A time-traveling DeLorean, crazy professor and trip back in time are just a few of the plot points that the junior class will touch in their remake of 1985 blockbuster Back to the Future.
Although there is no real DeLorean in the class of ?09?s rendition, the rest of the major events are intact. This year?s movie provides many opportunities for student participation; however the filmmaking process is not without its annoyances.
One of the frustrations the director of the previous two Night of the Stars (NOTS) movies for the junior class, Andrew Rurik has faced is trying to arrange the schedules and locations of cast members.
?I remember freshman year,? Rurik said, ?one of the key actors didn?t show up on a day we had to film a particular scene, so we were forced to improvise. What we ended up doing was using another person with a similar body type and then making sure none of our shots showed his face. Then we dubbed his voice in after we filmed.”
Although Nick Andersen has only been on campus one year and was not previously involved in NOTS filming, this year he was cast in one of the main roles, Marty McFly’s father George.
?I?m really excited about being apart of the NOTS movie,? Andersen said. ?I mean, who doesn?t want to see themselves on the big screen? Plus I get to impress my date with my acting skills and Natalie McCallum is my wife in the movie.?
McCallum, a varsity cheerleader, was challenged to play a meek but increasingly aggressive mother of the main characters.
“It was a bit awkward at times playing two very different sides of my character,” McCallum said. “There are some scenes where I am a regular mom then others where Lorraine thinks Marty (Graham) is cute and I actually pursue him. I have to act very flirty and forward and that was way hard and awkward.”
Similar to Rurik and McCallum, filmmaker Mitchell Callisch also dedicated many hours to his class movie and encountered many trials.
?I don?t think that there is necessarily one thing that is harder than another when it comes to the movie making process,? Callisch said. ?Everything is equally challenging.?
With the great amount of time actors and the movie making committee spend together, they create memories as well as movies.
?We are using a paintball gun in one scene to make it look like blood when someone gets shot,? Callisch said. ?For fun we took the paintball gun and started shooting at Scott Orcutt, (?09). Out of the five paintballs we shot at him only one exploded.?
While those on set relished sniping Orcutt with paintballs, others found more enjoyment in the finished product.
“There is one scene where I play the guitar and I have this huge solo. When we filmed, there was no music and anyone who saw me would have scratched their heads in confusion,” Tyler Graham, main character Marty McFly, said, “but when I saw the scene done, with music added and fully edited, it was amazing.”
Because of the work the teams must dedicate themselves to, many wonder why the teams keep working on the films year after year.
?Sometimes it gets really frustrating trying to make the movies when it seems like nothing is going right,? Rurik said, ?but seeing the final movie, this gigantic, frustrating, exciting, exhausting, but rewarding undertaking, finally displayed on the big screen makes all the energy devoted worth it.”
For more information about class movies and NOTS, check out Benjamin Dang’s March 25 article, Seniors film murder mystery, Austin Ward’s Click remake defines freshman film, Suzanna Quiring’s Sophomore filmmakers overcomes stress, obstacles the March 14 editorial, NOTS produces red carpet evening or Jennifer Sherfield’s March 26 article, NOTS captures underwater enchantment.
For another photo on the junior filming, visit Juniors return to past.
