One of the things I liked about film class was that the two teachers complimented each other. Mr S. was the nice one, not that Mr. CS wasn't nice, he was just a little scarier.
When at the age of 15 I was faced with the question of "what do I want to be?" I had no idea. I loved police shows on tv and the idea of being a detective sounded appealing. Clearly though that's not the starting rank. I also knew that I didn't want risking my life to part of my job. Journalism was another option and had things not played out so well that's probably what I would have studied. But another path was set for me.
During the last year of high school I completed among many, one particular film. This film, titled "Creepy" became very near and dear to my heart. I poured hours into this film about stereotypically creepy things - like fingers scratching down a whiteboard. When the equipment I had available to me at school meant that I couldn't fulfill my dream of finishing this film, Mr S offered to let me use his home editing suite. There wasn't any favouritism shown here as I know he would have done it for anyone else in the same boat.
Later that year I entered my film into the Minister's Award for Excellence in Art. And although the film was far from professional I think the judges liked my idea. The aim was to make the audience creep and crawl in their seats. I know I achieved this as when we had a public screening at school, I sat in my seat and watched the audience. It was a good feeling.
Winning the Minister's Award was what made me realise that other's enjoy my work. And that film class was the one subject taking up every waking moment of my time. You think I would have figured that out earlier! This is why I decided to take film production further.
I owe winning that award and helping find a field that I love to Mr S. I'm no longer in film but I do miss it. Especially when I've been pouring through old production folios for this blog. Family means more to me than film and the hours and unstable income makes it difficult for them to work hand in hand.
One thing I will never forget about Mr. S is his family. I met them that day while working at their house. Mr. S has more than the average 2.4 kids and for a film teacher he has strong views on their television viewing. The only tv they are allowed to watch is Gardening Australia. He said that they watch it as a family and the kids really look forward to that time each week. Watching tv is rarely something that brings the family together as most of us take it so much for granted these days. It's nice to step back sometimes and see just what it is that we are teaching our kids.
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