The newly founded Filmmaking Club plans to establish a 72-hour film festival in which teams of student filmmakers collaborate to create a movie over the course of three days.
According to club leadership, the club is a hub of creativity, cinematic passion and fresh talents. Film Club is the third club within the theater department of the school, following Drama Club and Improv Club. Junior Miles Sklar created the club in an attempt to aid his fellow students in discovering flair they may not have seen in themselves before by bringing a 72-hour film festival to the school. “I was in a 48-hour film festival production, and I wanted to bring it to Wootton,” Sklar said.
Sklar assembled a board of friends who also had the same interests in film as him. He approached sophomore Amal Shaikh, requesting for her to represent the Drama Club. There are several differences between the Film and Drama clubs. “With film, you’re studying the elements of working with others while drama feels more imaginative, and you’re putting yourself in a character. Film is more literal,” Shaikh said.
As indicated in the club description, instead of just focusing on film study, the club will be making short films. The club will attempt to educate members on the creation process, and then allow students to go out and make their own short films to be shown to the group. The club is also attempting to get students to try something new, which won’t be a problem with the estimated 75-student turnout at the club fair, ensuring everyone will most likely be able to find some sort of creative passion. “There’s all kinds of creative expression, and media and film are important art forms for expression and creativity, and it’s another chance to have students work together and bring different parts of the Wootton school community together,” club sponsor Julian Lazarus said.
With the 75 students who signed up, it’s imminent that teams will be created for the film festival. “I’m excited to see what me and my peers can do. There’s cool techniques to learn and things to do with others that I wouldn’t have been aware of before,” senior Mathew Cortes said.
Sklar was thrilled to start the club. Along with his experience working in film festivals and short films, he has a highly praised work ethic to go beside it. “I think Miles is very driven, and once he has his mind set on something he won’t let it go. If he knows what he’s doing, he’ll do it, and he’s going to be a good leader and teach us a good aspect of film,” Cortes said.
The board is passionate about the club and said that they want to bring the club back next year. Lazarus expressed interest in continuing the club with every student body in the future, “It’s a sister club to drama, and it works with the TV production class,” Lazarus said.
