Lights. Camera. Georgetown!

All the Hilltop’s a stage this Traditions Day as filming forges ahead on “Georgetown Forever,” an entirely student-run feature film envisioned by GUSA as a way to present a unique perspective on Georgetown’s identity and bolster school spirit throughout the university community.

The film is part of the student association’s Spirit Campaign initiative, which was launched this year by Drew Rau (COL ’06), GUSA President Pravin Rajan’s (SFS ’07) chief of staff. The cost of the film, which Rau said is expected to be between $1,200 and $1,500, will be financed entirely by profits from Spirit Campaign T-shirt sales that took place earlier this year.

Rau and other GUSA officials overseeing the project said that the film defies easy categorization, describing it as both a “mock epic” and a “comedic discovery tale.”

“You can’t really put it into one genre,” Assembly Representative Twister Murchison (SFS ’08), one of the film’s producers, said.

The film’s plot follows fictional GUSA Vice President Nash Rambler, played by Nathan Fabian (SFS ’08), Rau’s actual deputy. Rambler must defend Georgetown after several Ivy League schools conspire to kidnap the GUSA president to force Georgetown to join their ranks.

Accompanied by his chief of staff, Rick, and girlfriend Kate, an employee of Vital Vittles, Rambler’s odyssey will take him from Midnight Mug to Healy’s towers in an effort to repel the Ivy onslaught, officials said.

Other students with leading roles in the film include Gavin Hoffman (COL ’06) and Christopher Moore (MSB ’07).

Rau, the film’s executive producer and scriptwriter, said that most of the movie will focus on the various institutions and traditions that make Georgetown unique, citing The Tombs and the Corp as examples.

“The goal is really just to make that intangible sense of school pride really become tangible,” Rau said.

He added that GUSA is inviting a number of student organizations to contribute to the film, both on-screen and off. In addition to the Corp, the film will feature the College Democrats, the College Republicans and the Georgetown Emergency Response Medical Service, Rau said.

All of the music in the film’s soundtrack will be from student and alumni music groups, he added.

Rau and Murchsion acknowledged that GUSA will be among the student organizations featured in the film, and that its sometimes less-than-stellar representation on campus will be accurately accounted for.

“This is not a propaganda film about GUSA,” urchison said. “It’s just funny.”

Rau said that he hopes the film will be to Georgetown what “Rudy,” the 1993 film about a Chicago-area young man who desperately wants to play football for the Fighting Irish, is to the University of Notre Dame, but with an appeal more specific to people who have spent time on the Hilltop immersed in Georgetown tradition.

He added, however, that much of the film will have universal appeal. Another scene that producers expect to film involves a medieval-style battle between Georgetown students and students from Ivy League schools, complete with Hoyas firing fake weapons from Healy Tower.

Officials involved in the film’s production have emphasized the steps they are taking to make the film look professional. Jon Deutsch (COL ’07), the film’s director, said it is being shot with three cameras and advanced sound equipment.

Deutsch noted that the camera he is using is the same kind used to shoot the film that won top honors at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The other two cameras were supplied by GUTV, which is working actively on the film’s production staff.

“If you didn’t know this movie was made by students, you wouldn’t know this movie was made by students,” Rau said.

Rau said that the project’s cost is about equivalent to that of a major event on campus, but that it will have greater staying power than any single event.

Murchison said that the project is a not-for-profit venture, and that all proceeds that GUSA brings in from students who see the film and purchase it on DVD will be returned to the university.

Deutsch said that 20-25 percent of principal photography is complete and officials hope to release the film sometime in April. Rau and Murchison said that they are investigating a number of venues on- and off-campus to host a large-scale premiere.

Next week, GUSA will kick off a publicity campaign for the movie that will involve launching a Web site. Rau said that a trailer will follow later. Deutsch said that interest in the project has already been high.

“The level of enthusiasm and support . has been amazing,” Deutsch said.