Photos courtesy of the KRVAA
In honor of former vice president Brent Puniwai, who passed away mere months ago,
the Kern River Valley Art Association (KRVAA) held its BigFoot FilmCamp, Monday July 22 through Friday July 26 at the Big Red Art Center building in Wofford Heights.
The reason behind honoring Puniwai was that the BigFoot FilmCamp was his brainchild, and his project to organize, which was hindered when the year of harsh storms hit.
Organizing the very first BigFoot FilmCamp was current vice president of the KRVAA Laura Tran. Only the association decided, rather than holding the camp for adult participants, the KRVAA would invite kids. Being a mother herself, it wasn’t difficult to imagine Tran, who is also an alpaca rancher and business owner, organizing groups of children.
Tran told the Kern Valley Sun last Monday, “We opened it up to the community and 16 kids showed up, ranging from seven years old to 18. So we have seven from the Boys and Girls Club and nine from the homeschooling community. So it was kind of cool to see different ranges of kids coming out too. We had a lesson on cinematography, film fundamentals, as well as acting lessons.”
Teachers during the Film Camp were industry famed professionals Stanzi Stokes, Chuck Barbee, Fyza Griggs, and Djilali Rez-Kallah as well as popular, top-notch, local news professionals Corey O’Leary and Gilbert Bernal.
The first day of camp the students broke into three groups and started brainstorming with a basic plot line. However, each group of students narrated their own ending. “Today Chuck Barbee did a little power point on cinematography,” said Tran.
The second and third BigFoot FilmCamp days the children learned about lighting, angles, and practiced with industry standard equipment. Students dialed in storyboards and filming was in progress.
The kids had a script to memorize. Students had jobs based upon their future goals in the film industry. The kids each had a plot line based on stories about Big Foot, to honor Brent Puniwai. Kids learned about lighting and cameras and began filming.
The kids learned about acting, shooting, producing and editing, as well as final edits and then held a film premier. The movie premiere night featuring student’s efforts, played Friday, topping off the successful camp.
The KRVAA board was grateful to the teachers and the Boys and Girls Club for participating, and parents and volunteers who are ran the BigFoot FilmCamp with the association. Grocery Outlet sponsored lunches for the kids during Film Camp.
