Every year Niwot High School hosts a film fest open to all high school and middle school students in the district. This year Frederick High School’s film club has chosen to participate. Multiple students from this club have decided to make their own student films, including the club’s Vice President Susan Rose. 

FREDERICK SCOUT: What made you want to make a movie?

SUSAN ROSE: Originally I joined film club just as a fun get away to hang out with my friends. But now after being in it for over a year I wanted to actually make a film. Seeing all the wonderful films in club has really inspired me to make my own piece of art.

SCOUT: Where did you get the idea from?

SR: I actually got the idea from a 55 word story I wrote earlier in the year that ended up winning a contest. My story was just about a grandson and a grandma playing poker together. I got the idea for the 55 word story from a book of post-notes. 

SCOUT: How did you find your actors or where you were going to film?

SR: As soon as I started working on it I knew that I wanted one of my old teachers to play the grandma in my film. While the other actors came slowly as I asked my friends to see if they could help me out. For the location we just ended up last minute filming at one of the actors houses.

SCOUT: What was the experience of filming like?

SR: I thought it would be really stressful but it ended up not being that bad, although it was really hectic trying to jump from scene to scene.

SCOUT: So… what was the hardest part of filming?

SR: The hardest part of filming was trying to get the mic in place because the camera mic was really bad. Which meant I had to buy an extra mic and plug it into my iPad to get the audio. So it was just hard trying to juggle both the filming and audio at once. 

SCOUT: What was your role in making this film?

SR: My role was being the screenplay writer and the director. I didn’t have any actual visual roles in my film but I did film every scene and edited the entire thing together myself.

SCOUT: Did your film turn out the way you wanted it to?

SR: Not quite, there’s a lot of scenes in the film that I wish I could reshoot but considering the deadline for the contest and the schedules of my actors I couldn’t get everything how I wanted. In the end I am really proud of my film just because i was able to bring one of my stories to life.

SCOUT: What were your favorite scenes?

SR: My favorite scenes were probably the more aggressive ones between the grandma and the grandchild fighting to win as well as the last scene where the grandchild finally beats the grandma. 

SCOUT: Where would people be able to view this film?

SR: As of right now it’s not up anywhere but I might upload it to my youtube channel soon. Also if it does get into the Niwot film festival it will be screened May 3rd of this year.

SCOUT: Would you still want to make more films?

SR: Of course! Although this film was tough it did teach me some of the dos and don’ts of making a film. Next year I want to branch out and try doing some of the other genres to see what they entail. 

All films in the contest from possibly Frederick and along with other schools will be screened and voted on, on Saturday May 3rd, 2019. Please come to support our Frederick student film makers.