by Cassandra Wipf
Powell River’s Digital Film School is a five-month, 16-credit course for grade-twelve students. On completion, students who want to continue film studies receive automatic acceptance into Capilano University’s Motion Picture program. Students experience what a real film set is like, as well as involvement in development, pre-production, production, post-production, and distribution that goes into making a film.
I found my experience of the 2010 course absolutely amazing. As assistant director in our final project; I worked with other students on their projects; worked on shooting schedules, call sheets, and script breakdowns. I edited and helped edit films in class, transferred the films from computer to DVD for our final screening—which, I quickly learned, is not a quick process—made up sheets and Facebook groups for casting calls and designed thank-you cards and invites for the film.
The class was a great experience for me. If I could, I would take it a million times over. It changed my view of the world; involved me more with the community, I met people I would probably have never even seen if it weren’t for the course, and learned things about people that I wouldn’t have realised had it not been for the relationships that were developed throughout the year. It was definitely the best experience of my life, and made me decide to go to Capilano and further my film-making education. It made me see movies in a different way, as well as realise and appreciate all the hard work of developing, producing, filming, editing, distributing, and everything else that goes into making a film.
by Tony Papa
An adventure film camp is coming to Powell River this Summer from July 17th to 24th
Filmmaking is about creativity, about looking at a question and approaching, exploring, and investigating it from various perspectives. These points of view are influenced by each filmmaker’s upbringing, interest and personal battles.
The art of Summer Film Camp is an adventure in visioning, research, team building, problem solving, planning and personal development. Students learn not only about shooting their own production with HD digital cameras and posting the film for screening, but they also learn about themselves, each other and what is important to them.
Powell River Digital Film School has partnered with Pinnacle Pursuits in Vancouver, a world-class adventure-learning, leadership, and team-building company. Our vision? Combine film production with personal development using personal insight, group dynamics, nature and adventure as a metaphor for learning, personal challenge, and growth.
The program is called “Passion to Picture”. In this world where measuring one’s knowledge has become so important, we don’t have a test for one of the most critical traits that we can posses: Passion. This is sad, because it is passion that drives the exploration that becomes the knowledge.
Documentary-film lovers will have their fill in the 2010 collection at the Powell River Film Festival. As well as the films featured on Thursday and Friday, the Saturday program will be a full one, with lots of community participation and a light lunch available to tide you over.
HomeGrown, directed by Robert McFalls, introduces the Dervaes family who, on their urban homestead on 1/5 of an acre, have honed their intensive cultivation practices, increasing output to 6000 pounds of produce annually.
As much a portrait of an extraordinary family as an experiment in sustainable living, the film of the Dervaes’ struggle to live lightly on the land is a reminder that the future has a great deal to learn from the past. Possessed of a warm, humble spirit, HomeGrown is a gentle indication that we are only a few generations removed from the family farm, and that sometimes, the very best thing to do is go home again.
Preceding the feature, Jon Ornoy will present his short film Plastic Bottles, on an artist’s quest to make a difference. 10:00 a.m., Saturday, February 20th.
The horror, the poison and the appalling, vast wasteland we’ve created! These words easily come to mind as we witness the spectacle of the Athabasca tar sands, in Petropolis: Aerial Perspectives on the Alberta Tar Sands, directed by Peter Mettler. This film gives a spectacular bird’s eye view of the beauty and the grandeur of the north being irrevocably altered by our quest for oil. Slowly revealed through unforgettably stunning images, the magnitude of development can be comprehended only when seen from above.
by Eva van Loon
Avatar: My usually tough-minded daughter cried twice. The film made Townsite parking difficult for the first time since I’ve been here and put a smile on theater-proprietress Ann Nelson’s face quite possibly never seen before. Even an old fart like me plans to see it again…seeing this film in three-D would almost be worth a trip to the Big Smoke.
Seems like one helluva movie…until you hear people playing Film Critic: “It’s racist—the Noble Savage all over again.”
“It’s just a stupid fantasy about race told from the point of view of white people. It reinforces the whole white Messiah thing.”
“Dances with Wolves in space. Another white guy has to save the natives from the bad guys.”
Wo! It may be just a movie, but it sure brings out the sneer in some people. Protest too much?
The Wolf at Twilight: This thick but easy-flowing book I received for Christmas from someone who knew me for a wolf nut but hadn’t apparently spent so much as a micro-second between its covers. There’s not a paw print in this book. It’s about a white guy, author Nerburn, who’s been exceptionally close to the “Indians” (as Americans still say), getting wisdom from a First Nations elder (the wolf). Been there; done that,I thought, unwrapping it, but it’s the thought that counts.
Was I mistaken! Every morning over coffee I reached for that dratted book and two weeks later was reading as slow as possible so it wouldn’t end.
One helluva book.