Since Sept., Film Club has worked on creating a short film titled “The Sardelli Tapes,” allowing students the chance to showcase their audiovisual specialties. The film is set to release by the end of the school year.
“Our goal was to give film club members an opportunity to make a film that we’re all passionate about,” Director and Film Club President junior Ava Vanna said.
Vanna allocated roles to film club members based on their specific areas of interest, offering members an opportunity to grow their skills in a particular area of film.
“We needed certain marks to be hit in regards to our team,” Vanna said. “We needed a costume designer, prop person, a location scout, and all of those general production roles, so as long as every one of those boxes were filled, we let everyone assign themselves a role.”
Vanna’s job as director included sourcing money for the film, collecting people together, hosting auditions, and helping actors convey the story through feeling and vision.
“I think that anything up to this scale is stressful,” Vanna said. “I think because of the support that we give each other as film club members, it has been a really fun experience.”
The team began working at the start of the school year, focusing mainly on writing and funding until mid-Jan.. Finally, after finishing shot lists and storyboarding, the club moved onto the audition portion of the process.
“Auditions are an interesting process, and it’s always fun to see the actors’ different personalities in the character we want,” sophomore music producer Jeadyn Rivera said. “We’re looking for someone with a good range because the main character is a false-confident person that needs to be portrayed as exciting and fun-loving on camera, but she’s got this whole internal conflict going on behind the scenes.”
The film echoes themes of body positivity, centering around main character Sandra Sadelli, an 80’s workout icon, facing heavy societal pressure over her appearance.
“There is one scene where it shows Sandra in different workout outfits, saying her intro to the workout video,” Vanna said. “This is the point where the film kind of slows down, and foreshadows the rest of the story.”
Vanna believes this scene highlights the themes expressed throughout the rest of the film, displaying how everything can appear fine on the surface, when in actuality, it is far from reality.
“I think the whole plot is very obscure but also kind of funny,” Rivera said. “At the same time it is serious and it tackles an important subject that happens a lot in the real world.”
According to Rivera, the purpose of the film is to help members improve their skills in something they are passionate about, offering a chance to work with others who share the same passion.
“The main goal of this project is to test ourselves to see where we are at and improve our skills,” junior and sound operator Jack Oehler said. “It’s about doing what we love and testing our ability to work with others.”
