A field trip to a film festival is exciting enough for 6th, 7th and 8th grade students, but the fun has been multiplied for Castle Rock Elementary School now that their own creation won Redding’s Sundial Film Festival’s Best Student Film award 2011.
“Slime Flu,” a nine-minute short created by Castle Rock students, was selected from over 20 entries in the student film category.
Inspired by last year’s outbreak of H1N1 or so-called “swine flu,” the students thought it would be good to help lighten the mood by doing a parody on it. So they created the H1N3 virus.
“Half of the class wanted to do a spy movie,” said teacher Stacie Ricketts. “So we mixed the two, coming up with the Castle Rock Underground Spy Association that helps save the school from an evil scientist that infects the students with a virus.”
“There is a twist ending that has a moral to it,” Ricketts continued. “Not only does the kid that was getting picked on for being so smart turn out to save the school by finding the cure to the poisonous virus, it also encourages kids to eat their vegetables.”
Castle Rock is a K-8 school with a total student body of 75 students. “Our class is the junior high,” described Ricketts. “It is a combined class of 6th to 8th grade with me being the only teacher, teaching all of the subjects. I have a film making background and I believe it is important to tap into the creative thinking of students.”
Ricketts' background includes acting work in film and on TV. According to her resume posted on the Internet Movie Database website, she has also performed on stage and in commercials and done voice-overs. She lists skills in directing, editing, writing and production, which gives her much to offer students wishing to make a short film.
“It is a very long process I take the students through,” she explained. “We go through all of the steps, from brainstorming, story boarding, scripting, editing, casting, costuming, blocking, acting, filming, sound, lighting and editing, all of the way through the final cut of the movie. Along the way the students learn about different jobs in the media industry.”
According to a school press release, making “Slime Flu” involved 17 students in grades from 5 to 8. Ricketts said it took seven months, one or two hours per week, to finish the film. “Every student in my class had some part in the production of the film,” she said. “Some students were actors, some were production staff, some were costumers, and some were directors.”
