For the final exam in Literature and Film class, taught by English teacher Julie Gerding, junior Clifford Chi created and a silent short film starring himself, his father, and CBC junior Tyler Creath.

The story revolves around a teenager named Alex who is a very talented piano player. His dad puts a lot of pressure on him to play piano in college as a career, but Alex wants to be a chef. Cooking is his true passion, but his father will not accept it.

“Truthfully, I didn’t want to write a script, and I didn’t want to record voice overs,” Chi said, “You can say that the film was very emotional and I wanted actions, not words.”

The process took eight hours to film and eight hours to edit.

“To do a project like this, you must plan well in advance.  Filming and editing to take longer than you might expect,” Gerding said, “It can be an extremely fun project to undertake, but coming up with a concept, doing multiple takes of the same scene, figuring out exactly what the camera should do and editing can be pretty time consuming.”

The reaction of Chi’s classmates was positive.

“It was well made, humorous and entertaining,” senior Ty Delhougne said,” It is what a short film should be.”

Even though no dialogue was spoken, “Arabesque” by Claude Debussy was used as the piano soundtrack of the film.

“It is my favorite classical song, and it was as long as my film, so it worked out perfectly,” Chi said, “Also, the scene where the music starts worked out because I know how to play the intro on the piano.”

Also, the quality of the film was well received.

“I expected a lesser quality film, but the editing was smooth and the story line was consistent,” senior Kiana Henley said.

For juniors and seniors, this class is offered as an English credit. For seniors, this class has Saint Louis University credit available with no additional work involved.

“You get an in depth look at the aspects of film making that make movies work (camerawork, acting, editing, set/costume design, etc.),” Gerding said, “It is open to people who like watching movies, aspiring filmmakers, or even just those looking for an English credit. We watch and discuss about 10-12 movies over a semester–some classic and some released just in the past year.”