P.S. 8: The Movie
What's it like to see your work--or your head--on the same screen usually occupied by Ben Stiller or Decepticon? It's understandably "awesome," according to the thirty P.S. 8 students (and their friends and family) who had a taste of the big time this spring with a debut of the Film Club's latest productions at Cobble Hill Cinema. Early one Saturday in May, the kids had the chance to enjoy a rare breakfast-time popcorn as they watched people they knew from the school corridors magnified in a full-sized movie house. In addition to its "Movies for Young People" series, Cobble Hill shows movies by young people as well.
P.S. 8 became a Twilight Zone this year as the Film Club drew inspiration from Rod Serling's classic TV shows. Even while studying the old black-and-white episodes after school the kids saw right away that the most unsettling stories are often those set in places of supposed safety and routine, in this case their school. This year's two shorts involve both time travel (a prankish flip of the classroom lights lands two children in 1930s Brooklyn) and an alien conspiracy, (extending from some eery substitute teachers right to the top; Look for a "slimy" cameo by Principal Seth Philips.)
The P.S. 8 Film Club, currently run by Melissa Browning and Kristen Tolhurst, was born in the fall of 2005, starting as a Renzulli Cluster program during school hours and evolving into a full-fledged afterschool activity the following year led by Ms. Browning and Bill Maxcy. Since then the club's projects have included student commercials and short documentaries as well as stories about problem-solving kids stuck in another dimension, or sleuths pursuing the mystery of a missing diamond. Additional help has come from PTA fundraisers, such as the Harry Potter screening in 2005, with further guidance from parents such as Tracy Atkinson and Mark Hubatsek. The club now has four Macs and video cameras at its disposal, even its own new boom mike to pick up every bit of alien dialogue.
The kids learn to work on both sides of the camera. Each fall, interested students fill out an application for a variety of roles --screenwriting, props and costumes, camera work, sound, and film editing. The group writes a script, followed by auditions for the onscreen acting parts. In past years, the filmmakers have made use of the dramatic vistas of the school's neighborhood, and if needed, grownups are also drafted to fill out the story. "It's incredible" to see yourself blown up bigger than life onscreen, says Leo Catapano, a 5th grader and film club veteran who's spent time in front of and behind the camera. But this year he preferred shooting the action as a cameraman, "You don’t get in trouble for forgetting your lines."
The Film Club goes back into production next fall.
Posted on: July 7, 2009
