Campus waits to see Night of the Stars films at formal

As students begin to adjust to the warmer weather of spring, leadership students put the finishing touches on plans for Fresno Christian’s spring formal, Night of the Stars. The event, founded in 1990, is popular for its student-made films which are premiered towards the end of the night. Night of the Stars, more commonly known among students as NOTS, is planned for this Friday, April 6.

Each class has spent the last several weeks planning and filming their movies. The freshmen class will be presenting their parody of Nacho Libre. Andrew Rieker, ‘21, enjoyed working on his first NOTS film and hopes his class will continue to have fun making movies in the future.

“I had a couple of different roles in the movie,” Rieker said. “I was kind of the person who would fill a role when no one else was there to play it. I liked the fact that we all got to do it together. Making the movie together felt like an accomplishment and being able to work together with my classmates was pretty cool.”

After an impressive movie last year that won them several awards, the sophomore class of 2020 is once again ready to impress with their parody of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Ethan Hamm, ‘20, loves watching the movies and the Oscars, and believes NOTS gives him the opportunity to know what it feels like to be in both.

“I’m playing Ferris Bueller in our movie,” Hamm said. “My favorite part was by far just being with everyone. We messed up a lot and it was fun cause we just had a good time. It wasn’t ever stressful. I think we’ll do very well. I think we will win best picture, because we worked very hard to make it good and still had fun which I hope will come off the screen.”

Sophomore Shauna Howard helped her class write the script and also will be playing a role in the film.

“I wrote the script, helped with directing and acted in our movie,” Howard said. “My favorite part about filming is having fun with it and watching the movie come together. I think movies are a great thing to have at NOTS. There’s nothing like NOTS at other schools and it’s a really creative way to bring classes together.”

The class of 2019 is looking for redemption after falling short of winning an award last year. This year the juniors are filming their own version of McFarland, U.S.A. The movie, which is based off of a true story, follows the story of a high school track team who, despite unlikely odds, become champions.

The Feather shared a sneak peak clip of the upcoming NOTS movies on their Instagram account.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhKSArNAEQk/?hl=en&taken-by=thefeatheronline 

Suky Cheema, ‘19, enjoys filming with his classmates and believes watching movies made by his classmates is a fun alternative to dancing, since dancing is prohibited at FC events.

“I am playing Danny Diaz in my movie, who is one of the runners,” Cheema said. “My favorite part is all of laughs and memories that our class has made throughout this process. I think it will do great and it’s super funny in my opinion, and i think we will win best comedic moment or film. Movies are a fun thing since we can’t dance. Instead we can sit and watch the movies and enjoy a laugh.”

The senior class will present their parody of the 1998 version of The Parent Trap. The film follows the story of twins who, after being separated at birth, reunite to try and get their parents back together.

Tyler Villines, ‘18, plays the role of one of the twins. He is excited for the rest of his classmates to watch the film at formal.

“My favorite part about filming for NOTS was how everyone came together and make something like that happen in such little time,” Villines said. “It was just really fun to watch and help develop. There is a little shoutout to, specifically our class, inside the movie that I think others will enjoy or be amused by. I sure hope our class will win awards this year, but whether we do or don’t I know we had a fun time making it and we won in our hearts.”

The NOTS movie tradition is made possible by the work of leadership students, advisors and the students who work and edit the films. To view last years movies, watch 2017 senior movie parody, The Hunger Games, Freshmen from the Future, Junior NOTS movie: Billy Madison, and Sophomores NOTS movie: Finding Kyle.

For more articles, read BREAKING: Students prepare for upcoming Night of the Stars or Michelle Logan: Voice behind the intercom. 

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