An excuse for acting out
Film school representatives give presentation at high school
Shawn Giilck
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, October 2, 2014
INUVIK
There was a good reason for people to act up last weekend when the Vancouver Film School was in town.
Youth at East Three Secondary School were treated to a presentation on attending the Vancouver Film School by faculty member Michael Robinson on Sept. 26. Two instructors were in town for the weekend working with youth at a forum over the weekend. - Shawn Giilck/NNSL photo
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Michael Robinson, a faculty member at the school, helped lead a presentation at East Three Secondary School on Sept. 26 in the school's drama room.
"We are teaching a program at the Inuvik Youth Centre," he said. "It's a weekend intensive program basically intended to teach kids what it is to act for film and television. It's about what you need to do to bring an interesting and truthful performance to the screen."
There's no hard and fast rule or playbook to go by when you're trying to accomplish that, Robinson said.
"Every person is different, so you kind of take the clay that is the student and look at them to find out what they are doing well and what do they need help in.
"Some kids are very expressive naturally, and all you have to do is focus that emotion into a particular direction. Some kids might have very good concentration, but they're not very expressive, so they might need some help to express whatever it is that they're feeling.
"Some people love to have a conversation, and reel the other person in with a response," he continued. "Some people have more difficulty making eye contact, and prefer to think about their own response rather than someone else's."
Robinson said the invitation to come to Inuvik was partly due to the success of the Reel Youth program over the last year.
Those sessions taught some of the basics of filmmaking because participants had the chance to write, shoot and edit their own horror movie, among other projects.
"The programs are somewhat similar," said Robinson. "They were more into making the film, and we're focused purely on acting for the film, but it's in the same genre."
He is planning on doing some filming during the workshops, but solely for the point of reviewing performances, rather than any actual production.
He said he is looking forward to finding out what talent lies hidden amongst Inuvikmiut.
"I enter into life without any expectations at all," he said, assuming a more theatrical air. "If they go away smiling and thinking about things in a different way, I'm happy."
Ali McConnell, the executive director of the Inuvik Youth Centre, also pointed to the Reel Youth program as the stepping stone into inviting the Vancouver Film School to come to Inuvik.
She said Reel Youth is a very popular special event, and she anticipated the weekend workshop to be quite similar.
A handful of students attended the presentation at the school, with Chantal Grey being one of the most interested participants.
She said she's planning on graduating high school by the time she's 16, and is very keen to explore a future in the arts, either in dance or acting.
