One sunny March afternoon under the glare of camera lights, Cheri Noto Karlin is wondering if she needs more candles.

“The power’s off, and it’s supposed to be evening,” she said, studying the room with a practiced eye. “Let’s go ahead and get them all lit.”

It might seem odd to the casual observer, but Karlin is on a movie set. A graduate film student at University of New Orleans, she’s filming her fourth student film project, “Hunker Down,” set during Hurricane Gustav.

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The film depicts a young woman and her husband, plus her parents who have come to ride out the storm, and the resulting tensions that unfold.

Karlin navigates the set with her son, Atticus, 14 months, on her hip. She began studying film as an undergraduate, and hopes to have six projects under her belt by the time she graduates in the summer of 2010. While she has done some acting over the course of her studies, she prefers the challenge of directing.

Of the dozen or so cast and crew members working on the film, most of which is shot in her parents home off Louisiana Highway 59, only one is not a UNO student.

“My studies have allowed me to touch on every job in film production,” she said. “If something goes wrong on a film I have a better chance to fix it by working collaboratively with other students.”

Her studies have been rewarding in a number of ways, said Karlin. Working on projects with her classmates has allowed her the chance to be involved in several high quality projects.

In addition, students are able to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom yet still put their own creative stamp on a project.

Karlin’s last project was filmed at the Kickstand Café in Mandeville, and an actor, a member of the cast of “Alias,” flew in from Los Angeles to participate.

After “Hunker Down” is wrapped, she’ll go on to direct a student film for the UNO Spring Film Festival. Each year the festival features three short films, all written by professional screenwriters. Two are directed by professors and one by a student, and this year Karlin has been selected to be that student.

She plans to submit her short films to some of the major film festivals in the hopes it will lead to work on feature films. Karlin won’t, however, sit back and wait for something to happen.

“I’ll create my own opportunities,” she said. “I can pitch a feature I’ve written and produce it independently, if necessary.”

Expecting her second child in July, Karlin said the completion of her remaining film projects would depend on how well the new baby sleeps. Directing and producing a film of any size is a grueling experience, she said, and baby Atticus only started sleeping through the night a few months ago.

“The films demand most of my time and energy, and I wouldn’t be able to pursue my cinematic goals if it weren’t for my husband, my parents and all my fellow grad students,” said Karlin. “With a toddler and a newborn, though, I may have to take a semester off.”