- October 9, 2024
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When they were in the fifth grade, ninth graders Audrey Phillippi and Nya Chambless had an idea for a short film.
Titled "Do You Believe in Magic," the film would have involved a character with a magic pencil ("We were in the fifth grade" explains Phillippi) who brings an animated friend to life.
It would be a live-action and hybrid animated film, similar to "Who Framed Roger Rabbit."
As students in Booker High School's Film & Animation magnet program, they now hope to realize the idea.
According to instructor John Timpe, the program is a rarity in how it brings together film and animation, two disciplines which are already a uncommon in high schools.
Yet the program, like many other aspects of Booker's Visual and Performing Arts magnet program, is not your typical high school offering.
According to department head Lori Burton, Sarasota County is the only county to teach film the way it is taught at Booker: with equipment and technology she describes as "Ringling-level."
She said the program's students have enjoyed repeated success with film festivals.
For instance, on Oct. 18 to 20, three student films will be shown at All American High School Film Festival, which Timpe calls the “the big film festival, maybe the biggest for high school students on the planet."
According to Burton, the quality of a film begins with students' storytelling ability.
"They they give you a lot of opportunity to express yourself and come up with your own stories, and then they help kind of guide it into a certain path, and to have storylines and climax, resolution," said 12th Grader Ethan Reed.
Class activities for students include watching great films, listening to guest speakers and taking field trips to professional sets.
Starting with their sophomore year, students can choose to focus on just animation and motion design, film, or both.
“Some want to go to go to film school and be directors or cinematographers," Timpe said. "Many want to be screenwriters, want to get into writing and storytelling, and then we'll have a few who have the the understanding and the foresight to say they want to be a producer.”
About 65% of students go on to major in film-related topics, Timpe said, and seniors establish portfolio projects to help them secure admission and scholarships to top schools.
Chambless, who plans to pursue acting in college, started acting at four and became interested in filmmaking at six. She said coming from being homeschooled, she enjoyed the chance to have friends who share her interest in film, especially older films.
"I used to ask my friends, 'Hey, have you seen this?' 'No, who is that?' What is that? I don't know what that is.' And now, they're actually people that do, which is really cool."
She said most of her films are focused on conveying a message that makes a difference, such as "Do You Believe in Magic," which would have addressed the topic of social anxiety.
"I'm really excited to, in the future, work on things like make short films here, because now I actually have a school that I can do that with," she said.
The school's studios are equipped with 20 state-of-the-art Wacom Cintiq and Mac Pro work stations, while students will receive equipment including Sony and Canon cameras, dollies, stabilizers and a crane, plus funds and editing stations.
The experience of the instructors is a major help.
Before arriving at Booker High in 2017, Timpe taught in the Communication Department at the University of North Florida and produced an Emmy-winning documentary for the Tampa Bay Times. He has also studied under experimental film director Stan Brakhage.
“In hindsight, it's kind of the thing that I really deep down, always wanted to do, even when I didn't know it was,” he said of his role.
Burton, a Sarasota native, earned her degrees from the Ringling College of Art and Design and the University of Florida, and served as a freelance illustrator for companies not limited to Coca Cola and Simon and Schuster.
Burton said students hoping to enter into the animation side of the program had best come prepared.
“This program is extremely unique, and we are always looking for kids with that passion and with that stamina, because it's not for the faint of heart, meaning, it's frame-by-frame," Burton said.
The program focuses on traditional 2D animation, with students being taught the 12 principles of animation which originated with Disney and include ideas like "squash and stretch" and "follow through."
They first have to learn the foundations, such as traditional drawing, solid drawing and lighting and shadows.
"We create the illusion of life, so the kids have to know how things are in life to be able to apply that to, you know, a character living in a world that doesn't exist," she said.
This means that 90-second projects students are assigned remain in progress throughout the year, even with a reduced frame rate of 12, from the standard 24.
Senior Dale Burgess, creator of "Balloon Girl," one of the films being shown in the festival, is currently working on an untitled animated project.
The story concerns a boy who is greedy and jealous of characters he sees in his books, and as a result, walks out his door to undertake a long trek.
"When you don't get something right, and you spend hours and hours trying to get it right, it can be very disheartening..." he said. "But once you get through it, and get through the rough patch, you'll end up looking at it and you'll be like, 'Oh, wow, I did that. That's cool."
Burton said the students learn quickly, however.
“It starts at the story, the fundamentals of art, then the 2D animation, and from there, they can do amazing stuff, and they catch on really quickly. It's awesome, it’s crazy, very fun," she said.
After learning the fundamentals, students can also bring their own unique styles.
For instance, Burgess takes photos of grainy paper he has made and scans them in for the background of his films.
"I really like to do a more like Studio Ghibli-esque, very paper, hand-drawn looking. I don't like super crisp, clean looking stuff."
There's even room for students who want to experiment with a whole other animation form: stop-motion, a technique popularized in films such as the "Wallace & Gromit" franchise and "Coraline," which involves animating through incremental images of posable puppets or clay figures.
The stop motion lab is complete with an arch rigging and pocket dolly for a camera, and a program called Dragonframe from controlling the camera and combining the images.
By the time students graduate, the goal is for them to be college and career ready.
However, Timpe said the program is useful beyond just the filmmaking skills students can take away and that students will be prepared “whether it's organization, analytical thinking, the ability to tell a story."
Some other skills include time management, and yet another includes auditioning, working with, and directing adult actors, or cold calling companies about needed supplies.
The program still has more features to be added.
The school is working on a partnership with the Creative Empowerment Program by Caring for Children Charities for 3D animation, a master class with New York-based studio Semkhor concerning the 3D computer graphics software tool Blender, and an Adobe After Effects boot camp.
“I love doing this," Timpe said. "And the students are incredible. They're creative, and they're enthusiastic, because they audition to get into the program, so they want to be here, and they get to make movies. Like, what more could you ask for, especially with almost half your high school day, than to get to make movies?”
