Bret Jones decided to embark on a new adventure, trading the stage for the camera.

A background primarily in stage theatre, Jones started to become more involved with film recently.

Jones, program director of theatre at WSU, wrote and directed a 16-episode web series called “The Opposite of People,” starring Wichita State students. The series, which is available on the WSU theatre YouTube channel, follows — in “mockumentary” style — the life and times of college actors, how they have big egos and think they are superstars, Jones said.

In addition, Jones shot a feature-length film called “After Midnight” two years ago. That movie received a screening at The Barebones International Film and Musical Festival in Oklahoma earlier this year.

Jones is directing a feature-length film starring several WSU theatre students called “Redux” this semester.

“It is about a girl who is undergoing experimental treatment for schizophrenia who must solve the murder of her friend,” he said.

Jones said the study of optogenetics, which explores how neurons can be controlled when they have been genetically made sensitive to light, inspired him to make the film.

The script was finished in the spring and casting took place during the first week of fall classes. Shooting began during week three of the semester and is expected to be finished within three weeks.

Jones said casting his students in film projects is educational because it exposes them to a different medium of acting. He said there is a difference in acting and speaking styles in film than in theatre because the audience is closer in a film.

“They’re learning that less is more when they’re acting,” Jones said. “It’s been a big education for them in trying to figure out, ‘How do I do this when I’ve been doing nothing but work on the big stage for so long?’”

Senior theatre performance major Allison Claye, who is starring in “Redux,” said performing in a film is much more intimate.

“It’s much more compacted than it is on a big stage,” she said. “I kind of like that. I think it’s more realistic.”

In “Redux,” Claye stars as Naomi, a friend of Lorraine’s, the main character undergoing experimental treatment for schizophrenia. The film is Claye’s seventh.

Assistant Director Brandi Bailey said the experience with her first film is different because it is more technical than stage theatre.

“The theatre is kind of an equal balance between technology and performance, and this is like 80 percent technology and 20 percent performance,” Bailey said.

Jones said the daily filming schedule varies by day, depending on student schedules and if the weather is cooperating. For Claye, shooting while taking 23 credit hours and as a teaching assistant for three online classes while filming, the experience can be stressful.

She said Tuesday that she was up until 2 a.m. the night before working on homework.

“Not a lot of sleeping is going on, but I think it will be worth it,” she said.

The film is made with the goal of achieving the mission of the Fine Arts department — to educate students with as many skills and techniques as possible, Jones said. He said the 21st Century performer does everything.

“They do anything and everything: stage, TV, film, commercials, voice-overs, cartoon voices — they do it all,” he said. “We’re trying, in our own modest way, to try these opportunities for our students in their education.”