AJD Productions Presents:
LGCSD Superintendent Sherman Parker's "Roast Toast" Film
   
In all seriousness, several people in the room were literally rolling on the floor laughing and splitting their sides.  Sherman Parker, the retiring Superintendent of LGCSD, had his farewell celebration dominated by laughter and compliments of a “Roast Toast” video done by the students the advanced graphic design class, which includes myself, Mary Neubauer, Ethan Silva, Colin Bannon, and of course conducted by Mrs. Casey.  This video was a hit.
  
When this project was first proposed to us by Mrs. Dougal (Mr. Parker’s secretary), I thought it would be something interesting to work on.  Already having one foot in the filmmaking business with my production Mysterious, Inc., I knew that it would be a very time consuming task to tackle.  I am sure Colin realized it as well; him being a few years and three released films ahead of me in filmmaking.
  
One very important factor in this whole production was keeping it a huge, level-1 secret.  That was probably one of the many reasons it was so successful and so well received.  A lot of people had no idea what we were doing until we sprung it on them at Mr. Parker’s “Roast Toast”.  I may try that tactic on a future film; no hype until it’s very close to the release date.
  
All of us wore many hats in the making of this thirty-odd minute film.  I learned a little about getting people to talk while interviewing them about their knowledge of Mr. Parker.  Just coming of with relevant questions on the fly is sometimes difficult.  Unfortunately, almost all of my interviews never made it into the final cut.  That’s part of the process of making a documentary.  Only the best material stays.  It also makes no sense to have the same thing repeated over and over again.
  
In order to take on a project this large, a body must be dedicated, patient and thorough to make it successful.  For example, near the completion of the film, Mary and I viewed it several times to see what could be cut, what could be trimmed to save time, what could be organized better, and just to look for any other problems that came up.  Watching it several times over was draining, but it was worth it.  I am sure that it will still be remembered and occasionally shown years down the road.
  
There were a few things about the project that was different about my own endeavors. The strict timeframe that it had to be done in was one major difference.  There was a mad rush to get it done.  Another was that I had to get used to taking orders that I felt impeded my creative frame of mind, which was quite different from the way I had been doing things for as long as I can remember.
  
All in all, it was definitely a great learning experience.  It is not often when someone in high school gets to take on a project of this magnitude.  Draining though it was, I believe that it would be a great type of project to work on for someone who has an interest in film and that has or has not yet had the satisfaction of making one.
  

--Adam Deutschmann

AJD Productions
 

Back
    
Home
  

Comments? Questions? Suggestions?  Email me!

If You're reading this, you've scrolled past the good stuff.