Industry pro gives WVHS Video Production students tips on their horror films

With Halloween lurking around the corner, Warwick Valley High School students in their second year of Dan Cecconie’s Video Production program are in the final stages of creating their first-ever digital cinema assignment—an original horror short!

The creators were challenged to produce a two to five-minute horror film that immerses viewers into “an unexpected and unnerving reality.” This week, the students got feedback on their work during a visit from Howard Libov, professor of Digital Film & Cinema at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

^{See a gallery from the workshop below this story!}

“We met [Howard] last year at the JAG Conference,” explained Dan Cecconie, who attended the Jersey Access Group event in May.

The annual JAG event brings together professionals in the public, educational, and government access television and municipal communications fields. Mr. Cecconie said he jumped at the chance to have Mr. Libov visit when, “he expressed interest in coming to our studio and seeing the projects that our students are working on.”

The assignment called for each short to…

• be based on an original screenplay.
• have a minimum of five seven-shot sequences with varied composition and angles.
• use sound design that incorporates dialogue, music, ambience, and effects.

While the assignment demanded creativity, it also called for collaboration! Mr. Cecconie let the students know that their focus was to be on directing and that they would not be allowed to star in their films. They also had to build a production crew made up of their Video Production classmates, including a cinematographer, and lighting and sound technicians.

“The students were introduced to Arc Studio screenwriting software before shooting their first seven-shot sequence,” said Mr. Cecconie about the process, which began with preproduction and production at the start of October. That work continued last week, and following Mr. Libov’s workshop session on Monday, the student auteurs were heading into post-production.

“Our horror short special is set to debut next Monday,” Mr. Cecconie said of their planned Halloween week premier.

During the workshop session, the students shared footage they have shot and edited so far, and Mr. Libov took his time to generously provide shot-by-shot feedback for each student. With a strong focus on some of the dos and don’ts of visual storytelling, Mr. Libov provided expert advice and actionable steps the students could take to improve upon their work. He stressed the importance of choosing the right sound effect to make scenes relatable to viewers, citing the innovative work of film editor, director, writer and sound engineer Walter Murch.

“If you take a day or two trying things out, remember… that's not wasted time,” he also said, encouraging the students to stay thoughtful and intentional with how they craft their stories, not to rush and to mind the important details. “Watch what you reveal when.”

He also urged the students to “dispense with the whole master shot idea,” and to simply “just get the shots [they] need” to avoid being sidetracked and to keep production moving along. The discussion also touched on important facets of the horror genre, including the use of jump cuts and how to develop a foreboding atmosphere using sound design.

Following his visit, Mr. Libov asked Mr. Cecconie to convey his thanks to the students for the time they spent sharing their work for critique. He was thoroughly impressed by what he saw.

“I can assure you; I can only make any suggestion or comments when the film being played before me is the generator for those comments,” Mr. Libov said. “The student work I saw was light years ahead of what many high school students are doing, and a testament to their level of cinema ability!”

Keep an eye out next week for the premier of the students' work!