Juniors produce 'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days' for formal event
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Junior Jenna Orcutt acts out an office scene as one of the main characters, in the class of 2013's Night of the Stars movie, How to Lose Guy in Ten Days, Jan. 25. The class chose to recreate the 2003 romantic comedy in hopes of maintaing some winning streaks.
After taking home Best Cinematography and Best Editing for their sophomore Night of the Stars (NOTS) movie, the juniors look forward to competing for more recognition with their creation of the 2003 romantic comedy, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.
Led by producer Matthew Adams and director Rachel Quiring, the main characters will be played by Brandon Porter as the advertising executive and ladies' man Benjamin Barry, and Jenna Orcutt as the ambitious writer Andie Anderson.
Compared to the last two years, the class of 2013 will be taking a different approach on their writing of the script and way of telling jokes, according to Adams.
-We're putting a lot more effort into the writing of the script and we're changing our philosophy of joke-telling this year,-- Adams said. -Instead of pounding a joke to death like a lot of other movies, it's a hit and miss kind of a thing where you tell a joke once and that's it. We don't come back to the joke, which will allow people to be more interested. Instead of a lot of improv within our movies, it is written out and is very precise.--
Along with the new filming technique, Adams looks forward to seeing the different dynamics between the main characters, and hopes to maintain the Best Cinematography and Best Editing streak.
-Filming will be a lot of fun and interesting to see because of the different dynamics between the main characters,-- Adams said. -Brandon can get really passionate and into his roles and it will be really interesting to see Brandon and Jenna flirt and it will be really awkward. I'm hoping to keep our streak of Best Cinematography and Best Editing, and Parents' Choice would be nice. Best Director would be nice and a few acting awards.--
-I am excited that I get to be a part of the movie this year. It is a fun film with a lot of funny dialogue and will be a lot of fun to do. I have never really done anything like this before, so I am kind of nervous, but I just keep reminding myself how fun it is, that helps." --Jenna Orcutt, '13
As a new participant with NOTS, Orcutt feels the first-time nerves of acting, but anticipates the overall experience of working with her class and growing closer to her peers.
-I am excited that I get to be a part of the movie this year,-- Orcutt said. -It is a fun film with a lot of funny dialogue and will be a lot of fun to do. I have never really done anything like this before, so I am kind of nervous, but I just keep reminding myself how fun it is, that helps. I am excited to work with my class to make this movie; I hope it will bring us closer together.--
While the freshmen and sophomores have less experience of putting a film together, the upperclassmen have learned from past mistakes and have developed finer techniques.
-This year our class has been doing things very neatly and we've gone out of our way to be organized,-- Quiring said. -I think we've chosen the perfect movie for our junior year because there's a good amount of plot for the time limit we have, there's good characters, and it's really funny.--
Junior Matthew Adams, left and Rachel Quiring produce and direct the class's movie, respectively. The group will be taking a new approach on the writing of the script, and their way of joke telling, Adams said.
Although the juniors have a game plan sketched out, Quiring acknowledges the possible conflicts involved when dealing with time schedules, due to after-school activities. Despite these challenges, she hopes for a well-produced movie that will outshine the other classes.
-One of the challenges is coordinating when we can film,-- Quiring said. -Some kids have sports after school, and one of the two main characters of our movie, Jenna, was out of town at winter camp last weekend so we couldn't film at all. Personally, I'm hoping for a movie that looks clean-cut and well thought out because a lot of NOTS movies don't have that.--
Though some students participate in the production of their class movie, others choose not to partake in the process due to lack of interest, or because they do not attend the event.
Even though new student Ali Gray will not be attending the event, she recognizes the class camaraderie connected with NOTS, and shares the differences of the formal event from a public school.
-I like that each class is involved with NOTS because usually at public school formals the seniors are more involved with the dancing, but here everyone is involved and it's really cool how people vote on the movies,-- Gray said. -I'm not going this year, but will probably go next year. I look forward to attending it next year and hope to be in the movie.--
For more information on NOTS, read the Jan. 17 article, BREAKING: NOTS theme announced and the Jan. 25 article, A formal invitation: Join the discussion.
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Posted by "Jenna Orcutt" on January 27, 2012 at 1:02 a.m.
Great article, Maddie! It was so fun to film for the first time. I cannot wait to finish all of the other scenes and see it all put together. I have to thank Matt Adams and Rachel Quirring for directing and producing, from one day of filming I can already tell it is going to be a lot of work to get the whole thing done. But thanks to them and to everyone else who is making this movie possible!
Posted by "Eric Cowin" on January 26, 2012 at 1:02 a.m.
I am looking forward to seeing everybody's movies. I can already tell that this year is going to be even better than the last year!
Posted by "Janine Yee" on January 27, 2012 at 1:02 a.m.
Great article, Maddie! It's fun to see the growth that takes place through each year's experience. The juniors seem to be pulling together, and I have no doubt that this will be their best movie yet!