MOVIES | NEW MEXICO
Lights! Camera! Action! Film Prize Junior New Mexico showcases 206 short student films from across the state
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Film Prize Junior New Mexico hit a record high this year with 206 student short film entries produced by middle and high school students across the state. The event had 100 participating schools.
Film Prize Junior New Mexico is an educational program for fifth through 12th grade classrooms that supports schools integrating filmmaking into curriculum or after-school programs, Rosey Hayett, Film Prize Junior New Mexico director, said.
鈥淲e basically support teachers and students through the entire process from coming up with an idea, writing a script, planning, doing their production, their postproduction,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd then we support those short films to be featured at our annual statewide youth film festival.鈥�
Elliot Paynter, a science teacher at Taos Charter School, teamed up with art teacher Zoe Elston to help students participate in this year鈥檚 competition.
Calder Baseheart won the middle school grand prize with the film 鈥淭he Muralists of MossTown.鈥� Baseheart was the writer, narrator, editor and animator for the film.
鈥淔ilm Prize Junior is an amazing program for New Mexico, for the students, it gets their stories out,鈥� Paynter said. 鈥淜ids have a voice, and you could really see trends and what they鈥檙e trying to tell us.鈥�
Paynter said the process began with students by going over story arcs, the climax and characters, while emphasizing the importance of the story.
鈥淭he whole project is all about the story,鈥� Paynter said, 鈥渁nd if the story is not good, it doesn鈥檛 matter how amazing your animation or film is 鈥� it has to be a good story.鈥�
Paynter said Baseheart learned an animation program for the competition and this new interest led him to apply for the New Mexico School for the Arts鈥� film program.
鈥淚t鈥檚 so cool that because of this program, he learned how much he liked animation,鈥� they said.
Paynter said when it came to the students鈥� work, they didn鈥檛 care if the piece won as long as the students put their own work into it and were proud of the result.
Hayett said the film festival approach lets students go through the whole process of completing a film and getting the opportunity to share it.
鈥淥ne of the most exciting payoffs is to have a live audience with a big screen at a statewide festival,鈥� Hayett said.
Hayett said the festival also includes red carpet interviews, and Central New Mexico Community College does film equipment demos and hosts professional talks about the film industry.
Caleb Lybrook helped begin a film course at Farmington High School, where he was once a student. He wanted students not only to know how to pick a camera, but also why. He said he wanted students to be able to answer the question 鈥淲hy are we picking up these cameras and telling these stories?鈥�
鈥淚 kind of came into my hometown with this epic vision of what I learned in film school, and I really wanted these kids to have that too,鈥� Lybrook said.
He said Farmington High School had been invited to participate in the festival before but wanted time to cultivate the film program.
鈥淔lash forward a year,鈥� Lybrook said. 鈥淲e were ready for it.鈥�
Farmington High School took home the award for 鈥淏est High School Sci-Fi鈥� with 鈥淲ilco.鈥�
Dyan Dalton was the writer, director and editor of 鈥淲ilco,鈥� with Jeremy Maestas composing the original music, and audio from Aston Holiday. Zachary Martinez and Grace Ann Woodall starred in the film.
The film was originally going to be submitted as a drama, but Lybrook said after he saw what his students were creating, he suggested they go the sci-fi route.
鈥淲e locked in for that last-minute change, and it really sealed the deal, because I don鈥檛 think it would have blossomed as much in the drama category,鈥� he said.
He said that he saw himself in the role of a producer throughout the process.
鈥淧roducers are putting kids where they need to be and giving them the tools they need to bring their stories to life,鈥� Lybrook said.
He said throughout the class and filmmaking process, he has seen kids go from antisocial and shy to leading crews with confidence.
鈥淲hether they鈥檙e going for film in the future or not, I think what the essence of this class is is having them find themselves,鈥� Lybrook said.
Lybrook said it was emotional to see his students win, but the true award was seeing his students finish the process and bring their stories to life.
Film Prize Junior, Hayett said, is a way to make students feel connected to their own stories, lives and perspectives. He said giving students the platform to share and communicate their ideas with the world is powerful.
鈥淲e emphasize that the awards that some students may win for their films, that鈥檚 the small prize,鈥� Hayett said. 鈥淭he big prize is participating, telling your story, creating your film, sharing your film, showing up at the festival. That experience is the real value of the program.鈥�
Elizabeth Secor is an arts fellow from the New Mexico Local News Fellowship program. You can reach her at esecor@abqjournal.com.
