To jump into the world of film, the new Film Club tackled the New Jersey Mutual (NJM) Just Drive competition and are now moving on and setting their sights on their very own Souderton Student Film Festival.
Video production was one of Film Club Advisor Alicia Simpson’s classes and in it was a group of students who were interested in making films.
Rhodes saw an opportunity to create a club and worked with Simpson to make it happen. Club member Owen Gingrich was one of the students who helped start the Film Club.
“I thought it would be an interesting place to help make films and enjoy the art form,” Gingrich said.
In the NJM Just Drive competition, the Film Club had to create a public service announcement (PSA) to promote safe driving.
The Film Club’s members are making multiple videos in preparation for the festival, which will be held at the Broad Theater, on May 23, 6:30-9:30 p.m.
“Right now we’re discussing two or three different films,” Film Club member Matthew Meehan said. “[For] one, the script is being made. [For] the other, the script is also being made. And the [third] one, we’re still working on.”
The PSA had to be 30 seconds long.
According to Film Club member Leila Rhodes, this made it very difficult because of how small the time frame was.
“We figured it would be an easy thing but it turned out to be a lot more difficult than we thought,” Rhodes said.
Meehan disagrees and feels that “the actual video itself wasn’t hard, it was all the [other] things we had to do.”
The club had to make an Instagram account, as well as get signatures from students outside the club for the competition. During the making of the PSA, all the members of the club fit into each of their roles.
“We had kids who wrote the script, we had directors, cameramen, some stars and then some editors,” Simpson said.
All the students in the club have a passion for film.
“I find the feeling I get when I watch a really good movie, [the] feeling is something I treasure and I want to replicate that for other people,” Meehan said.
According to Simpson, the club is going very well so far.
Many people are showing interest in it and it seems to have a bright future for it.
Rhodes said that it is “slowly growing,” as there are more and more people every meeting.
Meehan said that it is too early to tell. According to him, the club has not had enough experience to decide whether or not it’s going well.
“I think time will tell,” Meehan said.
According to Simpson, the core group of students who were in the club from the beginning are very “close-knit,” and the club offers an opportunity for students of all ages to interact with each other.
“I think on a whole, we have freshmen hanging out with juniors,” Simpson said. “Everyone gets along well together.”