The student produced film “Autopsy of My Head” was created and directed by the winner of the SLOHS Film Festival Holly Schmitt. Image courtesy of Holly Schmitt.
The SLOHS Film Festival just went down a little over a week ago on Wednesday, April 19, and Expressions decided to sit down with senior Holly Schmitt, the winner of the festival, to get some insight on the film.
“A lot of people came up after the ceremony was over and talked about how they were really impressed with how sophisticated Holly’s editing and sound design were in that film. She was doing some really interesting stuff with sounds in the background and having scenes cut to flashbacks which was kind of advanced for a student film,” said Digital Media teacher Zachary Roper.
Expressions: What made you get into filmmaking and Roper’s classes as a whole?
Senior Holly Schmitt: I think my entire kind of hobby started when I was maybe like four years old and I was really interested in making home videos with my home camera that I had or that my parents bought. I started getting exposed to horror movies when I was little, I think “The Silence of the Lambs” was the first horror movie that I watched. I was somehow inspired by that at a young age and decided to emulate what I saw on my television with the camcorder that I had. And so I rangled up my parents and had them act for me.
Expressions: What is the story behind your film and how did you go about creating it?
Schmitt: The story behind my film is open to interpretation, as many people have taken advantage of, but the objective storyline is that [the character] Claire, played by Sophia Campbell, experienced very intense physical child abuse, and then repressed the memory as a way of coping. Her friendship with Sora in the movie, played by Zoey Nielsen, ended up being so visceral to her and they were able to reconnect and access her memories and bring that out of her. For [Claire] to confront them was a way of making amends with her past through a really deep connection with a friend, which I think can happen in real life.
Expressions: What was your reaction to seeing everyone else’s films? Did you have a favorite?
Schmitt: It was awesome. I mean just seeing it on that big of a screen and having a really good sound system was super enthralling for every movie. I’d have to say all of them were my favorites. I think I have a soft spot for Brooklyn’s [Powers] just because I sat next to her in class and I got to watch it so many times.
Expressions: How do you feel about winning the SLOHS Film Festival and do you see yourself pursuing film making in the future?
Schmitt: I’m incredibly grateful. First of all, it was such a shock to me to hear my name spoken out by Mr. Roper. I was like ‘what?’ and then I got up there and was so paralyzed that I couldn’t even think and I was like that for a couple days even. My dream job is to just make movies and I want to do that for the rest of my life, so this was a great catalyst.
Expressions: What is one last thing you want to say about filmmaking as a whole or to other people with similar interests?
Schmitt: If you have any interest in movies at all, whether it’s watching them or making them, have a movie marathon and just sit down and absorb as much as you can or even be on the other side of the camera. It’s always easy to start and then you never know what you can come up with.
Check out the film at https://youtu.be/r2XBh416faA.
