Festival shows off student-made films

be given to the directors.

“What I really enjoyed was every director’s got their feel which I really like; everybody’s got a style. I like how Casey’s (Drilingas) are experimental, and he’ll play around with editing and audio and stuff like that. I like how artistic and the camera movement on Saroya’s (Williams) films and on Nessa’s (Schroeder) films are really nice,” Giordano said.

Junior Saroya Williams found parts of her film style in her films, and even her humor.

Soledad Lee Social Media Manager

Reel Film Club has been working on its own films since the beginning of the year. The result: a festival featuring student-made films.

The Reel Film Festival was April 1, in the Jerry R. Knight Auditorium at 7 p.m.

“Whole festival is great, I love how the films really reflect everyone; how everyone’s got their style,” Reel Film Club president Luca Giordano said.

Giordano was glad each film shown at the festival showcased a different director’s style.

Senior Jack Eveker, actor in “Minesweeper,” and junior Katherine Ragain believed the turn out for the festival was an improvement from last year’s.

“The turnout was crazy; everyone was having fun, it was… honestly I thought it was better than last year,” Eveker said.

Ragain said, “It was even better than last year…it’s really fun especially when you don’t really like, like I didn’t know what a lot of the films were going to be like, so that was my favorite part, was just seeing what everyone had created over the course of the year.”

In reality, although the actors are very important to these films, a lot of the credit can

“One of the movies I made was a comedy movie, and it was about the mafia, so it had nothing to do with me, but I could see parts of my humor coming out. The movie I’m making now, kinda reflects me, just cause the style and like camera work and the jokes,” Williams said.

For junior Frances Baken she noticed that smaller details captured bits of who she is rather than the main theme for her films.

Baken said, ¨The plots of my movies weren’t very similar to my life, because they were pretty unrealistic, but the overall way that the characters talk, and I think the smaller things like that, did reflect me a bit and some of the jokes we made.¨

Giordano believes his films are a place to put energy into, that isn’t something like his job, but a more self fulfilling outlet.

¨Honestly, I make these films because I do like to show them to other people and be a part of stuff, but I really do them for myself. I feel like I can’t run without some sort of creative drive behind myself and so these films give me like a thing to look forward to and a sort of outlet for my creativity, when work or school is not fulfilling that need,¨ Giordano said.

Junior Vanessa Schroeder reflected on how film making is the perfect way to express an idea rather than something just objective.

“The expression is like you have a vision and then you want to convey that vision, and I think that’s easiest done through film, cause that’s like actual people, rather than drawings or something,” Schroeder said.

Directing is important for the films because it is most of the structure that maps out the film and makes sure that the process still stays collaborative with the actors.

“It’s really interesting, to like be the person in charge of everything. It’s really fun to work with a group. I really like making my own ideas come to life, it’s so fun and that’s why I want to go into film in college,” Williams said.

¨I didn’t really know what all went into a film or what I was doing, and so it was really fun to be the director with like no experience, because I just really kind of plunged into it,¨ Baken said.

This is Baken’s first year in the club, so she got to learn the different aspects of making a movie, along with her co-director junior Sydney Arrandale.

Filmmaking is overall a creative art that can introduce people to new concepts, people’s inner thoughts and bring collaboration between friends and students.

“At the end of the day, this is your friends who are a part of this club; this is like your classmates. If you don’t know much about them, then you can see their films. You can see what they’re like proud of,” Giordano said.

Earth Day is celebrated around St. Louis

Margaret Oliphant Video Editor

Students can celebrate Earth Day with Gardening Club and Environmental Club, their thoughts and ideas for projects on Earth Day, and Forest Park’s plans for their annual celebration and projects.

Gardening club meets at 8 a.m. every Thursday in room 385 with sponsor Skylar Garcia, biology teacher and is led by juniors Sarah Staab, Tessa Garrison and Ava Fitzgibben.

Club members have been planting various plants indoors due to the cold weather.

However, when it warms up, the group plans to move projects outside.

The group has been looking for various volunteer opportunities around town, but it has been unsuccessful due to not having an out of school location.

As Earth Day approached on Saturday, April 22, Garrison and Staab have looked into different opportunities such as fundraisers and getting together for volunteer opportunities around town.

Letter to the editor

“Especially with the changing climate right now, it’s important to have a time where everyone can come together to make a larger difference,” Staab said.

The Forest Park Earth Day Festival took place during April 22-23. Activities such as numerous vendors, a bird show, upper limits climbing walls, a sustainable fashion show, and a large array of live performances were available.

The event usually has around 20,000 attendees from across St. Louis, according to the Earth Day 365 blog.

According to the 2023 Forest Park press release, the festival’s main goal has been to inspire St. Louis to live a more sustainable lifestyle by providing more environmentally stable options for things such as fashion, repair courses and more.

“Every little bit helps so picking up trash you find, shortening showers, turning off lights when they aren’t in use. However there is an unfortunate truth that most pollution comes from big companies, so another thing is to vote. There are a lot of laws that could be made that could really benefit the environment,” senior and Environmental Club President Calvin Lescher said.

The Environmental Club spreads awareness through the announcements, and giving some information about the Forest Park festival.

Lescher wanted people to know that even if they can’t vote they still have a voice in environmental issues.

“If we let it be known to companies that we don’t want them polluting that helps, but what helps even more than saying it is to be environmentally conscious while purchasing products. Companies will be a lot more willing to change if they aren’t making as much money because people want them to be greener,” Lescher said.

“If you can buy something that’s a little more expensive, but more green it’ll show the companies that’s what the consumers want, and they’ll change if that’s what they see people paying for,” Lescher said.