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A summer spent hanging out with Macedonian drug addicts, working 15-hour days at film school, writing graphic novels and starting a production company isn't exactly "the norm" for most college students.

But Radford University senior Shea Sizemore's summer was spent in exactly this fashion.

As a media production major and minor in cinematic arts at RU, filmmaker Sizemore is striving to make a name for himself in the movie industry.

Church trip starts the journey

The special summer began when Sizemore's church, Dwelling Place Christian Fellowship in Christiansburg, presented him and friends Paul Metzger and Mike Tangolokis with the opportunity to follow a mission trip to Macedonia and Serbia, to document everything they did.

"Free trip to another country and two of my best friends get to come along? Heck, yeah," said Sizemore.

Before the group left for Macedonia and Serbia, they discussed the idea of making a short film during their time there.

Sizemore and his crew would find out that they would have plenty of free time on their hands as the teams from Dwelling Place Christian Fellowship were off doing outreaches.

Sizemore made several Macedonian friends during the two weeks he was there, including an ex-drug addict by the name of Alpine, who had long grungy dreadlocks and tattoos all over his body.

The result of this overseas adventure was a short experimental film entitled "Ragenik," which literally means "addiction" in Macedonian.

" 'Ragenik' is basically a montage of images that shows the progression and deterioration of Nick, an American traveling the world, and how he faces his addictions," said Sizemore. "We shot it in black-and-white and played around with splashing certain things with color. We are trying to give it a comic book feel."

While in Macedonia, Sizemore filmed at some locations that couldn't have been duplicated back home.

"We got the camera into a European nightclub. The camera didn't do it justice. It was crazy in there," said Sizemore.

After returning from overseas, Sizemore didn't have time to catch his breath.

Hard work at film school

In July, he went to the International Film and Television Workshop at Rockport College in Maine to study the process of filmmaking.

"We went from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. almost every night. It was basically a semester's worth of information in one month," said Sizemore. "It really changed the way I will forever make movies."

While at film school, Sizemore shot two pieces, a commercial and a 10-minute dark comedy entitled "Similar Vein."

"It had great locations, terrific acting and state-of-the-art cameras and equipment," he said.

What Sizemore and his crew didn't have was time. "Similar Vein" was shot in one day.

"I don't think it hurt the film, but it could have been excellent if it wasn't rushed," he said.

Sizemore hopes to enter "Similar Vein" as his main entry into the Progeny Film Festival and the new Radford Film Festival.

To the drawing board

While the bulk of Sizemore's work is centered on the camera, his latest project is taking him back to the drawing board -- literally.

Sizemore and his roommate, as well as best friend Metzger, are currently writing a graphic novel entitled "Alleyways."

Part one, "Blood and Water," has already been written. Sizemore describes the story as "an intricate story of kidnapping, betrayal and murder."

All of these events occur in a homeless man's "back yard" so to speak -- the alley he calls home.

"We learn more about the bum himself and how his story collides with theirs," said Sizemore.

The script, laid out in a professional structure, holds the blueprint for what will become a blend of writing and artistry:

EXT. NIGHT: ALLEY

Establishing shots of a city.

The last one being a bum's silhouette sitting in an alley.

BUM (V.O.)

All the filth and scum of a city funnels through an alley. It's the backstage of city life while the show carries on out under the streetlights.

With part one already finished, Sizemore said he is eager to begin the art of "Alleyways."

"The art is what I am really excited about. It is going to be very unique, professional and original, using techniques I have never really seen used," said Sizemore.

Next project under way

With "Alleyways" well under way and "Ragenik" in production, Sizemore's next film project, the drama/thriller "In Betweens," is a story he has been working on for several years.

"We begin filming this spring with a budget of $10,000," said Sizemore.

Sizemore said he got a lot of the money for "In Betweens" from his film "The Quickening," which won best screenplay at the 2005 Progeny Film Festival.

"The story of 'In Betweens' centers on a young man and his family trying to survive and become successful in a very un-accepting and unreceptive environment," said Sizemore.

While the film sounds straightforward, he said there will be "a supernatural weirdness" to it.

"It is going to have some very uncomfortable themes and cinematic moments that may be very controversial," said Sizemore.

Launching new company

To fund all of the projects that he is currently working on, Sizemore and friends James Gray and Metzger are developing their own production company.

Speaking to the Dead Productions is the name, and Sizemore reports that the Web site is almost complete.

"It looks great," said Sizemore. The Speaking to the Dead crew plans to sell T-shirts to bring in some income as well as provide freelance video and editing work, which has already proven to be successful.

Aside from selling T-shirts, the Web site will list projects currently in production, as well as pieces done in the past.

There will be production pictures and notes, and biographical information on the company's founders at www.speakingtothedead.com.

72-hour gig lands award

After a summer that spurred a whirlwind of projects, Sizemore and his team felt more prepared than ever for what lay ahead.

Just when it seemed that things might return to a state of normalcy, the team became involved in The Adrenaline Film Project.

The Adrenaline Film Project, sponsored by the Virginia Film Festival and Apple Computers, chose Speaking To The Dead as one of 10 teams selected to write, plan, shoot and edit a short film in 72 hours.

Not only must the film be completely finished in 72 hours, but it also has to be done within an assigned genre and include a given prop and line of dialogue.

Jeff Wadlow and Beau Bowman, director and producer of "Cry Wolf," serve as mentors -- green lighting the teams through the various stages of production.

Sizemore, Metzger and graphic designer Kim Bonner were assigned a suspense flick.

"The line of dialogue we had to use was 'that's just not right,' and our prop was a chain," said Sizemore.

The result was "Small Loss," a three-minute film about a man who owed money to the wrong kind of people.

After a long chase, his debtors eventually catch him and settle the score -- taking one of his kidneys.

After the 72-hour experience, which ran Oct. 26-30, "Small Loss" won the Mentor's Award, which Sizemore considers to be the most prominent award.

"You've got the Jury Award, they're basically just critics and have never made a movie. Then you've got the audience, who are really just there for the laughs and the thrills and chills, and then there's the mentors," said Sizemore. "They actually make movies, and they were watching us through the whole process, so that's why I preferred to win that one."

Sizemore took away more than just the Mentor's Award from the festival.

"I learned some new editing and directing techniques, as well as making all kind of connections," said Sizemore.

Wadlow even offered to write a letter of recommendation for Sizemore if he should apply to Southern Cal for graduate school.

"I'll definitely take Jeff Wadlow up on his offer," said Sizemore.