Schools

SPHS Students Participate in Film Fest - Gains Audience Approval

Young filmmakers capture an Audience Appreciation Award at Frederick's 72 Film Fest.

Making a film, no longer than 5 and a half minutes long, within 72 hours, would create a flurry of activity for any cast and crew, accomplishing this while gaining recognition at a film festival after missing the deadline by an hour, is an accolade for the Severna Park High School Short Fuse Films team.

The group of budding filmmakers entered their short in Fredrick's 72 Film Fest, an annual time-based film competition where teams have 72 hours to make a short film.  

All the teams attended the Fest Launch Party on Sept. 29, in Frederick, MD where each were given the criteria for the short film with the theme "communication." The rules specified that all the films had to open and close with shots identical to the photos provided. The teams then had 72 hours to write, shoot, edit and submit their films.

Find out what's happening in Severna Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The SPHS team’s entry, considered a “dark comedy” by its makers and titled Dead Serious was one of 47 short films from the Mid-Atlantic region entered into the annual contest, now in its sixth year and held at the Weinberg Center for the Arts in Frederick on Oct. 7. 

The Short Fuse team consisted of Jennifer (Jenna) Kahn, Claudia Frye, Harry Slattery, Jeffrey Robbins, Devin McCord, SPHS graduate and Anne Arundel Community College student Keith Acton, and former Severna Park High School student Patrick Kavanagh.

Find out what's happening in Severna Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Lead actress Jenna Kahn, a SPHS junior, and vice president of  the SPHS Improv Troupe, considers film her passion, one she found while living in Germany, capturing her experience in a more “permanent way” via audio and visual productions to record the experience of living abroad.

The story is about a young man played by SPHS senior Harry Slattery, who “accidentally becomes a serial killer” and runs into all sorts of trouble as everyone he meets in the film dies, including Jenna, his lactose intolerant girlfriend who bites the dust after eating an ice cream cone.

Filmed over a weekend in downtown Annapolis, the film then had to be transported to Frederick, unfortunatley, they missed the submission deadline by an hour which disqualified Dead Serious in a few categories. However, it did make the cut for the Audience Appreciation Award by receiving the most votes by text message and made it to the finals. Hundreds of people voted and the festival included entries from professional filmmakers., “It was really neat, it wasn’t just our parents who were impressed with it," said Jenna.

Claudia Frye, 16, a SPHS junior and president of the SPHS Film Club, worked the camera and equipment loaned to the group by Anne Arundel Community College, thanks to Keith Acton, 20, a 2009 graduate of SPHS and director of the film.   Now at AACC, Acton has been making short films with friends for years he said, and entered the Film Fest last year as well.

After everyone agreed on a location and theme, Acton said the next two days were exhausting and chaotic. Unfortunately, the drive to Frederick found them an hour past deadline, making it ineligible to be judged—but the audience had such a favorable response Dead Serious was voted into the finals and became the Audience Favorite.

You can watch Short Fuse Films' submission "Dead Serioius" here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIHx4eifYrw. More information about the Fest can be found here: www.72fest.com


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here