A look from behind the cinematic lens

Molly Shore

Providence High School students enrolled in Tom Durkin’s media

communications focus program recently got a firsthand look at the

business of making movies.

In addition to viewing a screening of the upcoming TV movie, “D.C.

Sniper: 23 Days of Fear,” the juniors and seniors visited with

director Tom McLoughlin, editor Charles Bornstein and actor Trent

Cameron, who portrays alleged teenage killer Lee Boyd Malvo. The

movie airs Oct. 17 on USA Network.

Following the movie, which is based on the Washington, D.C.,

sniper killings that gripped the nation last year, the three men

appeared on stage for a question-and-answer period.

“It was an incredibly smart, intelligent discussion that went for

three hours after the movie,” said McLoughlin, whose son is a

sophomore in the media communications program at Providence.

When a student asked how props and locations were chosen,

McLoughlin said he told them that because the movie was filmed in

Canada, many of the real-life locations including Home Depot,

Michaels and Exxon didn’t exist there, so they had to create them.

“In the world of illusion we were creating essentially a reality

in another town to resemble the Washington, D.C., suburbs,”

McLoughlin said.

Carmen Ramos, 17, said she was intrigued by the different camera

angles.

“Several scenes were shot in a way that was chilling,” she said.

“They used unique camera angles, which we in the media program had

not thought of.”

Aspiring actor Tommy Boucher, 17, said he wanted to know what it

was like to portray a real person.

“You have to play it truthful, otherwise it takes away from the

story,” Cameron told him.

Durkin said his students were riveted by the movie.

“It stimulated a tremendous amount of thought on their part and

about the media’s influence on the events that take place in this

country,” he said.