Film students from School District 47’s digital film school brought gold medals home from their trip to Toronto.
Michael Stevantoni and Annabelle Foss, students at Powell River Digital Film School, beat the best BC student filmmakers in April when they competed in the provincial film contest. Their win at that level put them in contention for the national contest at the beginning of June.
Tony Papa, instructor at the film school, explained that entering a film contest is really, “a study in winning awards.” Winning is about understanding what the judges are going to be looking at in terms of story, presentation, cinematography and originality of concept, he said.
These were all areas of focus for the students throughout their year at the school.
What set the team from Powell River apart was their positivity, he said. “They really nailed it,” said Papa.
His students focused on building a concept around the positive aspect of their given theme, which for this competition was, “I have a bad feeling about this...”
Michael and Annabelle chose to make their film, The Break Up Wake Up, about someone who uses the experience of being dumped as a positive learning experience and realizes that they can be content in life without needing to be with someone.
Papa said the students were not allowed to leave the hangar-like room while in the competition and that created constraints on how they could record sound.
The pair decided to find a somewhat quiet corner to record voice-over narration in a rhyming Dr. Seuss style, which Papa said worked very well for the overall style of the short film.
The win at nationals is creating more interest for the Powell River film school, said Papa, which has been running for the past seven years. He said there are plans to expand the school and open it up to international students.
The school has enrolled more than 70 students since its inception and many have gone on to further their film education or begin working in the industry, he added.
The school, offered free for any grade 12 student in BC, not only provides its students a fast-track into Capilano University’s motion picture program, but it also gives students advanced dual credits at Emily Carr University.
Readers can view the winning film online.
