Viewpoint School

In 1992 Viewpoint became the first independent school in California to offer a Film Program. Starting with just six students that first semester, it has grown to 76 students this semester—beginning with Introduction to Filmmaking in the Eighth Grade through Film IV offered to seniors. Graduates of Viewpoint’s Film Program include two members of the team that created the Oscar-winning film Juno, Daniel Dubiecki ’95 (executive producer) and Eric Steelberg ’95 (cinematographer).

For the first time in the 16-year history of Viewpoint’s Film Program there are enough students to make two films in Ms. Catherine Dunn’s and Mr. Judd King’s Film IV class. Having completed the filming of their short films during the first semester, the painstaking post-production work will take up most of the second semester of this very popular year-long class.

“Over the summer we asked the Film IV students to come up with script ideas from three sources: reality—a news item or family story; literature—an adaptation of pre-existing work; and finally an original idea—a dream, a song, or an experience,” explained Mr. King. “The students then shared their ideas, chose the one they liked the best, and then developed a script from there.”

Using digital technology, the students learn all aspects of the filmmaking process. “These films give the students the opportunity to develop all of the skills they acquired in Film I-III—from screenwriting and producing to directing, filming, and editing— in order to create quality films they can enter in several student film festivals this spring,” continued Mr. King. “The films are entirely student driven and collaborative. The class is divided into two groups and the students pick the crew positions by consensus. Not only do they learn filmmaking and story-telling skills, the students gain hands-on experience in project management and team building.”

The first film is an as-yet-titled Western inspired by the Coen brothers’ film, No Country for Old Men, which involves two best friends whose chance encounter with an outsider puts their story into motion. The second film, Veritas, is a parody of the film noir genre. It tells the story of a mother’s obsession with getting her son into Yale.

Both films were shot on location: the Western on the ranch of a friend of one of the students and Veritas at the home of a Viewpoint family. Nick L. ’09, the co- cinematographer and co-production designer of Veritas, was particularly excited to use recently purchased equipment for the Film IV shoot. “The new dolly and lights will make the end product look much more professional.” Nick was also able to arrange for a friend who is a steady-cam operator to help with some of the filming. “I love all aspects of filmmaking, but cinematography is the most fun. It was great to be able to pick the shots and set them up.”

“We learned a tremendous amount from making our film in the Film III class and this time we were really well prepared,” said Hadi E. ’09, the director of Veritas. “It ran like a professional shoot. It was also great to be able to film on location in a beautiful Tudor-style house. The steady-cam made it possible to get some fantastic shots of the staircase, which helped give the film that noir-ish feel.”

“We have about three hours of material shot over three days that we will cut down to 10 minutes” continued Hadi. “To get that three hours of material was an incredible amount of work—more than any AP class. It really takes a lot of effort to create something good, but I think we are making a film of which we can all be really proud.”

On January 22 and 23, there will be two assemblies showing the films from last year’s Film III class, including My Brother, My Anchor, which won the award for High School: Class Drama at the 2008 Fresh Film Festival Awards. Following the screening, the filmmakers will participate in a panel discussion about their work and their upcoming films for Film IV.