Columbia Students Flourish At Film Fest

The following article appeared in the March, 2012, volume 100, issue 3 edition of The Columbian, the student newspaper of Columbia High School

By Katie Sokan, junior - Staff Writer
Page Designer - Emma Garaban, junior

The film industry can be a rewarding business, bringing fame and fortune, but it is one that is not easily broken into. It is a risky business, and with any risky business, there is no guarantee of success.

All around the world, students who aspire to make it in the film world are taking film courses and entering their amateur works into film festivals in the hopes to get noticed and get their foot in the door.

Recently, at the Montclair International Film Festival (MIFF), Columbia High School students won five out of the nine total awards for the high school level.

These students were Anna Brancaccio, ’12, Ethan Oberman, ’12, Annie Epstein, ’12, and Niall Ng, ’12, William Sokoloski, ’13, Marian Ambito,’13, and Emily Schnorr, ’13.

With the help and teachings of award-winning CHS filmmaking teacher, Boris
Gavrilovic, these students have gotten their foot in the door.

Oberman, Epstein, and Ng, along with recent CHS graduate, Zoe Pulley, ‘11, submitted an experimental short titled, "A Sedated Seat," to the MIFF a few months ago.

“It didn’t have a plot; it was made up of different shots, that when put together, would create a feeling of disorientation,” said Oberman. “Our editor, [Pulley], scratched the film and threw bleach on it to add to the mood once we had developed the film.”

For their unique film, the students received the “most creative” award.

"A Sedated Seat" also received an honorable mention at the New Jersey Young Film and Videomakers Festival and won Best Production at the Trenton Film Society’s Not Quite Legal Festival.

Schnorr, along with her friend Mara Evans, a student at Oak Knoll High School, submitted a comedic claymation entitled "Picnic."

“It’s about a man who settles down to have a picnic by himself when a few mischievous ants come along and pick up his food. When he sees his food moving around, he thinks he must be drunk and watches as the food seemingly dances around the picnic blanket,” explained Schnorr. “In the end he runs away, and the ants collect his food in the basket and get away with it. Meanwhile the man ends up in a straightjacket.”

For their claymation, Schnorr and Evans received an honorable mention for “best storyline.”

Sokoloski submitted a science-fiction action short, "The Beast."

“It’s about a small town kid who is the only thing standing between an alien
invasion and the safety of his planet. The kid uses his imagination and
amazing array of weapons to fend off the alien beast,” said Sokolski. “I
wanted to combine stop animation [a cinematic technique commonly
used in claymation and puppet-based animation to make static objects
appear as if they were moving], with live action, and after four weeks
of messing around, I got this.”

Since then, "The Beast" has won multiple awards. It won second place overall at the MIFF, it was a finalist in the best editing category in the Derek Freese Film Festival, and it was a finalist in the Garden State Film Festival.

Ambito submitted an animation short, "Amateur Night," about a boywho decided to sing at amateur night in a local pub. Instead of words coming out of his mouth, a warped noise does. The sound is earsplitting and in an attempt to shut him up, everyone in the audience throws their food and beverages at him. By the end of his performance, everyone’s heads have literally burst. At the MIFF, Amateur Night won best animation.

While many of these students are certainly passionate about film, some are considering another career in the film industry.

Epstein explained that she aspires to be a Broadway and musical theater actress, but that “working as an actor in film and television is definitely an option.”

Oberman said he was unsure of exactly what career path in film he desired to take, explaining “production is as specific as I can get right now.”

Schnorr said she is specifically interested in computer animation, but is also considering game design, product design, and engineering as career options.

Ng said, “Film is a passion for me. I was interested in being a film editor, but then I found my love of acting and performing. So I may be in films in the future, but as an actor, not a filmmaker.”

Finally, Sokolski explained, “Film is what I hope to have as a career in the future. More specifically, I would like to be doing the special effects part of feature films, and anything else to get the visuals looking as awesome as possible!”