Real movie jargon is not like in the movies at all. The phrase “lights, camera, action” is not actually used on set, but rather “Sound speeding! Camera speeding! Scene 1A! Action!”
Then, there is a clap of the slate and “Cut!” when the director is satisfied with the shot.
The director poised behind the camera, ready to capture the scene, is Caroline Pace. This is the life and enthusiasm of a director, writer, producer, and occasional actor. Pace grew up in Brentwood before moving to New York City after completing college at Belmont University to pursue the art of filmmaking her way.
New York is the perfect environment for a young and “scrappy” creative, as Pace describes herself and her friends. “Scrappy” and “resourceful.” You have to be to make it in the arts like she has.
Pace found her passion for filmmaking when she was young. Her mom’s intuition told her Pace would be a successful director, buying her a flip camera to christen the beginning of her journey. Pace likes to be a little “campy,” she says, with a twist of humor in her stories. She likes to emulate movies like Shaun of the Dead that film in this tongue-in-cheek style, telling a tale that resonates with the audience’s funny bone.
Pace is currently working on a web series called Final Girl. It’s named after a theme in slasher movies where the final survivor is a girl, the last one standing, the heroine, and the final good girl left alive. But what happens after these horrific events? Pace goes on to tell the aftermath in a jocular fashion. Where is the final girl now? What is her purpose? Where does she fit in this world?
“I definitely will always have elements of humor in things, whether irony or just straight-up gags. And just fun,” says Pace, hoping the audience will walk out of the theatre and say, “I’ve had a lot of fun with that.”
On making the web series, “I get so invested in the stories I write. I think having a team of people you love to work with makes it so much better,” says Pace, enthusiastic about the upcoming web project.
Pace’s filming style is to take the shot and take a couple of extra shots, as Pace calls it her “insurance” shots.
Only 26, Pace has achieved several films, festivals, and jobs within the industry. She likes to participate in many 24-hour and 48-hour film festivals. One short story submitted was a sock puppet soap opera that won its festival and was submitted to the national division. The film won again and was then sent to the international division, where it placed first runner-up.
“I get so invested in the stories I write. I think having a team of people you love to work with makes it so much better,” says Pace, enthusiastic about the upcoming web project.