A year of work comes to a close on May 10 after school, when film club will screen their short films, co-president, senior Anna Dobbelaere said. This project began when students pitched ideas in the beginning of the year, then formed groups that were responsible for screen-writing, directing, filming and editing, Dobbelaere said.

One of the films, not yet named, centers around students who come to school because they forgot it was staff learning day, senior, co-president Nina Huang said. The students initially fool around, but the story takes a dark turn once the real motivation behind the day is discovered, Huang said.

Huang gave actors creative freedom with their characters, senior Madara Linde, who plays Josh-Josh in Huang’s short film, said. This made the filming experience unique because Linde said she could experiment with his stereotypical goth caricature.

“Since my character is laid back, he was able to get up to some rambunctious stuff,” Linde said. “My favorite scene was one like that, where I hopped inside of a trash can and started rolling around in it.”

Huang said that along with directing, she was involved in other ways, particularly in cinematography. Huang said she is excited for audiences to see a shot sequence near the end of her team’s film.

“There are a lot of camera angles that go around the students and it ends with someone screaming,” Huang said. “It was hard to film such a choreographed shot.”

Another film is “Echoes of Solace,” directed by Dobbelaere. The film follows Ezra (played by sophomore Adam Orrin) as he navigates his feelings following a difficult break-up, Dobbelaere said. Along with her directing responsibilities such as casting, finding shooting locations and planning shot sequences, Dobbelaere said she had to help actors get into the right mindset for certain scenes. One of the hardest scenes to film was Ezra crying after the break-up, Dobbelaere said.

“I was just explaining [how] Ezra is feeling, telling him, ‘You can do this,’” Dobbelaere said. “I encourage him to reach his potential as an actor.”

Dobbelaere said she was really invested in ensuring her film had enough depth, and put a lot of work into planning every aspect of the film. The support from both the cast and crew throughout the process assured her that the final product would be just as amazing and detailed as she had envisioned, Dobbelaere said.

“It was nice that I was not the only one who cared,” Dobbelaere said. “We had people dedicated to making a shot list, we had people who built boom mics. Everyone cared and made time [in] their schedule to come out [and film].”