Young High Desert filmmakers to showcase their work at festival
By EMILY BERG/Staff WriterHESPERIA — Young filmmakers can learn a lot from each other and from audience responses, said Jerrold Ridenour, 25, a student and independent film maker.
Ridenour's passion for filmmaking led him to organize a student film festival for the High Desert.
Students from three schools as well as the Victor Valley Community College Academy of Digital Animation are participating in the two-night High Desert Student Film Festival that starts Monday.
The festival will give students the advantage of seeing their work on the big screen.
"It helps you realize what you can do better," Ridenour said.
The audience is an unbiased observer of the work. Its response can teach the filmmaker a lot about pace and timing.
"The biggest problem with amateur films is there is no rhythm," Ridenour said.
The students can also learn from the other films. They'll be able to see what other students did right and bring it into their work later.
The students also must make the film and go through all the problem-solving an independent filmmaker faces.
Creating a $100 shot with no money, dealing with bad weather or losing an actor at the last minute are just a few of the challenges the students have to work through.
The Academy of Academic Excellence in Apple Valley has two entries in the festival. "Gravity" is a commercial produced by ninth-grader Daniel Cruger. The other is a 15-minute documentary called "Holocaust" from Sara Ankrum, also a ninth-grader at the school.
"I think it's a good outlet," said Steve Orsinelli, AAE's video and film instructor.
Students can watch their films all day but a real audience is the key.
"They need an audience to show them how to create things better the second time," he said.
AAE's program teaches digital cinematography, making films with digital cameras. It started four years ago with 10 students and now has 89.
"What's great is it gives kids their own expression," Orsinelli said.
The Academy of Digital Animation at VVC is submitting several works about three minutes long. "The Atomic Duck" from Robert Howard and Andrew Willis is the only piece in the festival that combines live action and animation.
"These projects are a very important part of their (the students) training," said Mike Lucas, the animation instructor. "They're involved in the animated production process from start to finish. Like an actor on a stage, audience response is very important. It brings a sense of satisfaction. It justifies their hard work."
There will be a total of 10 films at the festival, most of the pieces are three to five minutes long.
The other schools involved are Silverado and Victor Valley high schools.
Used with persmission by Daily Press, Freedom Communication, 2001