Two lucky winners of a film competition have returned from a special trip to New York for a digital film summer camp.
Elijah Sampson, 11, of Red Bay Primary School and Lorena Morejon, 16, a pupil at Triple C, both won the 2012 Young Image Makers competition, which was part of the Cayman National Cultural Foundation’s Cayfest 2012.
The camp was held on Wall Street, across from Battery Park and the kids enjoyed meeting new friends and learning a lot about the film industry.
The teacher also talked about the different sorts of positions and titles of the film industry such as screen writer, editor, producer, assistants, managers and more.
Lorena was even was invited and encouraged to apply for an internship next summer in California. As part of the course, each student was given two and a half hours to shoot a non-dialogue short film in the city and two and a half hours to edit and produce a final copy to the teacher. Lorena was chosen to act in two of her friend’s films on Wednesday and on Thursday it was her turn to choose her actors/classmates and shoot and produce her own movie during the time limit.
Aside from the New York Film Academy camp, the youngsters stayed at the Millennium United Nations Hotel, from where they could spot many familiar landmarks including East River, Ground Zero, Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building and the United Nations Plaza. They also visited many attractions including the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge and Times Square.
Lorena said that it was a wonderful experience.
“My favourite part of visiting NYC was being part of the film camp and, of course, the sightseeing. I can’t pinpoint any one special place because I enjoyed all of the places that I visited. The architecture of the buildings was beautiful to capture on film and everywhere we went, everyone was courteous and helpful.
“Everyone made me feel very welcome. The instructors were helpful and courteous and the other students at the camp were very friendly and we all worked together in the camp like we had known each other for a long time … Attending the camp was life changing experience and I would most definitely want to do it again if I had the opportunity,” Lorena tells us.
Dream world
Elijah says that visiting New York was always a dream.
“When I found out I was going it felt like I was dreaming. I was super excited and I thought of a million things I could do in my head like go to Chinatown, go see Mary Poppins, which was amazing.
“My favourite part of New York would have to be Times Square because when I got off the subway and I saw all the billboards, lights and the music a whole lot of excitement rushed through me, then night fell and it was brighter than the day and all of the shops were still open, I guess that’s why they call it the city that never sleeps,” he says.
Elijah’s been inspired by the film academy and he says he’s always wanted to work on Wall Street or in the performing arts. The trip has added the aim of being a director or director of photography to that, too. Another interesting thing was meeting people from different countries such as India and Italy.
“I even made friends with the person from India – we had pizza everyday for lunch. I had two slices of cheese and he had five pieces of deep dish pepperoni and he’s way shorter than me,” Elijah recounts.
Lorena’s career aims included architecture but the experience of winning the competition and attending the camp made a big impression. She now says she’s excited by the possibilities in the movie industry.
“I would encourage anyone who is considering to enter the Young Image Makers film competition. It was a great experience right from the start. I enjoyed the whole process of coming up with a story line for my film, choosing my actors, shooting and editing the film for the Young Image Makers. Winning the competition was very exciting and the experience of the Camp in NYC was the highlight! I would tell anyone to enter the competition if they are truly considering a career in Film, as it is not only fun but also very educational, inspiring and if you have a passion for filming, the Young Image Makers competition is definitely the right choice to make,” she notes.
Elijah concurs, saying that the whole experience of New York, making a movie and the whole process is worth all the hard work.
Well done chaps from all at Weekender – we look forward to writing about your future Oscar winning movies!
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