Tech week is a beast! Having spent the two previous years on stage in drama class, 8^th graders now shift into digital film, a medium that Chris says introduces students “to broader areas of artistic expression other than performance.” First, 8th graders were challenged to create an ad that told a story in under 30 seconds. Next, they wrote their own movie shorts of 2 to 5 minutes in length. The theme is perspective: how the camera can be tricked and the narrative can be turned. So far students studied pre-production conceptualization and explored production department work, like lighting, location, sound, and camera work. This week they are filming, a hands-on and student-driven process that coalesces their artistic choices, from products, to filming styles, to editing techniques.

As Chris reminds students, their work is not just about acting and writing but how well they work together as a team. Chris teaches students that moviemaking is “a way to reach people with skills and teamwork” and that therefore their potential as filmmakers is “unstoppable.” He explains that collaborative film work requires students to be “fluid with their creativity in a team setting” and that it allows students to practice “the responsibility and respect needed with a medium so overused and misused in the online world.” Here are a few photos of the process – costumes, script writing, and script reading with a Hyla at Home classmate. Stay tuned for the debut of our 8th grade auteurs!