virginia Tech tragedy has caused schools to re-evaluate policies about violence in student art, but at ASU it remains a personal choice.
The University of Southern California recently changed its policy toward guns in student film projects, forbidding first-year students from using firearms while filming and requiring upperclassmen to go through training and often have police present if a gun is used in their film, said John Zollinger, a USC spokesman.
But in ASU's art and film projects, the use of guns and violence is left up to students' discretion.
"[Using guns and violence] is not totally frowned on," said Andy Hendrix, a film production junior. "In my opinion, there's no pressure at all either way. I just think the film school wants us to find better ways to handle [discussions about violence]."
Daniel Cutrara, a film studies professor, said he does not prohibit his students from dealing with violent subject matter in their projects.
"I allow my students to deal with violent topics," he said. "What I ask is for my students to be aware of the impact of any representation on their audience."
Cutrara received his Master of Fine Arts at USC, and he said he feels ASU may soon have to address some of the same questions as his alma mater.
"The film school [at ASU] is so new," he said. "That is going to be something we need to address with our student productions."
Cutrara referenced a situation in the 1990s at USC where a concerned citizen believed a fake gun used in a student production was real and called the police.
"There are some real safety concerns when you start using firearms," he said. "But I am encouraged in that I've seen more and more students having a greater overall awareness in their representations [of violence]."
Art professor Elizabeth Schneider said she too encourages students who want to address violence in their work to look at the complexity of the issues.
"I don't tell them not to deal with violence," she said. "That's an important subject to be able to think about and talk about. What I try to do is steer them toward looking at the nuances rather than glamorizing it."
Schneider said she has seen an increase in students looking to deal with the aftermath of violence and fear in society in recent years, especially in light of Sept. 11 and Virginia Tech.
"I haven't seen a lot of self-censorship," she said. "A lot of students have those questions in their work even if it's only somewhere on the edge."
Hendrix said he doesn't avoid violence in his work, but he does try to avoid using guns and blatantly graphic scenes.
"I think it's an easy way out," he said of overtly glorifying violence in film. "It's not creative at all."
At a recent student film festival held on campus, Hendrix said one student's piece directly depicted a school shooting.
Travis Fuller, a film production senior, said he and others at the festival believed the student showed a lack of judgment.
"I'm not against having guns in movies or anything like that," Fuller said. "I am against showing something like that when there doesn't seem to be any critical questioning of the causes behind it."
Reach the reporter at emma.breysse@asu.edu.
