Sayward Elementary School was briefly a film set for a zombie movie. The school hosted students from Carihi Secondary’s video productions class for two days, as the two schools collaborated on making a zombie movie featuring actors from both schools. Safe Zone: A Zombie Film is “an amazing collaboration between schools,” said Joe Shields, the Carihi video productions teacher. “My senior students got to direct and film the Sayward film students, and the Sayward students got to experience filmmaking,” said Shields. “Not to mention the staff of Sayward School let us turn their school into a film set for two days.” The Sayward PAC supported the project by providing meals and supplies. Nolan Clark, one of the actors in the film, said it was a really good experience, but admitted to being nervous at times. He said that everything worked out in the end. It was the first time he had acted on screen, but he had been acting for two years in his drama class. Spencer Montgomery was one of the camera operators. He calls the experience fun, but stressful. “Only having two days to get a whole movie done was a lot of work, but I’m glad we managed to make it work,” he said. The Carihi film class arrived at Sayward around 11 a.m. the first day and didn’t leave until five p.m. the day after. Montgomery also said filming with Sayward’s Grade 4 students went well. “I was very surprised. Most of the Grade 4 students portrayed zombies, except Eddie Robson, who played a survivor with Clark and another Carihi student, Kayden Clinton. Shields said the whole project came together after a discussion with Sayward Principal Kai Taylor about how the school has 43 students, but is designed for 300. It was also borne out of an idea for the Sayward students to meet some Carihi students. The majority of students in Sayward will end up at Carihi during their high school years. Some of those students are nervous about getting on a bus and going to the “big city.” So they used this film set as a learning opportunity and had the Sayward students meet their high school counterparts face-to-face. “These kids aren’t that scary, and what better way to make them not be scared but make a zombie movie with them? So we went up there with the attitude of collaborating with these young students so they would come to see that these guys are safe and fun,” said Shields. Taylor said he wanted to make connections with other schools so his students are ready and can protect themselves when they move on to new schools, likely to Phoenix and then Carihi. “The kids loved it,” he said. “Particularly the older ones. We focused on the older class because they are the ones who are going to be making the transition to Phoenix…They leaned into it. They loved it.” Safe Zone had its premiere on Nov. 13 at the Timberline Secondary School theatre. Other Carihi students involved in the film include Tim Hardy (camera), Edwin Clements (camera), Indy Cook (director), Steven Jordan (sound), Rex Bailey (sound), Gabriel Felipe (sound), Rylee Dejong (make up), Breanna Gyles (make up), and Jaiden Copenance (make up). Additional adults who helped make the film come to life include Melissa Cada, Brenna Robson, Catherine Clinton, and Sean McLaughlin. Timberline’s Brennan Hagen, Jana McFarlane, and Laird Ruehlen helped with the screening on Nov. 13.
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