Last fall, a team of Rye High School students created a 20-minute film, a spoof that they planned to show to the entire student body at the Winter Awards Assembly.
By Michael Gilbert
Last fall, a team of Rye High School students created a 20-minute film, a spoof that they planned to show to the entire student body at the Winter Awards Assembly. The crew wrote a script, filmed the scenes, edited them, really, and did everything in between. However, some of the material was deemed too inappropriate to show to Rye High’s students. The movie was not shown at the awards assembly, which caused much outcry among the student body.
Many students, while performing acts during the assembly, made sure to acknowledge the fact that the movie was banned. The students have taken their first movie attempt as a learning experience, and they have already started planning next year’s film.
Last year’s team of students included graduating seniors Christopher Reifsnyder and Don Tice, co-presidents of the school’s film club, the Garnet Insider. Reifsnyder did most of the editing and producing, while Tice helped with general production. With those two off to college this year, other students who worked on the film last year must step up and try to fill some big shoes.
This year’s staff boasts some of Rye High’s most experienced writers and cinematographers. The writing staff is led by Chris McGinnis, a senior who is known around the school for his comedic talents. He is helped by Brandon LaBella who worked on last year’s movie, and whose brother, Travis, made several movies during his time at Rye High School that kids still watch and talk about today. Filming and editing the movie will be incoming junior Daniel Maclaury, an experienced videographer who has been a member of the Garnet Insider since he was a freshman and constantly works freelance jobs in the field of cinematography and journalism. Finally, most of the actors will return from next year, including Greg Hale, Max Meyerson, Peter Collins, and others.
Maclaury believes this year’s film project is already better organized than last year’s, and organization is the key to making a great film. “Last year there was some disorganization and the plans weren’t always clear-cut. This year, we have the script finalized and a schedule laid out before the year has even started, which should help keep things on the track.”
McGinnis added, “This year, the writing is much different. The Garnet Insider team and I mapped out the entire story and then started filling it in, as opposed to making the story up as we wrote.”
The most important detail is to get the script approved beforehand. Principal Taylor and Vice Principal Chung must approve the script and make sure it is appropriate for the student body. Once it is approved, the movie can be shown at the awards assembly, and the kids who worked hard for two years can finally enjoy their movie premiere.
The author will be a senior at Rye High School this fall.
