The entries had come in. Now it was up to the filmmakers to decide who would win.
After finishing their music video production project, IB Film Study 2 students took part in the Barberellos, a series of awards that recognize filmmakers for their productions.
IB Film Study 2 teacher Pierce Bello said that the idea for the awards came from students who wanted to recognize their peers’ film productions.
Voting occurred in two rounds. The first round had open nominations and the second had students pick from the top three choices for a winner.
The first one was held for music videos with awards going for best story, editing, cinematography, acting and best overall music video.
Seniors Peter Bryan, Tyler Merlino and Loren Clark won the award for best story for their production “Human,” directed by Clark and set to the eponymous song by The Killers.
Merlino said they came up with their idea based on a Massachusetts Institute of Technology video that featured a robot that appeared to be made of cardboard. The three applied the concept of “dehumanization and technology” to the video, Bryan said.
“We didn’t want the same thing everyone else was making,” Merlino added.
In addition to the film aspect, Bryan noted that there was more emphasis on covering the story in a shorter time as the music was in the foreground. He added that there was “not as much time for character development.”
Senior Amir Noorbakhsh’s film “Milk” won for best cinematography.
According to Noorbakhsh, the inspiration for the video came from Alice in Wonderland.
“[The Barberellos] allows people’s likings to come out,” he said.
The Barberellos for independent production will take place in late March.
The IB Film Study 1 students will also receive an opportunity for their own Barberellos later in the year.