Bryce Dallas Howard, daughter of famed actor-director Ron Howard and a talented actress in her own right, visited USC last Tuesday evening on behalf of Canon’s Project Imaginat10n as a part of USC’s Speaker Series.

What is Project Imaginat10n you ask, and why is it spelled with numbers? Partnered with Canon for the second year in a row, Ron Howard opened a two-part contest, the first of which asked individuals to submit photos that would fall into ten categories (hence the numerical reference in the name) ranging from mood to character to setting. The thousands of photos submitted to the contest were recently narrowed down to ten finalists in each of the ten categories by five celebrity judges including Jaime Foxx, Eva Longoria, and Georgina Chapman of Marchesa.

This next phase is the production of ten short films to be screened at a film festival towards the end of 2013. Five of these films will be directed by each of the five guest judges, and the other five will be selected from submissions by filmmakers who wish to take part. But here’s the catch: every submission and even the celebrity directed films must somehow incorporate ten of the finalists’ photos from phase one, with one photo per category.

It’s Ron’s belief that putting these parameters on filmmakers actually forces people to become creative in innovative ways. Using the photographs for source material takes away the hardest part of the filmmaking process: lack of inspiration. 

Tuesday’s event was held in Taper Hall. Before entering the auditorium, representatives from Canon invited attendees to play with the company’s latest camera equipment and take home Canon branded pamphlets at a table just outside the auditorium’s entrance. While it was nice to see such fancy equipment up close, this marketing strategy proved to be slightly annoying. This feeling was intensified by the numerous times it was emphasisized that there’d be a raffle for a brand new Canon camera at the event's conclusion.

Once inside the auditorium, everyone took his or her seat. The event was surprisingly unattended for one featuring an actress of Bryce’s caliber and fame as she’s been in the hit movies The Village, The Twilight Saga, and The Help to name a few. At the beginning of the event, The School of Cinematic Arts' Alex Ago played a couple clips explaining Project Imaginat10n and how Bryce became involved in it. Then we watched a short film Bryce directed and Ron produced for Project Imagin8tion’s first contest held last year. That contest had the same idea as this year’s, but there were only 8 photo categories and only one film was made as a result. The resulting film, titled “when you find me,” proved to be such a successful project that Canon brought the contest back for a second year. 

The film ran about twenty-five minutes long and seamlessly incorporated the photographs of the 8 finalists in innovative ways. It was an endearing story of how two sisters cope with the death of their mother. It's worth watching, at the very least to see how well Bryce did directing her first film. 

After the movie, we watched a couple more clips that revealed the contest this year: the one inviting filmmakers to follow in Bryce’s footsteps and make a short film incorporating the finalists of this year's photo contest. While these clips were interesting and had high production value, having to watch four of them in addition to Bryce's film made the event feel like an advertisment. Plus, the clips took away from Bryce’s time to speak with the audience, and let’s be honest, that’s why most of us were there. She ended up only getting to speak for a brief fifteen minutes—even she was surprised by being cut short. 

Judging by her obvious passion for the project and genuine desire to offer advice to those who wish to follow in her footsteps, it’s clear that Bryce hasn’t been jaded by the years she’s spent in the spotlight, whether from growing up with a famous father or from her own career in the industry. Her down to earth personality softened the overwhelming sense that Canon was just trying to sell us their products.

When it was time for Bryce to depart, one couldn’t help but laugh at the emphasis the event runners put on having her leave before anyone else was allowed to. It was a not-so-subtle reminder that we’re only aspiring filmmakers and we haven’t quite made it yet. 

Check out the winning photographs chosen for this year’s Project Imaginat10n here. There you can also find more information about the project. Details about the upcoming film contest should be posted on the site in the coming months. 

Read Neon Tommy's exclusive interview with Bryce Dallas Howard here.

Reach Staff Reporter Sarah Mickelson here.