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Young filmmakers screen their work at TSL

Hudson-Catskill Newspapers

HUDSON — A group of young video artists viewed their work at an exclusive showing Monday afternoon at Time & Space, Ltd., 434 Columbia St. The videos were created during the first week of TSL’s four-week summer camp.

Zach Kirwin of Tivoli was one of two interns who led the young people from Hudson and other parts of Columbia County through the intricacies of making a film; the other was Rachel Heller.

“We split them into two groups, six to eight in each group,” Kirwin said. “Each one came up with an idea and then they made a video. The kids acted and did the camera work. I showed them how to use the camera.”

The audience for Monday’s screening included six of the people who acted in the videos, as well as the mother of two of the actors, TSL directors Linda Mussman and Claudia Bruce, and guests.

The two videos were introduced by a number of cameo shots by the painted dog figures who currently line Warren Street. The dogs showed splendid aplomb and seemed to handle their lines with a great deal of condescension.

The first video was a tense drama involving a number of Sims: the Responsible Sim, the Knowledge Sim, the Vampire Sim and the Party Sim. The characters varied from frightening to geeky to fun-loving. A sim is a character in a video-game series about “The Sims.”

The second video, the “Garden King,” was a highly improbable fantasy born from the feverish imaginations of the young. It depicted a society in which consumers desert the Burger King in droves to go to a restaurant known as Garden King to eat wholesome and nourishing foods.

Ellen Henderson of Claverack portrayed the gardener in the beginning of the video who alerts the viewer to the fact that this is a film about vegetables.

Abdullah Labib said the hardest part of making the films was the retakes.

“The people in the background couldn’t keep their mouths closed,” he said. Later he said the hardest part was editing.

“I prefer editing, messing with the bloopers,” said Oswaldo Rosete, the primary camera operator for the videos.

Jenifer Rosete said one of the most enjoyable parts of the film-making for her was making the food that appeared in “Garden King.” Her father and Brittany Nguyen’s father both supplied their cooking skills to the project.

Labib said the worst part was the chair fight.

“We wrecked the whole place,” he said. Fortunately for the place, they put everything together again before any of the adults found out.

Henderson said the experience was very exciting for her.

“I was pleased they brought me in,” she said. “I appreciate doing the part.”

Now that some of the people have learned about using a camera and editing, “we’ll do more this fall if Zachary’s still around,” said Youth Projects Director Maija Reed.

How did the team film the tricky first sequence of the talking fiberglass dogs?

“We went on the street and decided what each dog’s personality was, then we sat down and made up the script,” Reed said. “We learned a lot in a short amount of time.”

They’ve been learning a lot even after the video workshop ended. Following that was a one-week cooking class at the Katchkie Farm in Kinderhook. That was followed by a one-week theater workshop and a one-week circus workshop.

Bruce said some of the kids have been coming to TSL for years, and it’s been exciting to see them change and grow.

To reach reporter John Mason, call 518-828-1616, ext. 2272, or e-mail jmason@registerstar.com.

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