Film Front Online

THE MOVIE MOGULS OF TOMORROW

 

Saint John, NB - "It'll be easy… the kids are brilliant”, she said as she gazed imploringly. She, being a summer camp teacher and actress, I being a 19-year veteran of the film and television production industries. The mission? To take a roomful of her summer camp charges, aged 10 to 15, and teach them about making a movie.

It was an easy decision, given that I’m a mother who believes children should learn their potential and be positively encouraged at an early age. I also believe people should donate time to their community, and this was a great fit.

 

After reflecting on how the average 12-year old brain might process information, and the crafting of a flexible lesson plan, it was off to the classroom.

 

Opening the outside door of the school, a wild, raw energy rolled out to greet me. Then came the laughter, and the piercing, animated chatter of girls and boys who were obviously caught up in, and tremendously enjoying, what they were doing.

 

I faced the classroom door, unsure what to expect. I’d never taught a group of young children in a classroom setting. Realizing that it was likely a matter of lead, but be willing to be led, I took a deep breath and opened the door.

 

One, then another little set of eyes darted my way. A tiny blonde, the size of a wood sprite, stepped forward and said hello, her head tilted, her grin steady. I was being sized up by someone who barely reached my waist. 

 

"My mommy drives the same car you do,” she offered matter-of-factly, as I began silently wondering how to deal with telepathic wood sprites.

 

“And how do you know what kind of car I drive?” I asked this little person whom I had never laid eyes on. 

 

"It's on your key chain,” she said in a droll, Lucy-to-Charlie-Brown way.

 

A key fob, jammed with many other items into my overloaded hands, bore a small logo on one side, which parts of were barely visible between two of my fingers. 

 

I decided at that moment, that if this wonderful, highly observant little person was any indication of the type of student in that classroom, that it was going to be a very fun day.

  

During the course of our session, we walked through how to properly audition for a feature film, and roll-played the audition process. We talked about the meanings of words and terms used in the movie industry, and even videotaped a scene. Everyone had an assigned role, from boom operator, to makeup and hair, assistant director, to principal actors. A grip rolled us through truck shots; continuity kept each scene visually on track; and our sound man, who saved our big scene time and money by noticing strange noises and eliminating them, did an impressive job of living his role.

 

We talked about how a film gets made, from idea, to script, to production and distribution, and the many other steps in-between. Curiously, even the business end of things was interesting to them.

 

We laughed a lot, and moved fast. There was much to do, in little time. We forgot we were supposed to take a break, and were reminded by the program’s regular teacher, Saint John actress Vanessa Furlong, that it would be a good idea to do so. Editor’s Note: Vanessa is one of the two principal actresses in the Gretchen Kelbaugh film, Margaret and Dierdre, due for release next year. 

 

At the end of it all, we managed a hurried group photo, laughed some more, and I walked away feeling that if the future of the Saint John film industry were to rest with this group of ambitious old souls in young bodies, that the future was great indeed.

 

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