It’s chilly outside with a brisk wind stinging the cheeks of the digital film students.
They are scouring over a script in the amphitheater in the Performing Arts parking lot, some huddled together on the steps, others running lines with violent hand gestures, spitting words back and forth.
It’s 1 p.m. in the afternoon on Feb. 11 and it is the first rehearsal for the film department’s next big movie. Director Stephen Mallet, 21, a film, television and media major, presides over the rehearsal. To give the actors and crew the feeling of what shooting is going to feel like, a more authentic experience, Mallet has his team outside.
“I want to rehearse outdoors every single day,” said Mallet. “They need to be outside, be in the sun and get dirty. They need to beat each other up.”
Mallet and his crew are working on the third student produced film to come from Moorpark College. The film, tentatively titled “Elena,” explores the prejudices on both sides of the Mexican/American border concerning immigration and the drug trade.
The film will be action/adventure focusing on two girls escaping from Mexico due to their father’s involvement in the government action against the drug cartels. On their journey, they meet three American drug smugglers involved in the trade.
While the film does explore some turbulent issues, the script represents both sides of the situations.
“What we’re trying to portray is that there is at least two sides to the issue,” said Head Writer Scott Landsman. “That America is slamming the front door on immigration, but opening the back door for them to build our houses and to take those jobs at lesser pay scales. There are [also] a lot of people now caught in the drug war. They’re either with the drug cartels or against them.”
The film students stress that the film is to depict both sides.
“We’re trying to make a film that’s not preachy. We’re trying to be balanced,” said Andrew Wolf who plays one of the American drug smugglers. “We’re trying not to force our position.”
“Elena” will be the third film the Digital Filmmaking class has undertaken with the assistance of Ferenc Gutai, the executive producer of the films and the instructor for the class.
“Trauma,” the movie from the Spring 2008 semester featured a woman and her husband trying to recover from her sexual assault while last spring’s film, “The Room,” was a horror film portraying a Stepford-like family and the lengths they went to stay perfect.
“The Room” recently acquired credits from imdb.com.
The digital filmmaking students will be filming “Elena” on location off of Pearblossom Highway and in Apple Valley starting March 15. While the content is quite heavy and challenging to fit into 25 pages according to Landsman, Mallet is optimistic that the product will deliver.
“I love telling a good story, a good compelling story,” said Mallet. “We want people to leave this feeling compelled, feeling moved.”
