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SCHOOL JOURNAL

Emery Secondary Students' Film Shown at San Francisco Film Festival

David Mills
Connection Staff
May 2008

Apollonia Mendoza and Christina Sabas are realizing their 22 seconds of fame.

` That’s the length of a claymation movie made by the two Emery Secondary School seniors that has received a high honor.

Their film, titled “Beowulf,” is being shown at the San Francisco Film Festival. It lights up the screen at the Kabuki Theater on May 4 and May 8.

“It’s such an honor to be recognized. I never thought it would happen to us,” said Mendoza.

The film grew out of an assignment last spring in Mendoza and Sabas’ 11th grade art class. Students were assigned to do a short claymation film about any topic. Sabas and Mendoza had studied Beowulf, the poem about a dragon-slaying hero written in the 700’s by an unknown author, in their English class.

Sabas loved the story. She also has an affinity for dragons, so she suggested to Mendoza they work together on the film.

“We were both captivated by the story,” said Mendoza.

The two students used an action figure covered in clay for the hero Beowulf. They then made a dragon and a treasure chest from foil and clay. They also built a background and props.

Mendoza and Sabas picked a scene from the poem, then used a video camera at Emery Secondary to shoot nearly 100 frames, moving the figures a fraction of an inch each time. The taping took about an hour.

“It was a very painstaking process,” said Mendoza.

Both students said they learned important lessons while putting together the project.

“I learned about working cooperatively,” said Sabas. “I’m an independent person, so that was hard for me.”

“I learned patience is the key,” said Mendoza. “You definitely need to have a patient outlook to get things done.”

Their instructor entered the 22-second epic in the youth division of the San Francisco Film Festival. The two students said the entry quickly became a distant memory.

“We totally forgot about it,” Mendoza said. “The school year ended. Summer came. Senior year came.”

Then, in March, school officials told Mendoza and Sabas their film had been selected for the festival. Neither girl fully understood the importance of the honor until they attended opening ceremonies in early April.

“I didn’t realize until the opening reception how big the festival is,” said Sabas.

Mendoza and Sabas have both given thought to pursuing a film career, but right now both have plans in other fields.

Sabas plans to major in biology. She hopes to attend U.C. Davis after spending two years at either Sacramento State or Contra Costa College.

Mendoza wants to study law. She plans to attend Berkeley City College for two years, then transfer to U.C. Berkeley.

David Mills is a writer for The Emeryville

Connection. If you have a question or comment, please contact him at ecocnews@gmail.com