In September, Upper School film and drama students participated in the All-American High School Film Invitational, a three-day, on-site filmmaking competition for aspiring filmmakers in or recently out of high school.

In August, participants received a creative prompt and had 10 weeks to write a script, plan a shoot, and secure locations and actors. On Wednesday, October 16, students traveled to New York City to film, produce, and edit their final films by Friday, October 18. 

Following this year’s prompt (“What happened to?”), the RCDS team produced a science-fiction drama titled “What Happened to Us”. The film’s premise was the ability to relive memories. Student producers played with continuity and audio to create intentional glitches in their editing to enhance the storytelling of the film.

The students also learned a great deal from shooting in a variety of special locations, including New York City streets, subways, shops, and restaurants.

From writing and scouting to camera technique, editing, and production, this hands-on experience offered students a range of important creative, technical, and project management skills.