Student film screening features friendship, adventure

One summer day, seven boys and a ferret run away from home for an adventure to an unknown destination. On Saturday, Sept. 3 in the George Rowland White Theater, students and friends alike are invited to come see the first three days of their journey in the short film "Bad Kids," a student-run production from this summer. 

The crew of "Bad Kids," a group of mainly Point Park University cinema students, is hosting the screening. The short film will begin at 7:30 p.m. The event is free of charge.

 "Bad Kids" features seven boys from the Upper St. Clair area ranging from nine to 13 years old. The film was shot in the fields and forests of the Upper St. Clair area and shows the friendship between the seven young boys on their journey.

The idea came for the film around Oct. 2010, and over the holiday season writers Dominic Rodriguez and Peter Rosati set to work on the script. Production for "Bad Kids" began in spring 2011.

The shooting time for "Bad Kids" was a two-week period from July 17 to July 30. The filming did not come without difficulty, though. The ten-day weather forecast for their shooting times showed bad weather, they had a very limited budget and they had just two weeks to get the entire film shot, not to mention working with seven child actors.

"It was amazing that ‘Bad Kids' even came to be with the difficult production that it was," said Corey Sweazen, director of photography for the film and Point Park cinema student. "Despite all the difficulties we were able to make a great, enjoyable short film."

Other challenges presented were finding a deer for a scene and Giant Eagle running out of vanilla instant pudding, which was used in a fruit fight scene that everyone called their favorite.

"The fruit fight scene was definitely the most exciting part of filming," Sweazen said. "I was, almost literally, in the trenches with kids dodging paper mache fruit filled with pudding. At the end of the day I was covered head-to-toe in the mixture."

"The [fruit fight] scene is pretty much the coolest it could have been imagined when Dominic said ‘then they have a fruit fight' last year," said Peter Rosati, co-writer, producer and assistant director. Rosati is the only non-Point Park student that worked on the film; he is a creative writing major at Emerson College.

Post-production for "Bad Kids" began around Aug. 11 and had a deadline of August 29. Nathan Inglesby and Sweazen edited the film, with input and direction from various members of the crew along the way.

Overall, the crew of "Bad Kids" is pleased with the outcome and excited for the screening. 

"The number of people, cast and crew who put so much effort into this project is staggering," Rosati said. "I really think it was one of the best projects I've ever worked on, and I think everyone will be very happy with and proud of the result."

Along with co-writers Rosati and Rodriguez and director of photography Sweazen, the crew was a collaborative effort of multiple people. Inglesby handled sound, while Brian Fuller, Randy Smith, Corey Kincaid, Zach Kaigler and Dylan Grunn were assistant cameras.

"Bad Kids" will be submitted to the Three Rivers Film Festival short film competition in the narrative category. The crew plans to enter the film into other festivals and competitions as well.

A teaser for the "Bad Kids" can be found at http://www.vimeo.com/26991182 or on the Facebook event page entitled "Bad Kids – GRW Screening."

Photo: A production still of “Bad Kids” shows some of the child actors as well as the students that shot the short film over the summer. Photo by Zach Kaigler.

Published: Monday, August 29, 2011

Updated: Tuesday, August 30, 2011 00:08

Article on Globe website

Posted in: cinema,COPA,Point Park University,The Globe