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Juneau - It was a summer evening in the year 2002. The Silverbow Backroom was prepped for the first annual Juneau Underground Motion Picture (JUMP) Society Film Festival. A 7 p.m. screening had already drawn a sizeable crowd, but the room emptied and remained so as the 9 p.m. screening was due to begin.

Pat Race, JUMP co-founder, was getting nervous at the lack of audience members. He and fellow JUMP co-founders Aaron Suring and Lou Logan had poured hours into producing the festival.

"I thought no one was there for the show," Race said. "Then I went outside and there was a line that went way down around the corner."

As it turned out, the outside door had been closed, leading attendees to believe that they were to form a line to enter the screening room.

"Aside from when the big summer movies come out, that was the first time I'd seen a big lineup like that for an event here," Race said. "That was really exciting for me."

JUMP Society festivals have drawn crowds ever since, showcasing short films by local filmmakers twice each year. This weekend marks the date of the 16th festival, which will be held for the first time at the Gold Town Nickelodeon rather than the traditional Silverbow Backroom.

Other than the change in venue, not much has been modified since festival number one.

"Things are very similar to the way they were during the first film festival, which I think is a good thing," Race said.

"We have a lot of regulars now," Suring said. "At the first one, we didn't know who was going to show up. Now we know who to pressure to get films. Also, people have progressed in their craft. That's exciting."

SOME OF THE REGULARS

Local writer and filmmaker Brice Habeger credits the JUMP Society for giving him the opportunity to further develop his filmmaking skills. After studying film in Chicago, Habeger returned to his hometown of Juneau and has since been a part of a number of local productions. His most recent film, "Slight of Hand," will premiere at this weekend's festival.

"In my time, just looking back of how far it has come, every single festival seems to get better," Habeger said. "(Filmmakers) come in with their skill sets and they really step it up every single time. They know that there's this other guy and he's making a film, so they have to do a film at least as good as that."

Habeger enjoys injecting visual treats into his films to enhance his stories and characters. He puts an emphasis on developing a specific color palette with each color and shape adding to the product as a whole.

"My theory is to scrub the frame clean of anything that doesn't need to be there," Habeger said. "Every single element in that frame adds up to a conclusion. You could not care about that kind of stuff and still have a great story, but it drives the point home. People appreciate that whether they realize it or not."

Filmmaker Greg Chaney also believes in the power of a strong story. He has submitted films in every JUMP Society festival since its dawn. His body of work consists of a variety of documentaries as well as narrative films.

"If you don't have a good story, it doesn't matter how good your production value is-it's not going to be engaging," Chaney said. "I always try to put story first."

Chaney credited the JUMP Society for motivating him to keep his camera rolling.

"There's a deadline every six months and you've got to get stuff out there," Chaney said. "A deadline is very helpful."

Chaney will have two films in the upcoming festival. "Remodeling" is a narrative short featuring Ed Christian and Mary Lou Sparks, who play a couple experiencing the woes of home renovation.

"It's a little bit cynical, a little bit slapstick," Chaney said. "It's a little bit more like 'Saturday Night Live' than 'Masterpiece Theatre.'"

Chaney's other submission is a one-minute snapshot of Juneau that follows a rubber ducky as it goes on an adventure through downtown on a summer day. The film was originally created for City One Minutes (http://www.cityoneminutes.org/), a collaborative film project involving filmmakers from all over the world.

Filmmaker Will Ryan also participated in City One Minutes, creating one-minute portraits of different aspects of Juneau. For the festival, Ryan is submitting "Ultro Mysterioso," a film written by Leo Helmar. Its look is "dark and gritty," emulating the film noir genre, but the story is far from dark. The film follows Helmar's character as he demonstrates his Spanish-speaking abilities.

Ryan's interest in film came at a young age.

"It was there all the time," Ryan said.

He has long been a writer of his ideas, but only recently he has become more disciplined in his craft.

"Film is so exciting to me," Ryan said. "The fact that so many people have to work together to get a shiny product is intense. It's a really huge accomplishment."

For Ryan, film is about collaboration. He hopes to partner with other local filmmakers on future projects to allow each member of the team to be able to focus more on particular elements of filmmaking.

"You can do it all, but it's like the jack of all trades, master of none," Ryan said.

FIRST TIMERS

In addition to live-action films, the festival will feature animated shorts. One such piece is "Hippo's Party" by Nobu Koch. The stop-motion animation will be her first submission to the JUMP Society Festival.

The animation required Koch to transform her living space into a studio, creating a set, puppets and props from scratch out of clay, foam board and other various materials. To bring her characters to life, she moved them 24 times for each second of the film, taking a still shot of each movement. Koch had to make over 1,000 individual movements and stitch them together to produce about 47 seconds of animation-all without stopping.

"You have to do it straight through, all at once," Koch said. "If you jump in without being prepared for things, you're more likely to screw up and have to start over."

Koch had to learn this the hard way-she bumped her tripod halfway through her first shoot and had to start over. But despite the tedious work involved in animating, Koch plans to continue.

"It's fun trying to make the characters look and act a certain way and seem alive," Koch said.

JUMPING AHEAD

The JUMP Society will soon file for 501c3 nonprofit status, which will allow for more opportunities for Juneau filmmakers.

"I think things are going to change drastically after that because we'll have a board and we'll have input from other people instead of just three guys telling people a week ahead of time that their films are due," Race said. "I want (JUMP) to outlive us. I would hope that there's enough interest in the community that if we weren't here to do the festival it would still exist."

"If it wasn't for the JUMP, I don't know what I'd do," Habeger said. "I'd start my own festival. Down the line, if I become a filmmaker who is successful on a certain national level, I will think that the skills that I learned and my forming ground happened with the films I started making for JUMP."

As technology advances, the art of film becomes a more accessible reality for more aspiring filmmakers. The JUMP Society's founders acknowledge that and aim to nurture their filmmaking community.

"The JUMP Society is a wonderful opportunity for people of all skill levels to make something and then have it shown in front of a large, appreciative audience," Chaney said. "It supports local filmmaking and inspires locals. I've been to many film festivals and the JUMP Festival is a really unique thing in the world, I think."

"It's really fun for me as a filmmaker to see other people in town taking it up a notch," Habeger said. "This is going to be the JUMP of all JUMPs-the highest JUMP ever."

The JUMP Society Winter Film Festival will premiere at 7 p.m. Jan. 28 at the Gold Town Nickelodeon. Subsequent screenings will take place at 7 and 9 p.m. on Jan. 29-30. 9 p.m. showings will be open only to those over the age of 21. The festival will also be shown at 7 p.m. on Feb. 5 at the UAS Egan Lecture Hall. Tickets are free and may be picked up at Lucid Reverie, located in the Emporium Mall.

Libby Sterling may be reached at libby.sterling@capweek.com.