Aspiring filmmakers seniors Cristina Gonzalez and Jessica Oswald begin their film young careers directing their self-written scripts.
Gonzalez, Oswald, and the rest of the Storytelling Through Film class wrote their own scripts and submitted them to two Hollywood directors, Cindy McCreery and Herschel Weingrod to be judged, critiqued, and scored. Gonzalez and Oswald’s scripts received the highest scores.
“They decided the two best scripts were Paper Bag Boy by Cristina and Black Scarf Murders by Jessica,” Digital Story Telling advisor from Austin Film Festival Patrick Pryor said.
Dialogue, characters, structure, and the plot are critiqued when choosing scripts.
“Both writers have really improved from the beginning,” Pryor said. “It is exciting to see the changes develop after revisions. I am very curious to see the initial idea and how it changes by the time it is finished.”
Gonzalez’s film, Paper Bag Boy, is the second film she has directed. She is working on developing her directing skills with the cast for a second time around.
“I know now that we need to do a lot of pre-planning and communicating,” Gonzalez said. “I also want people to have fun and be comfortable. If those two things are not happening then I am probably not doing my job well.”
One of Gonzalez’s crew members from last year’s film, Awkward Universe, is also apart of her new film and has high regard for Gonzalez.
“Working with Cristina is wonderful,” senior Cynthia Arteaga said. “I worked with her during Awkward Universe so I already have an idea of her. She is really easy to work with. It has been fun and a great learning experience.”
Paper Bag Boy tells the story of a boy without any confidence going through high school.
“The boy has no confidence so he wears a bag to prevent students from bullying him,” Gonzalez said.
Oswald’s film is a murder-mystery featuring a boy named Sam who encounters a series of murders of only blond girls.
“My film is titled Black Scarf Murders,” Oswald said. “Sam walks into his English class and finds a girl strangled by a black scarf. Throughout the film more blond girls are strangled and the school tries to solve the murders.”
This is Oswald’s first chance to direct her own film.
“I’m kind of scared,” Oswald said. “I just want to have a lot of fun with my cast and crew.”
Both Gonzalez and Oswald want to gain some exposure in the film world with their films.
“We encourage them to submit their films to festivals and build their portfolios,” Pryor said. “If they feel their product is good enough they can submit them to Austin Film Festival.”
“I plan to submit my film to Austin Film Festival,” Gonzalez said. “Hopefully it will be as successful as last year.”
