BY MARK VAUGHAN-JACKSON
The Telegram

Quiet on the set, class is about to begin. For the first time, more than 30 Newfoundland teenagers are getting a chance for a little hands-on experience in the film business.

Organized by the National Screen Institute (NSI), Movie Camp 1.0 is going on for another week in St. John's.

A total of 31 students, ages 13-19, are getting introduced to pretty much every aspect of filmmaking–from directing to camera operation, lighting, sound, set dressing and acting.

In the second week of the camp, the students will take what they've learned and go out to shoot three short films.

The scripts for those films were selected in a national competition. Two of the three winning writers are from Newfoundland–Jennifer Doyle and Adam Riggio, both of St. John's.

The movie camp concept has been going for six years in Edmonton, where the NSI is based. Two years ago the camp was also opened for business in Winnipeg and this year the camps spread to include St. John's, Ottawa and Toronto.

The camp attracts young people with an abiding interest in film–some of them assisted in attending by a $100 per-person sponsorship from the Newfoundland and Labrador Film Development Corporation.

Laura Button came because of an already deep interest in theatre.

"I wanted to act and I've made movies with friends so I wanted to come and do it properly," she said. "I like theatre now but film is definitely something I'm interested in."

The camp gave John Lundrigan of Marystown a chance to spend time with people who share his interest.

"I've always been fascinated with movies and I've really gotten into directors lately," he said. "I've been paying more attention to directors, trying to pick up on their style."

What Button, Lundrigan and their colleagues are getting is an A-to-Z introduction to filmmaking.

Workshops are offered in editing, sound, camera operation, lighting, set design and more.

While the team leaders hired for the camp take care of most of the workshops, guests from the Newfoundland film industry have also dropped by to give a hand.

John Doyle, director of Extraordinary Visitor, dropped in to give a directing workshop, while Newfoundland actor Greg Malone came by to talk about directing actors.

The upshot of all the workshops is that these young people are gaining insight into the film industry.

"They are basically doing the whole scope of film, what you need to do to be able to get through a film," team leader Roz Power said. "The point is, at the end of the camp they're going to shoot a film."

Power said she and her colleagues are all of the same opinion–how wonderful it would have been if there'd been a movie camp like this when they were starting out.

"I had to leave the province to do it," she said. "I had to go away to school to do film work like they're doing here."

Admittedly this two-week program offers nowhere near the depth one gets by studying film full-time, but it is a great start.

"Here you have Laura who's interested in theatre right now," Power said. "She might get really turned on to something in film and change her mind. Unless she has the exposure to it now, how is she ever going to know?"

Bringing the movie camp to St. John's is also timely, given the development of Newfoundland's film industry.

"In the film industry there are a lot of positions that are being opened up. The government right now is looking at putting money into the film industry," Power said. "There needs to be an outlet for people to actually build film crews here, and where it starts is with people about this age getting interested. Otherwise you're going to import everyone into the province to work (on film)."

Having the camp in St. John's not only shows young students the wide variety of sustainable careers within the film industry, it also shows them these careers can be pursued right here, without having to leave the province, Power said.

Even with a full week still to go at camp, these ideas about the film industry are already being recognized by the students.

"I've learned an incredible amount of stuff–I can't believe how much in only two and a half days (so far)," Button said last week.

"I'm starting to realize how much responsibility goes along with the job," Lundrigan said. "I didn't realize how much work was involved (in directing a film)."

After the camp wraps up on Sept. 3, organizers with the NSI will review the results and student feedback. If successful, the movie camp could become an annual event in St. John's.

Source: "Lights, camera, action in the classroom," The Telegram, August 29, 1999, p. 19.