WJ’s first ever Film Club had their very first meeting for the 2020-21 school year on Dec 11. Inspired by her upbringing surrounding film, sophomore and Film Club President Nicole Weaver began the club, along with a few of her friends.
“My dad really, really likes film, so he kind of introduced me to a lot of really good movies,” Weaver said.
Weaver, along with Film Club’s secretary, sophomore Charlotte Brown, vice president, sophomore Raquel Daley and treasurer, junior Josephine Merlot, have big plans for the club.
“In the future, we really want to try and do a short film – all together, in the club, and I’d want to make it clear that this club isn’t just about rating and reviewing and watching movies. It’s also about taking your own creative side and making the best out of the situation that we have, and also kind of just maybe writing a screenplay, maybe shooting a short scene of dialogue,” Weaver said.
She wants to make their goal explicitly clear to potential club members. Junior Harrison Forrest had the wrong impression at first.
“My expectations were that we were more gonna analyze the movies. I wasn’t really expecting [to learn about] the camera positions,” Forrest said.
The meeting followed a fun but organized agenda, starting with an icebreaker then leading into a slideshow about different types of shots and angles in films. The meeting ended with a poll to decide which movie the club would watch and review for the next week, with the majority vote deciding on “Midnight in Paris”, directed by Woody Allen.
Sophomore Janaiyah Innis was very impressed with the slideshow – as well as other aspects of the club – and is also happy to relate with others her age
“I like how nice and chill everything is, and I think it’s just a really great group of people,” Innis said.
She is also happy with the club’s sponsor, photo and art history teacher Daniel Kempner. Kempner was impressed with the first meeting, despite the virtual challenges – it’s always difficult to get participation in a virtual setting. He was also impressed with the officers’ ability to get everyone to participate. The interactive environment allowed for every member to have their cameras on.
“The officers kept the meeting going at a brisk pace and made an educational presentation about camera techniques with some clips to demonstrate the concepts. I thought they did a great job and would have totally used their presentation in my class,” Kempner said.
As difficult as it is to run such an interactive activity in a virtual setting, the officers are doing their best to improve and make it as purposeful, educational and fun as possible for anyone who would like to join.
“People should check it out – it’s really cool… there’s a lot to look forward to,” Innis said.
