The LHS 4th Annual Spooktacular took place last night at the LHS theater. It was pay what you can for everyone. The night consisted of a costume contest and the showing of student made Halloween inspired films.
The night started out with an introduction about what the night would look like followed by a costume contest where people of the audience who were dressed up were asked to come up to the stage to show off what they were wearing.
The first film of the night was Run directed by Senior Carly Calhoun. The story followed two boys on their search for their friend who had gone missing. As the two find hints about their friend’s disappearance, flashes of the past reveal more to the audience about what had really happened. With interesting visual effects separating the past from the current and an intriguing story, Calhoun did well to captivate her audience.
The second film was True Crime directed by Senior Ty Anderson. In this film, podcasters discuss a murderer that has been killing in their area. The audience watches as the crew finds the murder and sees for themselves the consequences of their actions. Another film with incredible visual effects, the majority of True Crime was black and white but scenes highlighting the character ‘Lily’ are bright and colored. The script writing was really well done and overall the film kept the audience on the edge of their seats.
The third film was Entries of a Tired Mind directed by Senior Melina Ramos. The film was about a young girl as she attempts to write a book despite the mental strain she is under. As the girl slowly descends into madness, Ramos uses audio and visual effects to keep the story engaging. Especially for a short film, the characters were very developed and well written which allowed for interesting storytelling and much suspense.
The final film was Honk directed by Senior Michael Alexander. Honk followed a girl whose friend went missing after she failed to pick her up after work. As the girl discovers more clues, she finds herself in a strange society of clowns that she never could’ve imagined. The story was extremely comical with fun montages and funny sound effects. Despite its comedy, Alexander still fits in emotional and meaningful moments.
After the films, the top 5 costumes were announced and asked to come back on stage. During that time the audience was able to vote on their favorite costume as well as their favorite film.
While the votes were being counted, the film winner of last year’s Spooktacular, Convicted directed by then senior Cody Jacobs, was shown. The film utilized special effects in audio and visuals to show a man with amnesia learning of, and then reliving, the deaths of his friends.
The night closed off with Senior Michael Alexander placing first with his Barbie costume, 8th grader Kristie Lopez-Petroski placing second with her clown costume, and Senior Luca Rodriguez placing third with his Trader Joe’s costume. The winner of the films was the comedy-horror Honk.
“I think the films get more creative every year… If there are people who want to make films, they can submit them. The more films and filmmakers the merrier!” Said Actor Senior Luca Rodriguez.
The night was fun to attend and the films were fun to watch. So, if you have free time this time next year, grab a friend or two! And if you’re interested in filmmaking, start planning for next year!
