On March 8, acting students in their first year of the Performing and Visual Arts Education Program (PAVE) at New Rochelle High School held their first table read for films they are producing to share with an audience in June.
This year’s films are based on a series of haikus. The process begins with every student being assigned a haiku. Then they write a script based on that poem, and go through a series of writes and rewrites until their final drafts are complete. Teachers then select five student-written scripts, and students are broken down into groups to work on one of those five selected scripts. Each group has a directing team that is responsible for filming the project, and students in their third year of the PAVE program star as the actors in the films. Second-year PAVE students create visual art that is used to decorate filming locations.
“It's exciting to see how the acting students collaborate with the visual art students to analyze poetry, create personal interpretations of the poetry, and ultimately create a film starring advanced acting students,” said Deepak Marwah, Director of the Performing and Visual Arts Program. “This project is a fine example of student-led, project-based learning.”
PAVE teacher Anthony Stirpe works closely with students on the project, and said while the scripts and films are impressive, the most interesting part of the project is watching students engage in Project- Based Learning.
“When teachers come down and see what the students are doing in class, they’re just blown away because the level of ownership and engagement is just amazing,” Stirpe said. “When kids create something for an audience that is real and tangible, the subject and content takes on a different meaning.”
The films typically are between five and 11 minutes long. Each team has one day before Spring Break to shoot their project. They then spend several weeks editing. During that time, PAVE students involved in the music and dance programs get involved to create original compositions for soundtracks and original dance movements for the films. The process will wrap up in the first week of June, when students will present their finished products to a live audience on Thursday, June 2.