The Career Technical Education Center (CTEC) rolled out the red carpet for young aspiring filmmakers throughout the district for the annual Kern High Film Festival and Awards on December 7, 2023. Like a Hollywood premiere, students walked down the press line and posed for photographs.
Last month, the Kern County Museum opened its doors for students to shoot their films. Twenty teams had 60 hours to write their script, 10 hours on-site to shoot and produce the short films, and the weekend to edit.
"We had a short amount of time, and our script wasn't done, so we came up with it on the fly, explained Finnian Arnopole, a sophomore at Frontier High School. "Overall, it went well because we got everything done and kept rolling with it."
The short films had to be five minutes or under in length. Teams also had to incorporate the following elements in their films: a deck of cards as a prop and a drifter as one of their characters. They also had to use this dialogue, "I've seen my fair share of dust storms in my time."
Irish Pinkston, a senior in the CTEC Video Production program, said being able to film at the museum was a fantastic experience. "We think our strongest point was our cinematography and the coloring," she expressed.
Mary Grace Leyson was on Team EOS with Pinkston, and she shared that they were lucky to film during the end of the day. "Especially with the lighting because we were shooting during the golden hour, and it was really good lighting," said Leyson.
The film festival has evolved over the years since its inception in 2009. Bryce Hatch, Frontier High School Video Production teacher, said it started with only three schools involved, and today, there are 20 films submitted and nearly a dozen schools that participated. Hatch described why this event is an excellent opportunity for students interested in pursuing a career in the film industry.
"It's a growing industry, and we are so close to Los Angeles, and there are a lot of job possibilities and careers," Hatch says. "There is a lot that they can do here and learn and then continue their education or career somewhere in Los Angeles or nearby."
The evening concluded with an awards presentation after a special viewing of all the films. Partners from our community volunteered their time over the past few weeks to judge the students' work.
Congratulations to the following awardees:
1st Place Film: Team Dreamcatcher Films (Frontier High School) Samantha Binning, Samantha Van Dyke, Jacob Murray, Sara-Jane Phillips, Amber (Rae) Dion, Wyatt Luchau, and Zachary Givens.
2nd Place Film: Team River Productions (CTEC) Alexis Alonzo, Alyssa Bejarano, Isabella Bustos, Anthony Ceballos, Jehvan Crompton , Grace Nazario, Gabriela Ramirez, Garrett Hutchins, and Brian Meza.
3rd Place Film: Team Next Gen (Frontier High School) Jayden Burton, Melody Christian, Emery Valenzula, Samantha Ockerman, Ethan Ortiz, Leonie Gheerbrant, Wyatt Jorgensen, Josh Clark, and Valeria Gonzalez.
Best Costume/Makeup - The Ace of Spades
Best Sound Design - The Western Bounty
Best Lighting Design - Red's Game
Best Screenplay - Blue Diamond (CTEC)
Best Cinematography - The Tarot
Best Editing - Fifth Street (CTEC)
Best Director - Nicole Diaz, Wacky West
Best Actress - Ava Jones, Western Bounty
Best Actor - Rei Ferrel, Ace