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Two Mahurangi College filmmakers will walk the red carpet in Tauranga on November 22 as part of the International Youth Silent Film Festival.
Samuel Chitty and Ysabella Stevenson, both Year11, had their movies selected for the finals of the New Zealand regional competition last month.
“I’m very stoked to make the finals and expecting the event to be an amazing experience,” Samuel says.
The silent film festival allows contestants to make a short film using one of 10 soundtracks, all played on an organ, as their only source of audio.
Samuel chose the romance soundtrack and scripted a movie where two students were attempting to be romantic under the watchful eye of a strict librarian.
“I was sitting in the library when I was thinking of ideas so that’s how it came to me.
“I also based it on one of my favourite films, La La Land, and looking back it’s probably the best film I’ve made.”
This theme is brought in with a table top dance sequence choreographed by Caprice Gifford.
“It was really the highlight of the film, and it wouldn’t have been as successful without it.”
Samuel, unlike most school filmmakers, opted to use an Iphone to video his production.
“I felt more comfortable using a phone instead of a dedicated camera and with Bluetooth I could monitor the pictures being taken by our cameraman, Luke MacKinnon.”
Samuel says making it this far in the competition already feels like a win and any further success is a bonus.
Ysabella’s film looks at a high school student who is finding every possible way to avoid doing homework.
“I wanted to make a film that was relatable to students and I went through a few ideas before I got to this one.”
She says fitting the visuals in sync with a soundtrack was the biggest challenge.
“I had the song playing out loud while we were shooting and even then we had to re-shoot scenes a lot.”
She says the film took about five hours to shoot and she isn’t entirely pleased with the end product.
“The timing of the film came together well, but the storyline wasn’t as good as it could have been.”
At the event in Tauranga all of the finalists’ films will be shown with soundtracks played live on a theatre organ. The top three will go to the international final in Oregon next year.
Cash prizes of $2000, $1500 and $1000 are also up for grabs.
