Many people in film classes don’t normally get to go to the All American Film Festival because of the many difficulties and stretched reviews for getting to go to the festival. But you students still got to go despite the struggle necessities they needed.
” For all american you half to submit a minute long short film to Mr. Olsen Who is are film director. Then when you submit it to him, he’ll review everybody’s films and whoever he deems fit enough to go, what stories he likes, what technicalities he sees that he wants to be presented for rock hill. He will choose them to go to the All American Film Festival,” Film student Jenica Morales-Spruill Junior.
Originally Morales-Spruill didn’t originally didn’t want to be in Film till after she learned it through theater.
”I actually started film in my theater.I always liked stories so I joined theater, and one of the assignments was to make a short film, and after I made the film a lot of people liked it, and it gained a lot of positive reception. Which made me have the idea that maybe I can make a story on stage happen on screen, and so I ended up getting into film after that,”Morales-Spruill said.
After going she was able to learn a lot about film and got to meet many people who were able to help her improve even more at her craft.
”It was a very, very big change, All American is in New York, so it’s not just playing in our backyard, we do have a familiar feeling that we are working in, and so All American is just a series of this is god but how can we change it and how can we take this and make it better. It is a series of adapting over and over again, and it is very exciting, it can be stressful sometimes but it is very exciting,”Morales-Spruill.
One great thing about the film festival is it is a way to bring people with different backgrounds together that they can relate to each other with, and also gets people out of their comfort zone to allow them to learn new things and enhance their skill in film.
”It was really cool in my opinion. This was my first time going To the All American Film Festival, so I was really scared at first because I don’t like doing thing I don’t know a lot about so I was just ready to do it and get it over with, but after it was really cool and I really liked it because your surrounded by people who like the same thing,” Film student Paige Olsen.”
In Olsens life she has always been surrounded by film which gave her more access to learn and love it.
”Ever since I was a little kid I have been surrounded by film Because my dad has done it, so he was always in news casting and would write scripts and edit for the news. I also found it cool that you could make movies and show what’s in your brain to the world,”Olsen said.
Due to this she had gotten a lot of experience at a young age and was able to give her the experience to know how to get to the film festival.
”Here was a whole process in order to be chosen to actually go. We had to make a minute short film, and then a lot of people would submit theres to Mr.Olsen, and he would choose which he thought were good and who would get to go. So there’s a lot of preparation just to get picked to go,”Olsen said
The person who got them to go was their teacher who was able to teach the student due to his high experience in many different types of film.
”My original background is youtube, and broadcasting. Then when I was interviewed here at Rock Hill they had a position open I said yes, But truly I started on youtube,” film adviser, Russ Oslen, film adviser.
For the film festival he decides who gets to go and get to help enhance the skill of the student, and by allowing this student to go he gets to see his students learn more for others and connect with other students.
” I love the all american film festival. It teaches students to be closer with each other, and connect as a film family, and get to collaborate with filmmakers so they can learn things that I learned as a youtube editor and build their stills as videographers,”Olsen.
They loved this festival so much that they are already thinking about how they will get to go there next year and learn even more about film.”We want to go again. If we are able to we will because I think it’s important that they learn on as level as this festival,”Olsen.
