On May 17, two teams of year 9 to 11 pupils received their genre and brief to begin and complete a short film by the same time on May 19.
Part of the brief required the film to incorporate a warning of some kind. The girls’ team found this easy with their genre "possession movie", slotting a warning into their film Ghost Summoning Vlog #23.
"We did it as YouTubers, blogger people filming a video so we had a pop-up ‘warning’ at the beginning on screen because of the genre," Erin Turner, who has been nominated for a best female or gender diverse film-maker award, said.
Both teams filled all roles of cast and crew, and wanted to thank the tireless younger siblings and parent production-drivers whose help improvising on script guides, shooting on-location at home, Naish Park and Kaitangata made it all possible.
"When you’re having fun it isn’t stressful," co-director Jessamine Daumann said.
The boys’ team was able to combine the "odd couple" and "possession" genres with a five-minute caper called Without Knowledge, about neighbours with opposite approaches to faith, and received a nomination for best use of the required "traveller" motif.
Media studies and English head-teacher Katherine Beaumont let her pupils know about the annual home film-maker contest in advance.
She said she was pleased the two teams that formed had been recognised.
"Both teams just shot on ordinary mobile phones and edited with apps on phones or on a computer.
"No-one had tried film-making before and everyone got a good idea of how much passion and energy and organisation it actually takes to tell stories on screen."
The teen teams also netted a best school nomination, to be awarded at a viewing ceremony at Rialto Cinemas in Dunedin on July 1.
