From its genesis of many small, amateurish short films created during the COVID-19 pandemic, the idea for a larger film project developed as early as the 2021/2022 school year. Within the framework of various subjects and our unique school model, a film from the horror genre titled Reading Night was created.
After some unpleasant situations at school involving bullying, the twelve-year-old girls Johanna and Laura, the main protagonists of the film, decide to break into the school together with four other teenagers, despite the cancelled reading night, and spend the night there without the principal’s permission. Mysterious things happen, culminating in the disappearance of two children. The task is to find the missing youngsters and solve the mystery of an old school scandal.However, more cannot be revealed yet! Currently, half of the film has been shot and is already partly in editing. The project will be completed by September 2023.
The goal of the project is to introduce the young people to various film techniques. The most important tasks will be carried out by students themselves. These days, young people have easy access to cameras due to the outstanding quality of smartphones. The project aims to show that there are, however, still major differences in quality between “film” and quickly shot “memes” and “snaps”. What is presented as “real” in film involves a lot of effort. For two minutes of film, three to four hours are often shot. Students also learn to work with sound programs and to make their own sound edits. Equally important for the project is dealing with topics from the world of twelve to 14-year-olds. While in the film, bullying and school stress show the negative sides of everyday school life, positive associations are also created through a deep friendship and situations demanding great courage.
Credits
School: Bischöfliches Gymnasium Paulinum, Schwaz
School group: approx. 50 students from classes 2B and 2C
Teacher: Sonja Fuchs
Bischöfliches Gymnasium Paulinum, Schwaz
The main actors of the project are a total of about 50 students from 2B and 2C, aged between eleven and twelve. The tasks they take on range from actors in the film to extras, make-up, sound assistance, assisting the production management, lighting, setting and much more. Especially when it comes to the exact realization of the film scenes, the creative input of the youngsters is most welcome.
Mario Rosenauer has been teaching German and music education at the Bischöfliches Gymnasium Paulinum since September 2021. He implements his interest in film and film techniques in many projects in school and private contexts, but the Reading Night is one of the biggest challenges so far. He is responsible for direction, camera work and editing (picture and sound), as well as the screenplay.
Sonja Fuchs has been teaching physics and geography and economics at the Paulinum since 2012. Her strengths include organizing and structuring projects. She gladly provides this input for the film. As recording manager and organization of schedules and shooting dates, and coordinator for acting groups, rehearsals, etc., she takes care of the planning part as well as being responsible for sound recording.