Getting Their Shot

The actors are in place. The scene, an Ojai park disguised as a jungle, is set.

“Roll camera . . . action!” yells 10-year-old director Evan Kristiansen, with pencil tucked behind ear, script clenched in a fist and brow furrowed in concentration.

But as the camera rolls, giggles overcome his actors. Strangers wander into the frame. The perfect moment of sunlight fades, as does little Evan’s patience.

“Cut! Let’s try it again,” sighs the young auteur.

This is the not-so-glamorous, behind-the-scenes reality of movie making. It’s something kids Evan’s age, despite their penchant for movie watching, rarely get to see--or experience.

But organizers of this year’s Ojai Film Festival set out to change that, launching a series of summer filmmaking workshops for children that kicked off with a two-day “boot camp” last weekend.

Under the baking sun of Ojai--the hillside retreat of many a Hollywood star--a team of industry professionals tried to school 35 of the community’s next generation of actors, screenwriters and cinematographers in the basics of movie magic.

The idea was to give the youngsters, all from the Ojai Valley, the tools they need to enter films in the Ojai Youth Film Festival on Nov. 12. More Saturday sessions--with lessons ranging from working with actors to post-production techniques--are planned for the coming months.

“The sooner kids learn film grammar and how to use the vocabulary, the more empowered they will become,” festival director George Walczak said. “Instead of sitting in front of the tube, they’ll want to be behind the camera.”

Modeled after the prestigious American Film Institute’s program for incoming college graduate students, the Ojai Boot Camp centered on producing one scene taken from a feature film or play. While at AFI it might have been “Apocalypse Now,” in this case it was, more appropriately, an adapted version of a scene from the play “Peter Pan.”

After being handed scripts and shot lists, teams of kids and at least one mentor took to the streets of Ojai. They could choose to film either a quirky short in which Peter loses--and then quickly finds--his shadow, or a suspenseful, yet equally brief, pirate-takes-prisoner drama.

A Lesson in Actors, Directors and Egos

Ojai resident and television director Bob Wise, best known for his work on “Unsolved Mysteries,” helped his crew carefully stake out their location: a sprawling oak tree behind Chaparral School.

There, Wise talked to the fidgety youngsters about storyboards, planning their shots, wide angles and extreme close-ups--and how each can be used to introduce characters, set a scene or convey emotions.

“As the storyteller with the camera, you’ve got to make sure the audience sees each little moment,” he said. “This is the fun part about being a director--you control the universe.”

Throughout the school grounds and in nearby Libbey Park, the same lessons played out with half a dozen other small groups.

And, as on a Hollywood set, directors dealt with actors’ egos.

“You get really tired out and hungry when you’re acting nonstop,” said 9-year-old Alex Pfeffer, who played a pirate, as 10-year-old director Cole Lanquist tried to set up the shot. “Most of the time you really wish you could go to your trailer, but we don’t have trailers.”

Actors, in turn, had to deal with perfectionist directors.

“I’d like to get a tear in this shirt--it’s looking a little corny,” said 14-year-old Michael Wise, darting from actor to actor and barking commands. “I want this ball in the shot. Your head has to be down. Mouths closed, please.”

“He wanted everything very exact,” said Chelsea Schalla, 11, Michael’s cinematographer.

And everyone realized that filming a two-minute scene--with a crew of rambunctious kids--was no easy task.

“I came in with all of these ideas for cool shots,” said Peter Fuzzard, a mentor filmmaker, looking sunburned and exhausted. “Needless to say, that’s out the window. Now I’m trying to go as simple as possible.”

But he and other mentors, working professionals who gave up their weekends to volunteer, said they were impressed with what the kids picked up in such a short time.

Applause for All at Screening

“They’re unbelievable,” said Scott Wells, a recent college graduate whose short film “Serial” will be entered in the Ojai festival. “They’re really learning how it’s done, and we’re not being easy on them.”

The boot camp was organized by Dixie Dakos, who teaches film production and drama at Nordhoff High School in Ojai. Decked out in camouflage hat and shorts, she ran around nonstop between the different filming locations to ensure everything went smoothly.

She is now working on putting all of the finished scenes onto one tape, along with a documentary of the Ojai Boot Camp that was filmed throughout the weekend. The tape was covered by the $15 fee each child paid to participate in this first-ever event. Dakos said she hopes the event will continue next year, and that she can include students from outside the area.

“It was so much work, but I think it has been a great success,” she said.

Most of the shooting wrapped on Saturday afternoon. The next day, each group was dispatched to an editing center, where the real toiling began.

Seven hours and more than a few nerve-racking computer crashes later, kids and adults crowded into the stuffy gym at Chaparral High.

Eyes glued to an oversized screen, they soaked in the fruits of their labor. Some of the amateur actors buried their faces in their hands, embarrassed of their giant images, while others basked in the glow of fame.

Despite the identical scripts, each film turned out very differently. After every screening, thunderous applause erupted.

Along with the other directors, Evan congratulated his cast and thanked his mentors.

“It was two days of hard work,” he said earnestly, “and I think it paid off.”