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ACHO DENE KOE/FORT LIARD
Alinda Edda is looking forward to seeing the final edited copy of a film she helped to create.

Alinda Edda, left, Terrance Kotchea, Stan Bertrand, Briant Kotchea, Brent Kotchea, Tyrone Berreault, Ethan McLeod and Dave Nande filmed a scary movie parody called The Boogieman during a filmmaking workshop held in Fort Liard. - photo courtesy of Reel Youth

Edda, 14, was one of about 20 youths who took part in a film-making workshop in Fort Liard.

Two facilitators with Reel Youth, a not-for-profit organization based in Vancouver that travels across Canada teaching youth to make videos, led the workshop from Aug. 20 to 23.

Over the course of three days participants worked through the entire process of making a film, from brainstorming an idea to the post-production editing.

The workshop, which the Hamlet of Fort Liard sponsored, was all about using media to create a place for positive expression, said Mark Vonesch, director of Reel Youth.

Filmmaking is a way for youth to be seen and share their community and their thoughts, he said.

Vonesch and co-worker Tiffany Moses let the youth come up with their own ideas for films and then vote on which ones would be made.

For one of the short films, the youth interviewed a number of Fort Liard's elders about their history and their reflections on the community.

A second group chose to make a parody of a scary movie.

Although the basic story was about a group of students being terrorized by a monster while on a camping trip, the film touched on the issues of inclusiveness and exclusivity, said Vonesch.

The monster ends up being a child who was left out of the camping trip.

Once he's discovered, the other students invite him to join the trip.

"The kids had a lot of fun making it," he said.

While the kids were the primary actors for the movie they also took their turns behind the camera.

During the workshop, the youth learned different camera techniques and planned shots they wanted to capture. Edda took on the responsibility of editing the scary movie.

"She picked it up so fast," said Vonesch.

Edda said it was easy to learn how to use the editing software and that making the movie was cool.

"Film-making is fun," she said.

Edda also produced a third movie during the workshop by adding to a template called I am From, which Vonesch brought with him.

After working with the template, Edda helped record sound and video to go with it.

"She made a beautiful poem with it," said Vonesch.

During the workshop, youth also learned about digital photography and basic plasticine animation techniques.

Youth created simple characters out of plasticine and used stop motion animation to move them through a scenario.

All of the films the youth made will be professionally edited, and then screened in the community on Oct. 20 as part of the Reel Youth Film Festival.

The festival will also include films made by youth from Deline and Fort Simpson and across the world.

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