By Mailan Nguyen
Circulation Editor
Filming her way through life, Manhattan Beach Middle School (MBMS) eighth grader Gabriella Papera created a short film during June of the 2015-2016 school year.
Papera has had an interest in cinematography since she was seven years old. She first became interested due to her dad, Scott Papera’s, career as a filmmaker. This led to her filming short skits around the house as a hobby throughout her childhood. These later progressed into short films, such as Papera’s most recent film “Space Kids,” which will be shown in the International Family Film Festival, (IFFF) this October.
Learn more about the International Family Film Festival.
“I enjoy film because it allows me to express my creativity through ideas and themes that I feel are important, for example always using your imagination,” Papera said.
Papera’s four minute film, “Space Kids,” features Pacific Elementary School 5th grader Devan Malik, and 3rd grader Meghan Malik. The film is about two bored, young kids who come up with the idea to build a spaceship out of their own household items. By the end of the film, the two siblings believe that they are in space, but are really using their imagination, Papera says.
“My biggest inspiration is from when I would play pretend as a kid, astronauts were the most frequent for me to pretend to be,” Papera said. “I wanted to show what imagination meant in my eyes. I turned a childhood memory into a film of mine.”
The film was accepted into the IFFF under the Youthfest! category. According to http://iffilmfest.org/, the festival celebrates women and the stories they tell. This festival will take place from October 20th to 23rd at the Raleigh Studios in Hollywood. “Space Kids” will be shown during Youthfest! on Saturday, October 22nd. Youthfest! is the sector of the festival that is specifically meant for younger applicants to have a chance to showcase their works. The film was originally created for her film class final project, Papera says, but she then decided to submit it to the festival.
“I am really excited my film is going to be featured in the IFFF, and hopefully I will be able to submit my videos into other competitions,” Papera said. “All of this is happening with one video that I made in three days, so I’m excited to see what will happen to videos that I can make longer and more elaborate.”
In order to be accepted into the festival, applicants must go through an extensive application process. First, applicants must submit an entry form with basic information such as name, grade, and age, accompanied by two DVD’s of their film. In addition, applicants that are 13 years or younger must submit a letter of authenticity.
“One of my biggest fears was to have a ‘thanks but no thanks’ email, meaning it didn’t get accepted,” Papera said. “If that happened, I figured I would just find more competitions and hope that somebody liked it.”
Papera says she is excited for this festival and is looking forward to having other people see her film in a professional setting. This is the first professional viewing of the film and Papera says she is nervous, but hopes that people like it.
“This festival is a really big deal for myself and for my family,” Papera said. “I hope that everything goes well and that the audience truly enjoys watching the short film I made.”
The entire filmmaking process took three days for Papera to complete. The first day was spent planning out the proper equipment and tools, what shots she would film and casting her actors. The second day was spent filming at Papera’s home because this gave her easier access to the additional resources she might need. The third day was spent in her parents’ office, editing her footage to create the film.
“The process was quite hard and I got stressed at times and felt like nothing was working,” Papera said. “I felt like this video had to be the best video I have made because it was my final, and I thought it was not good while editing it. There were a lot of conflicts, but it all worked out in the end.”
Watch Gabriella Paperas short film “Space Kids”.
Papera says her father has always been her inspiration, and that she has always wanted to follow in his footsteps. Papera enjoys the fact that in filmmaking, she is able to take what is on her mind in the moment and express it through her films, skits, and short videos, she says.
“I really wanted my film to make it to the festival, I worked really hard on it and I wanted people to see that,” Papera said. “I felt like it being accepted would make my dad proud of me.”
Papera hopes to continue her career in film when she attends Costa next school year. Papera says that she has always loved the idea of filmmaking being an option for a prospective career and is excited to see where her film career at Costa takes her.
“I am so excited to get to Costa and be able to make longer and more elaborate films.” Gabriella said. “I love everything about film, for example, being able to put things together and have it be something that I created.”
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