Croton Falls Students Produce Film About Modern-day St. Paul

By JULIANN DosSANTOS

Lights! Camera! Action! All the elements that one would expect in a Hollywood movie shoot were accounted for, and all were organized and carried out by seventh- and eighth-graders at St. Joseph's School in Croton Falls.

The students wrote, directed and starred in the film, which they titled "Things Have Changed." It's a modern retelling of the conversion of St. Paul and tells the story of fictional character Joni Marks, who changes her mischievous ways while at a Catholic school. When Joni learns her school is going to be closed, she devises a plan to try to save it.

"It's been a fun experience and I'm glad I got to be a part of it," said eighth-grader Brendan Clair, who was the producer. "A lot of people wouldn't let a bunch of 13- and 14-year-old kids mess around with such expensive equipment," he added with a laugh.

The film project was offered as a yearlong elective to students in the seventh and eighth grades, with religion teacher Chris Mignanelli as moderator. Students had to apply for admission to the project and maintain a qualifying grade-point average to stay in it. Students also dedicated time during recess, after school and on Saturdays to work on the 70-minute film. The film was scheduled to premier at Kennedy Catholic on June 17.

Mignanelli was not surprised the film had such a religious theme, saying, "We try to discuss faith and reality and apply the things we read in Scripture to our own lives." As a graduate of a Catholic high school himself—John F. Kennedy Catholic in Somers—Mignanelli realizes the importance of discussing religion as it affects everyday life and stresses that lesson in his classroom. "Understanding themselves and their lives in light of their faith is not only something they are interested in and used to, but it comes naturally to them by the time they are eighth-graders," he said.

Throughout the process, a team of student writers completed the 70-page script; other students used professional cameras, sound and lighting equipment for the shoots; and others recorded originally written and composed music for the soundtrack. The only portion of the filming process completely undertaken by Mignanelli was the editing.

Brendan told CNY that he learned a lot about the various cameras, microphones and film equipment used in a film shoot. As producer, he planned each day of filming and made sure everything remained on schedule. "The first couple of days it's really hard, but once we started getting a few film days in, people got to know what they needed to do," he said, "and I had a lot of people to help me." Those people included a production manager and a unit production manager, he said.

Shannon Spillane, the eighth-grader who played the lead character, told CNY, "This was a lifetime experience." She said not only did she learn how important it was to be prepared and have her lines memorized, but also how to work on a team. "We all had to work together because we are on a time schedule," she said. Shannon, who described herself as a "happy, people-person," said that playing a character that was her extreme opposite was difficult at first. After some time, however, she discovered that "it's cool to play someone different. I got used to the character, and it wasn't hard at the end."

The director, eighth-grader Alexander Weig, was in charge of artistically planning each scene, and figuring out the angles that would be shot for them, which is called storyboarding. He told CNY that he believes people who watch the movie will "really understand that people can change."

He explained that the story of the conversion of St. Paul "isn't just a Bible story" and said that conversion "can actually happen."

He said that he's proud of his fellow schoolmates for undertaking and finishing such a large project. "If you just open yourself up, you can accomplish anything," he said.

Return to CNY Homepage