FridaySeptember 03, 2010
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Tuesday, April 07, 2009 AHS students make their own movies By Brenda Erdahl Stevie and Stephen Steinberg are passionate about one thing, and that's running. Equipped with forehead powerbands and a unique sense of style when it comes to jogging outfits, the siblings set out to conquer the sport of high school track in the student-made short film "The Powerband." Unfortunately the sister and brother duo are not very good at running, which makes for a few good laughs in the five-minute mock documentary produced and filmed by Annandale High School students. The comedy is one of seven student-made short films that will premier at the first annual Heart of the Lakes Film Festival Sunday, April 19, at 2 p.m. in the high school Performing Arts Center. The festival, which is open to the public, will showcase the hard work and talent of the art department's first-year film making students. Afterward, a panel of five judges, composed of Annandale residents or graduates with professional photography, graphic design and acting experience, will choose a Best of the Fest film. Every viewer in the audience will also have a chance to cast a vote for the People's Choice Award. First-year film making students spent the entire first semester of the school year preparing for Sunday's event. According to instructor Adam Sparks, 100 percent of the material is student created. They wrote their own screenplays, drew up storyboards, directed, acted and shot the material. Sound tracks The students then edited their films using the computers in the art department's iMac lab, and they even composed and recorded their own music for the sound tracks. As a result, each film brings something different to the big screen, from clever special effects to engaging stories backed up by humor and skillful acting. "This was a first-time thing for everybody. It took all semester and after school. Some signed up for an extra quarter (of the class) to finish," the novice film makers said after a sneak preview last month in the auditorium. That afternoon classes were let out a half-hour early to preview three of the group's short films, "Coffee Love," "Hot Eats" and "The Powerband." For the would-be directors and actors it was the first time they watched their movies on something larger than a computer screen. "It was really fun to see it up there (on the big screen)," said film making student Maddi Orr. "I thought, 'Wow, that's something we did.'" The idea for the film festival was inspired by art teacher Cathie Wemlinger's son's award-winning documentary film, "Arid Lands." Wemlinger and Sparks had a vision to create a course on film making and a film festival to showcase their students' films. The students were given free rein to explore their own creativity with the one stipulation that the story be based and filmed in Annandale. The groups experimented with different film making techniques including stop motion video, a device that was used effectively to shoot the outrageous fight sequences in "Hot Eats." All the sound effects in that film - every thud of a fist and crack of a pick axe - had to be created afterward with tools or their own mouths and edited into the movie, said Mike Carlon, one of the creators of "Hot Eats." A teaser trailer for the romantic short "Coffee Love" can be seen at www.hotlfilmfest.wordpress.com. The movie, which features a well-designed introduction with professional looking graphics, is about a boy who meets a girl over a cup of coffee and a cookie. Now that the work is done, the students can only marvel at their accomplishments and what they have learned. "Whenever I see a movie now I'm aware of how the shots are set up," said Chris Broll, who worked on the film "Time is of the Essence," a music video with a plot. "We invite anyone and everyone here to bring their parents and family (to Sunday's festival)," Sparks told the audience at the preview. "What the students put together here is really spectacular." | ||||
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