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General News

31 August, 2023

MEC short film to go on show

A short film made by specialist students at the Maryborough Education Centre (MEC) will be screened at the Focus on Ability Short Film Festival, with the school shortlisted for prizes. The festival is in its 15th year and asks film makers to focus...

By Riley Upton

MEC’s specialist students, with the support of staff, have created their own short film which will be screened as part of an upcoming festival. Photo: 010923 10
MEC’s specialist students, with the support of staff, have created their own short film which will be screened as part of an upcoming festival. Photo: 010923 10

A short film made by specialist students at the Maryborough Education Centre (MEC) will be screened at the Focus on Ability Short Film Festival, with the school shortlisted for prizes.

The festival is in its 15th year and asks film makers to focus on the ability of people with a disability and tell a story on film for the world to see.

The first time MEC has taken part in the festival, specialist students in class R4 watched classic movie The Castle and developed their own film script using Aussie slang.

After 12 weeks of development the result was short film The Pie, which specialist teacher Jacinta Davies said was a lot of fun for the students to create.

“We watched The Castle and as a response, each student came up with three to five sentences of Aussie slang,” she said.

“We created a script from that and it was really fun, we played around with a few ideas for the movie — it was even an 80s style horror film at one point.

“For a first time doing something like this the result is great, the students are very proud of what they’ve achieved.”

Each student used their individual skills throughout the project, with students directing, acting, filming and even looking after costumes.

Specialist student Damian was one of the film’s directors and said he was surprised by how successful The Pie was.

“I didn’t expect it would be as successful as it has been,” he said.

“I’ve always been interested in the film industry, I like editing and directing things.

“I am looking forward to doing more things like this in the future.”

Fellow student Josh played the role of a police officer in the film and said acting is something he’d like to do again.

“As the policeman I got to use the sirens and we solved a case which was fun,” he said.

“I’d like to get to do it again.”

Almost all of the students in R4 who took part in the project will take part again next year, as well as new students coming through.

“We’ll have another go next year, we’re excited to see how we go and hopefully, improve on what we’ve made this year,” Ms Davies said.

“It was a learning experience and we did a lot of learning on our feet, I think we’ve all come away with something new from this project.

“We’re going to try for maybe a documentary or a stop-motion animation next year, but we’ll see what grabs the students’ interest next year.”

The Pie will be shown at Crown in Melbourne next week as part of the Focus on Ability Short Film Festival, with the school in the running to win prizes and awards.

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