CSB+SJU students receive four Crystal Pillar Awards

On April 11, four CSB+SJU students were Crystal Pillar recipients at the 14th annual Student Production Awards, hosted by the Upper Midwest Regional Emmy Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Stated on the Upper Midwest Chapter website, these awards are “intended to be an incentive for the continued pursuit of excellence…to focus public attention on outstanding cultural, educational, technological, entertainment, news and informational achievements.”

In total CSB+SJU had eight nominees and took home four Crystal Pillars in the headline news, non-fiction, director and photographer category.

Chenxu Yu, the Crystal Pillar recipient of the director category and editor of the non-fiction short film, won with his short film “See You One Last Time.”

“See you one last time is a fiction short film I wrote and directed in China. I worked with a professional group and spent five months in it,” Yu wrote. “I was kind of combining some of my real-life experience with some little detail I noticed in China, then I wrote them into a story.

The synopsis of the story is that Raised by three caring grandmothers in a small grocery store, Song’s sense of family is transformed when an unexpected visit raises hidden memories.”

CSB+SJU has no film program, so Yu taught himself techniques of directing on a low budget via YouTube videos, as well as being the producer, editor, sound mixer and everything else that goes into well-developed and cared for film. Yu first became interested in film study and production when he was 13 and started to write film reviews in English while he learned the language.

“This medium is about receiving whatever you see on the screen, heard by speakers, objectively.

You don’t know what’s gonna happen next. You spend some time and money to have an experience that is different from others. I think that is why it is fascinating,” Yu wrote.

Carter Jostock, a Crystal Pillar recipient in the photographer category, won with his short film “2024 Football Cinematography Reel.” Jostock sees football as fill potential unmatched by any other sport, building a story through the pacing, visuals and sound.

“It’s chaotic, emotional and dramatic all at once. The overall atmosphere at Clemens Stadium is unrivaled. Having the opportunity to capture the gameday experience in a cinematic way has been incredibly eye-opening not just for me, but for our viewers as well,” Jostock wrote.

For months, Jostock captured behind-the-scenes, practices and games that he edited to shape the story he wanted to tell.

“Receiving a Crystal Pillar award was surreal. To know that my work resonated with people, and all my long days and nights paid off, was a really rewarding moment,” Jostock wrote.

While the Student Production Awards are finished for the season, the telling of stories and conversations continue beyond one evening.

To engage in critical and thoughtful art is a way not only to expand one’s own cultural surroundings but also one’s actions going forward.

“I want people to have time to spend selecting works, watching them and thinking about what they feel about them; that is something precious to us. Maybe we can share and talk, see how different it can be. Especially, we are in a very over-consumed information era, so to have feelings is very hard because we are numbed by short videos. Slow down and feel it; that adds points to our life experiences,” Yu wrote