Milpitas High School (MHS) theatre students crewed and starred in a short horror film titled “RASH” that was released on June 5. The production was done in partnership between the MHS theatre program and local filmmaker (and Milpitas Beat co-owner) Eric Shapiro.
The idea for creating a short film involving MHS theatre students started over a year ago when MHS theatre teacher Kaila Schwartz ran into local filmmaker and Beat editor Shapiro. The goal was to give students “real-world” applications for the subjects that they were studying in class, according to Schwartz.
“RASH” follows a group of high school students as they attempt to survive an epidemic that gives them deadly skin rashes. Or, as Kang Tran, one of the sound recordists, summarized, “The world is ending.”
The short film can be viewed on Youtube here.
At the start of the production process, students worked together with Shapiro to brainstorm ideas for what the short would be. According to Schwartz, the students leaned heavily toward creating a horror film.
“My students are really interested in psychological horror; it’s something that really appeals to them,” said Schwartz, “It’s something that they really immediately bought into and got behind.”
After some general ideas about the film were developed, namely that it would be apocalyptic, Shapiro got to work on writing the script. Once production started, students worked together both on and offscreen as actors, sound recordists, makeup artists, and timekeepers.
“With theater, things do change, but it’s not as quick,” said student Layla Clemente, who was both behind and in front of the camera at different times, on the subtle differences between working on a film and a stage production. “It’s just interesting to be a part of something that is the same, but so different.”
“I believe the best way to learn is through actual experience, and that’s what we got,” said student actor Izair Lopez on being able to get hands-on film acting experience.
“This film has been awesome,” student actor Shawn Joseph added. “It’s really been an amazing experience.”
