Winner Rod Serling Film Festival
There’s no doubt in my mind that my daughter’s decision to enter the filmmaking category in her school’s art festival was that last year only 1 person entered in her age group — so scoring at least a certificate was within reach.
However, the rules are very strict about parental involvement and if my kid is anything it’s that she’s afraid to break rules. So we had to draw a line regarding where I could help and where she was responsible.
I decided she could use an old MacBook (“the white one”) since it had iMovie. I had no idea how iMovie worked, but I threw together some random film clips and photos and then added some transitions. Boom! A movie.
I showed it to her, and said gave her some advice how to move around clips. She went out and shot the clips on an old Nikon point and shoot, and I uploaded them – then it was all her.
One day I heard her talking into the screen mic, and after I asked what she was doing – a voiceover. Yes, she was dubbing out some dialogue. I had no idea that was possible.
In the end she did get her award from the local and then later the regional PTA. We then found that the local PBS station was having a Rod Serling Film Festival, as Mr. Serling is a Binghamton hometown hero, so we entered it there since it had a Twilight type of intro.
About the film — I saved this for last — I don’t claim to get it or even know if there was something to get, but when we went to the awards people we didn’t know ran up to her to tell her how much they enjoyed it, and she beamed. So that’s better than any certificate.