Film helping to raise school spirit

It has been common practice for class councils to make a film to begin the year and boost the spirit at ISM. The Seniors of 2008 filmed a parody of what then was the newly released film, “300”, seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYgCQejFm-A This year’s Seniors of 2009 produced their own entitled “The Council”, seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=794UVQB3YMA Both these films are great to watch, and it’s commendable how into it all these guys are. But aside from that, these films are perfect examples of the potential utility of film. All these videos (I’d imagine) were made possible through students of the ISM film program—students who have proven that the skills gained in film class are more immediately useful than perhaps any other subject available at ISM.

A film like this communicates in ways that no other media cannot. The 300 parody, for example, has almost 2,000 hits on YouTube (more than ISM’s entire student body). Most of high school has probably seen that video, and especially on the run-up to the Battle of the Bearcats, that counts for a lot; like a BoB cheer, it’s something for the entire grade level to share. It’s just cool. That’s why we plan to make our own video next year and put the wealth of skills we’ve gained in 2 years of film class to good use! (3 out of 5 of us currently take Explore Film, conveniently enough )

On another note: just merely capturing these BoB cheers on film has immortalized them on the Internet. The Class of 2009’s haka shouts and “Souljah Boy” rendition will echo forever. Such is the power of film!

Class of 2009 (when they were Juniors and beat the Seniors)