More Art’s afterschool art program has begun again! This school year we’re working with middle schoolers from the NYC Lab School, a group of 15 students excited to learn about film. Don Gibson has been leading classes that split our course into two parts. The first focuses on learning and discussing film theory and concepts, while the second gives students the opportunity to put these concepts into action and create their own short films.

This week we talked about the huge influence sound effects and music have on a scene. We watched a few short clips from John Hughes’ 1987 film Planes, Trains & Automobiles, looking at how the plot is conveyed and enhanced by employing sounds other than dialogue.

Students then broke out into groups to develop a chase scene. They constructed the story by taking 40-50 photographs, edited out the photos they didn’t advance the plot, and then matched the scene with sounds and music. The videos were well crafted and fun to watch!

Visit our Facebook page to watch one of the chase scenes! Directed, filmed, edited and set to music by Milo, Ryan, and Shu.