In an age when many Staples High School graduates hope to major in business or STEM, or both — “it’s all about fintech,” one student said recently — is there any room for the creative arts?
Charlie Scott and Oscar Sales sure think so.
The Staples High School seniors just completed their first short film, “Limbo.” It offers a great lens through which to view today’s teenagers, and a ringing endorsement of the power of education to inspire passion and provide purpose.
Charlie is well known at Staples. A track athlete who started his first YouTube channel at age 10, he’s advanced from filming with an iPad to much more sophisticated equipment.
Inspired by teacher Geno Heiter, role models like Devon Jarvis and Zach Brody, and peers like Henry Manning, he’s taken full advantage of Staples’ radio and TV production studios.
Charlie has done everything from announcing Wrecker sports on WWPT-FM to creating videos celebrating team accomplishments. Check out this one he filmed and edited about the football team’s important Thanksgiving morning win at Greenwich:
Oscar has been inspired by English instructors Brian Tippy and Kim Herzog, who helped hone his storytelling skills. In Herzog’s Reading and Writing Fiction class, a recent assignment focused on crafting a story through dialogue.
Oscar realized a therapy session would be perfect. Then, he thought: “What if the character is dead? How could he reconcile with his past?”
He and Charlie discussed how to turn Oscar’s idea into a film. Oscar headed to YouTube, watching tutorials on how to write a screenplay.
Then they met at the Westport Library, to storyboard it. “It didn’t look very professional,” Charlie admits. “But we had a plan.”
He enlisted actor Cameron Mann. It was an inspired choice. The fellow senior has serious credits, including playing the killer on HBO’s “Mare of Easttown.”
Charlie was joined by Staples Players stars Imogen Medoff and Josy Pitaro (whose mother is actress Jean Louisa Kelly).
Charlie Scott (left) and Oscar Sales.
Filming took 2 days, earlier this month. There were the usual obstacles — Compo Beach was crowded on a beautiful afternoon, making it tough to create the “afterlife” affect they were looking for — but Charlie and Oscar got the shots they needed.
Then Charlie began editing. He used Premiere Pro, Adobe’s robust software. Whenever he needed a new effect or skill, he searched YouTube tutorials.
The result is a film that, in just 4 1/2 minutes, conveys a range of teenage emotions with subtle power and intrigue.
“I get locked in when I’m editing,” Charlie says. “It all comes together.” He hopes viewers feel the same way.
“Limbo” is not headed to Sundance. Right now, its only distribution is online.
But viewing it, you understand that not every Staples graduate will go into hedge funds or fintech.
The arts continue to live in Westport. They clearly are not in limbo.
(“06880” proudly reports the achievements of Staples High School students. Please click here to help support our work. Thank you!)
