Christopher (Chris) Hansen, M.F.A.

Chairman and Professor for Film & Digital Media Baylor University

  • Waco TX

Digital media expert and filmmaker, working on new feature and short projects

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5 min

Silver Screens, Big Screens and Small Screens: Award-Winning Baylor Filmmaker Shares How He Hopes People Watch, Experience His Movies

WACO, Texas (May 13, 2019) – The movie-watching experience continues to evolve. And while directors wish all people could experience their movies on the silver screens in theaters, they know most people these days will be watching on the big screens in their living rooms or on the small screens in their hands. The movie-watching experience and the takeaways matter, said award-winning filmmaker Chris Hansen, M.F.A., who serves as professor and chair of the film and digital media department in Baylor University’s College of Arts & Sciences. “As a director, I want people to engage with the story and the characters. I want you to be able to put yourself in the characters’ shoes and see the world from their points of view so that, whether you agree or disagree with their actions, you understand where they’re coming from,” Hansen said. Hansen has directed five independent films. His most recent project, Seven Short Films About (Our) Marriage, is now in post-production. In the following Q&A, Hansen shares thoughts on how we – as audience members – can do our part to get the best movie-watching experience and what he – as the director – hopes we take away from that experience. Q: As a director who puts in countless hours and organizes a team that puts in countless hours on a project, what do you hope audiences take away from your film? A: Film critic Roger Ebert once called films “a machine that generates empathy.” I see my films falling within that description. I want to generate empathy in the viewer for these characters and their situations, and I want audiences to come away talking about and thinking about their struggles. Q: So much goes into making a movie. There’s the script, cinematography, setting, dialogue, music, costumes, etc. Is there any one thing you hope your audiences notice? A: I hope that I, along with the other artists who have collaborated on the film, have created an experience where none of those things stands out above the other, except that they create a moment or moments that move people. If you’re thinking, “That was great dialogue,” then that can take you out of the world of the movie. Q: Your films are all available on various streaming platforms, which means that people are most likely watching them on televisions in their homes. What are your thoughts on the home viewing experience? A: The quality of the home viewing experience has gotten better and better over the years. We now have (or have access to) better and larger television screens, terrific audio systems and movies available in high-resolution formats. On the flip side, the home does not afford the best viewing environment because it’s not immersive the way a theater is. The experience of the theater provides fewer interruptions and allows the viewer to be fully immersed in the world of the movie, although even that environment is being disrupted by people using their cell phones in the middle of a movie. Still, it’s better than the home viewing experience, which gives the viewer many distractions and interruptions. Q: When you watch films at home, what steps do you take to limit distractions? A: As a person with a wife and children, I try to plan viewings of movies around their schedules, so I can watch uninterrupted when I know people won’t be home. And I try to control my own distraction level, but the “always on” nature of email and texting are hard to resist. My preference would always be to have people turn the phone off, turn the lights off and turn their attention solely to the screen. That’s hard to get people to do at home. Q: What are your thoughts about people watching movies on their smartphones or tablets? A: Very few filmmakers I know would express a preference that people watch their work on smaller screens. It’s just not ideal, and there are so many carefully planned details that can be missed. Having said that, I’ll admit to having watched films and TV shows on my tablet, especially when I’m traveling. The truth is, given the changing nature of the world we live in, people are going to watch in whatever way is most convenient for them. But watching on a screen as small as a phone means you’re getting a much more utilitarian experience of the film. You can say you watched it and can probably recount the plot accurately. But you will often have missed the fuller experience of seeing the film on a larger screen. Q: When students come to you and say, ‘I want to make movies!’ what’s the first thing you say to them? A: One of the first things I tell people is that the best way to learn how to make movies is to make movies. You learn by doing and getting critical feedback from someone who has done it and understands the form. And of course, in our program at Baylor, we also teach the theory side of things. We believe in a solid balance between theory and practice. We teach our students how this is done, but then they just actually have to do it and learn from their successes and their failures. Q: Do students in Baylor’s film and digital media program have the opportunity to work on your films? If so, in what ways? A: Students in our program do indeed have the opportunity to work on faculty-led projects. We make our films in the summer and offer the opportunity as a credited course so that they can have a lab-like learning experience. Students rotate through crew roles while working under professionals who help them understand their jobs. Some of our students have called this one of their best learning experiences in our major because it takes all the things they learn in the classroom and puts those to the test on a project that’s much larger in scope than what they’ve been able to experience before. And being a crew member on a film set can be a stressful experience. We’re dependent on the weather and limitations of time and money. It’s a great way for them to understand the ups and downs of the process and how they’ll respond to the pressure. Q: What can you share about your newest project and where can people find your previous films? A: My latest film, currently in post-production, is a feature film called Seven Short Films About (Our) Marriage. It’s the story of one marriage that unfolds over seven episodes over a number of years, as this couple struggles with the common issues that marriages face and try to make their love last. My films are currently all available on various streaming platforms. You can find Blur Circle, Where We Started, Endings, and The Proper Care & Feeding of an American Messiah either on Amazon Prime, iTunes, and in some cases, on Blu-ray disc via Amazon and other outlets.

Christopher (Chris) Hansen, M.F.A.

1 min

Baylor Film Expert Discusses 'Star Wars' Directors, Challenges with Established Brands

Film expert Chris Hansen, M.F.A., professor and chair of Baylor’s film and digital media department, is quoted as an expert in this Marketplace story about the Star Wars franchise and the challenges directors encounter with the established brands. “I feel like Star Wars films have what you might call a ‘house style,’ and they want someone to work creatively within that, and they want to push that a little bit, but they still have to stay within that house style,” he said. Source:

Christopher (Chris) Hansen, M.F.A.

2 min

How many more Superhero and Pirate movies can they make? Film expert available to talk about the market for big-budget sequels

Prior to seeing the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, audiences are introduced to a flurry of previews for upcoming films -big-budget sequels centered on blockbusting standards: warring apes, animated cars, web-slinging and hammer-bearing superheroes, and space-based lightsaber battles between forces of good and evil. Chris Hansen, M.F.A., independent filmmaker and chair of the film and digital media department in Baylor University’s College of Arts & Sciences, is available to talk about the market for big-budget sequels and the challenges for original screenplays. Is there any hope for the original story? “One of the biggest considerations in determining which movies get made, from the studio’s perspective, is marketing,” Hansen said. “That process is made much easier if the intellectual property already exists in the minds of the general public. People know who Batman is. People know who The Avengers are. Half or more of the marketing work is done. When the intellectual property is original, the studio’s marketing arm has to spend a lot more time and money acquainting viewers with the concept and generating interest.” “It’s hard to say what people are really interested in seeing. They say one thing, but they often vote differently with their box office dollars. This sometimes comes down to an economic decision for audience members. They have less disposable income than they used to, so they see fewer movies in the theater. And if they’re going to have to choose between several movies to see in an actual theater, they’ll often choose the one that has more spectacle, because there’s a feeling that it’s more ‘worth it’ to see something like that on the big screen, and that smaller movies won’t suffer from being seen on the TV in your living room.” Source:

Christopher (Chris) Hansen, M.F.A.
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Biography

Chris Hansen is an award-winning writer and director. His feature films have screened at festivals throughout the United States and Canada, have been released theatrically in Los Angeles and New York, and have been reviewed in the LA Times, The Village Voice and the LA Weekly, among many others. His films include The Proper Care & Feeding of an American Messiah, Clean Freak, Endings, Where We Started, and Blur Circle.

Chris resides in Robinson, Texas with his wife and their four daughters. You can read more about his work in film and screenwriting at his website, (http://www.hansenfilms.com).

Areas of Expertise

Directing and Filmmaking
Film Industry
Screenwriting

Education

Regent University

M.F.A.

Script & Screenwriting,

Regent University

M.A.

Communication

Lee College

B.A.

English

Affiliations

  • Independent Writers Caucus (WGAw) : Member
  • Film Independent : Member
  • Austin Film Society : Member

Media Appearances

How the 'Pulp Fiction' Poster Became a Dorm Room Staple

The Ringer  online

2024-10-13

Chris Hansen, M.F.A., professor and chair of film and digital media at Baylor, is quoted in this article about how the 1994 Pulp Fiction movie poster that captured the vibe and influences of Quentin Tarantino’s indie breakout remains the go-to choice of freshmen across the country.

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Hansen Named Alum of the Year for Lee’s Language and Literature Department

The Chattanoogen  online

2020-11-25

Chris Hansen, professor and chair of the film and digital media at Baylor, was named the Distinguished Alumnus of the Year for the Department of Language and Literature at Lee University.

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Local filmmaker among Deep in the Heart Film Festival screenings

ABC 25 Central Texas  online

2020-09-24

Chris Hansen, chair and professor of film and digital media, is featured in this article after his film “Seven Short Films About Our Marriage” was screened virtually at the Deep in the Heart Film Festival. Hansen has won several awards for filmmaking and the trailer to his recent film can be found here.

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Articles

The Mind Behind the Mockumentary: A Filmmaker’s Approach to the Mockumentary Form

Too Bold for the Box Office: A Study in Mockumentaries (Scarecrow Press)

2010

Although considered a relatively new genre, the mockumentary has existed nearly as long as filmmaking itself and has become one of the most common forms of film and television comedy today. In order to better understand the larger cultural truths artfully woven into their deception, these works demonstrate just how tenuous and problematic our collective understandings of our social worlds can be.

In Too Bold for the Box Office: The Mockumentary from Big Screen to Small, Cynthia J. Miller has assembled essays by scholars and filmmakers who examine this unique cinematic form. Individually, each of these essays looks at a given instance of mockumentary parody and subversion, examining the ways in which each calls into question our assumptions, pleasures, beliefs, and even our senses. Writing about national film, television, and new media traditions as diverse as their backgrounds, this volume’s contributors explore and theorize the workings of mockumentaries, as well as the strategies and motivations of the writers and filmmakers who brought them into being.

Reflections by filmmakers Kevin Brownlow (It Happened Here), Christopher Hansen (The Proper Care and Feeding of An American Messiah), and Spencer Schaffner (The Urban Literacy Manifesto) add valued perspective and significantly deepen the discussions found in the volume’s other contributions. This collection of essays on films, television programming, and new media illustrates common threads running across cultures and eras and attempts to answer sweeping existential questions about the nature of social life and the human condition.

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