Seniors take creative dive into Capstone films

As senior Neoneo Chen pushed the record button on her camera, she watched her group’s story come to life on the screen. Moving around the dark office in senior Miranda Olson’s house, she smoothly panned the camera to perfectly catch junior Eli Tsives in the light as he played the main character. 

This is just one of several groups of Media Arts Program seniors who completed their months-long Capstone project, a 10-minute film on any topic using the storytelling, filming and editing skills they’ve developed over the past four years. Each group has a faculty adviser.

Chen and her groupmate Olson explored storytelling by creating an action film about a young man on the search for his parents’ murderer. After holding auditions open to any grade for actors, they chose Tsives to play the main character. 

Aside from coming up with an idea and building a story, Chen’s favorite part of this project has been filming. 

“Because of COVID and quarantine last year, there weren’t many chances to film,” Chen said. “This year, I have enjoyed being back behind the camera and seeing our story get brought to life.”  

Many groups faced the common challenge of commiting to a story idea. According to Chen, after multiple brainstorming sessions her group changed their idea for multiple classes straight before deciding on a final storyline. Senior Arya Taymuree and her group — seniors Emily Eckerman, Hannah Coward, Jordan Shyh and Morgan Bettinger — faced a similar issue. 

“A big challenge was figuring out where to start,” Taymuree said. “It is a year-long project and you have to be willing to put in the work for the entire year.” 

After experimenting with the topic of homelessless but failing to connect with it, Taymuree’s narrative drama film shifted toward a portrayal of a student facing family and academic pressures, much like an arbitrary Saratoga High student. 

Taymuree said that organizational skills, experience with collaboration and close relationships she built up in the MAP program have been key in conducting the project. 

“We’ve all been together for a while now, and we’ve been working on cultivating our skills,” Taymuree said. “This is a pinnacle moment, and the name ‘Capstone’ sets the tone.” 

Along with collaboration, MAP 12 Media Arts teacher Joel Tarbox noted the project’s organizational challenges posed by the long-term nature and loose guidelines.

“In most of the other projects, we give parameters to the students and set up groups,” Tarbox said. “[The Capstone project] requires students to take more control and persevere, and it can be tough to keep a project going.” 

To aid in organization and time management, students have been given deadlines throughout the school year. The first steps, which took place in August, were to pitch an idea, get it approved and write a screenplay. A third of their rough cuts were due at the beginning of February, and full rough cuts were due in March.

Final cuts were due in mid-April, where the students had to present their project to the class. Post-submission, students’ works are considered for MAP’s SMASH’N showcase event in May. They can also submit them to film festivals throughout the country. According to Tarbox, students in MAP often do advanced work but are sometimes reluctant to showcase their films outside of school. 

“This project is something that allows you to take a bunch of stuff you’ve learned along the way over the course of years, put those skills together and really push yourself,” Tarbox said.