On film and behind the scenes
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Updated: November 18, 2009 1:24 PM
John Salamat is already planning the sequel.
It will be a blaze of chops and flying kicks as he, playing himself, takes on this film’s star, Kevin — a fourth degree black belt in taekwondo.
“I am a big fan of Bruce Lee,” the Grade 10 Mulgrave student admits.
And Lee’s influence has seeped into the short feature he’s directing along with fellow students Nadir Surani — cinematographer — and Graham Brown — editor in chief.
The three minute film centers around Kevin, a taekwondo artist who aims to push his skills to the next level.
Like the film’s fictional character, the three students themselves are hoping to step up a notch. They’re entering the movie in the Explore North Shore Youth Film Festival.
“It took two weekends to film the scenes,” Brown says.
After overcoming a couple of hurdles — firstly Surani’s shoulder had to double as a tripod and secondly, the boys quickly learned it’s harder than it appears to keep a straight face while filming — the crew collected a couple of hours worth of footage.
They are now in the process of whittling it down and fine tuning their product.
“I think we have a decent chance [of winning],” Salamat says of their production.
The three will be up against Grade 8 to 10 students from across the North Shore. The film festival also has categories for Grades 4 to 7 and Grades 11 to 12.
On the evening of Feb. 15, complete with a red carpet, all the films will be shown at the West Vancouver Community Centre. The top films will then be played on the big screen at the district’s 2010 Celebration Site throughout the Olympics, says Priscilla Sharun, West Vancouver 2010 project manager.
“[The films] should try and capture youth’s definition of the North Shore and the North Shore’s role in the 2010 Games,” she says.
The gold metal winner in each category will receive two tickets to a 2010 Olympic event, as well as a trophy. All entries will be added to the West Vancouver 2010 website and in addition top entries will be posted on The Outlook’s site at www.northshoreoutlook.com.
Teachers are reporting that students are busy working to meet the Dec. 1 deadline, Sharun says. For more information on the film festival and to enter visit www.westvancouver.ca or call 604-923-2010.
raldous@northshoreoutlook.com
