As the leaves began to die and fall began, the new PHS Filmmakers Guild got into the spooky mood as they started their new short film featuring Frankenstein and his creature.  The new PHS club was formed by seniors Derek Roberts, Dominick Summers and Conner Whitehair when they wanted to pursue their passion of filmmaking while giving others the opportunity as well. The trio wanted to create a space where they could get people with similar interests in filmmaking to come together to make a piece good enough to enter into a festival. 

“I personally wanted to have a group where I could create,” Summers said.

The film that the club is preparing for competition is “Project: Frankenstein,” a retelling of the classic Frankenstein story written entirely by members of the club. The film will revolve around Doctor Frankenstein and the process he takes in creating his monster and the repercussions and struggles he faces.

The concept of a film ties back to the three founders of the club and their artistic process of making films and the struggles and failures they have faced in the past as well. They have worked on films previously that have fallen through and not been completed so they are determined to make “Project: Frankenstein” a competition-worthy film.

“The inspiration for the project was to finish an old project of Derek’s that never got to be completed,” Whitehair said. “The premise of this film ties into Derek’s old version of this film being a failed creation just like how Frankenstein was.” 

The goal of the club this year is to complete their film, “Project: Frankenstein” and enter into a short film competition, possibly the Mountaineer Short Film Festival in Morgantown. They have taken inspiration from English teacher Andrew Moore’s film class and from participating in theater. They are not sure which film festival they will enter their project into yet but they will likely be up against college students and adults due to the lack of teenagers interested in filming movies in the area. 

“It’s kind of a foreign thing, at least in this area, for high schoolers to actually be doing this,” Roberts said. “Assuming we pick that festival (Mountaineer Short Film Festival)…we’ll likely be going up against filmmakers with tons of experience from all around the world.”

There are many aspects to consider when completing a short film, including having all of the correct filming equipment, sets, costumes, a script and a committed cast and crew. So far the club has finalized a script and made a set for Frankenstein’s lab but they are still in need of actors. Anyone interested in joining the Filmmaker’s Guild can attend the meetings every Wednesday after school in Moore’s room, 333N.

“I think people should join this club if they love movies and love the art and creativity that goes into making movies,” Whitehair said. 

Auditions were held on November 12 in Moore’s room. Of the eight who auditioned five got cast in the movie:

Alfonso Valdez III as Victor

Payton Johnson as Fritz

Jacob Thornton as Igor

Emma McCleary as Taylor

Maddie Richards as the Speaker

“It’s rare that you find a near perfect fit for every major role,” Roberts said, “I was pleasantly surprised with how well the people auditioning understood certain characters and the script as a whole.”