(Sept. 10, 2015) Worcester Preparatory School technology teacher Nancy Raskauskas, along with four of her incoming 11th graders–Davis Mears, Thomas Polk, Alex Abbott and Jordan Welch–spent a marathon weekend together in July to enter the 2015 Toronto 50-Hour Film Competition with their film, “Little Time.”
All their hard work paid off when “Little Time” won an award for “Best Use of the Dialog Line” and was chosen for screening at the festival. The team was also honored for its fine use of special effects used in such a short window of time to produce a film.
This was the third year of the competition which is sponsored by the Lost Episode Festival Toronto (LEFT). Winning films were screened during the Toronto Film Festival at Carlton Cinema on Aug. 8.
This was the first time WPS students entered the LEFT contest. All participating teams received an email at 7 p.m. on Friday, July 10, that stated the requirements of the competition, including the character, a prop and a line that had to be used in the short film. Once they received the rules, they had to spontaneously plan, script, film, score, edit and produce a Sci-Fi video. The edited film could be no longer than seven minutes and had to be completed and uploaded for entry by 9 p.m. on Sunday, July 12.
Raskauskas has taught Digital Media for more than 20 years at WPS. Many of her past students have won film awards and have gone on to work in the film industry. These four boys were part of her film elective.
“I couldn’t be more proud of this team of WPS 10th grade boys who were up against mostly college and professional competitors,” Raskauskas said. “My goal was to step outside the classroom and give these talented young men a first-hand experience of the challenges of independent filmmaking. Obviously winning these honors at such a young age makes it even more extraordinary."
All their hard work paid off when “Little Time” won an award for “Best Use of the Dialog Line” and was chosen for screening at the festival. The team was also honored for its fine use of special effects used in such a short window of time to produce a film.
This was the third year of the competition which is sponsored by the Lost Episode Festival Toronto (LEFT). Winning films were screened during the Toronto Film Festival at Carlton Cinema on Aug. 8.
This was the first time WPS students entered the LEFT contest. All participating teams received an email at 7 p.m. on Friday, July 10, that stated the requirements of the competition, including the character, a prop and a line that had to be used in the short film. Once they received the rules, they had to spontaneously plan, script, film, score, edit and produce a Sci-Fi video. The edited film could be no longer than seven minutes and had to be completed and uploaded for entry by 9 p.m. on Sunday, July 12.
Raskauskas has taught Digital Media for more than 20 years at WPS. Many of her past students have won film awards and have gone on to work in the film industry. These four boys were part of her film elective.
“I couldn’t be more proud of this team of WPS 10th grade boys who were up against mostly college and professional competitors,” Raskauskas said. “My goal was to step outside the classroom and give these talented young men a first-hand experience of the challenges of independent filmmaking. Obviously winning these honors at such a young age makes it even more extraordinary."