Films On A Shoestring (FOASS) has been a tradition of artistic presentation at Fossil since the school’s opening. Historically, the school’s official film festival has showcased short films, music videos, and documentaries produced by Fossil students in the TV program. The event continues this Saturday in the Roundhouse at 3 p.m., featuring works from both inside and outside the TV program. All films shown have a rating of PG-13 or lower.
Clark Barry, who has been a student of the TV program since his freshman year, is both host for the event and a direct participant. His biggest contribution is his horror short, In Absence, which he wrote, directed, and scored. It follows Lee, who, after the death of his younger brother Evan, is haunted both in spirit and physical form by Evan’s ghost, trying to make peace with what happened.
“I really wanted to make a film that felt professional and that everyone who worked on it could feel proud of, and the idea came to me to do a horror film that tried to tackle more complex themes and ideas,” Barry said. “I’m very proud of the actors portrayals of the characters, all of the shots are gorgeous, and the sound design turned out very close to how I envisioned it initially, but most of all I’m very proud of how the script is portrayed and how a lot of the parts are shown and not told.”
Barry is also involved with other films in smaller roles, such as editor for Burner. He says one of his favorite parts about filmmaking is integrating music.
“I love writing and shot composition and telling a story through so many mediums,” Barry said. “But probably one of my most favorite parts of the process and the art form is music and how it works collaboratively with the film to convey complex emotions.”
Entries in the festival are sent to judges ranging from former alumni to industry professionals, where films are selected to receive awards not unlike those seen at an professional academy level, such as best picture or best actor. They are presented to winners as wood prints, courtesy of Mr. Taylor.
This is the festival’s third time experiencing new leadership and management. When Philip Broste took up the position of TV teacher, he said it was support from his students that helped him continue the festival.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the help of my students, they really took the lead of putting everything together,” Broste said. “I’m really unfamiliar with the culture here in the film program, but my students have stepped up to plan a really fun festival for everybody. So I feel I’m here to help facilitate everybody who’s been putting in all this hard work.”
Broste said he was impressed with the creativity, craftsmanship, and hard-work of the participants.
“Some of the films really surprised me with the depth of their creativity,” Broste said. “There’s gonna be some comedy, some serious drama, some absurdist stuff, and I would say there’s really something for everybody in this festival. I think everybody who comes will have a really great time.”
Many of the films screened in the festival are the result of close-knit, lengthy and busy productions that feature the talents of several collaborating students. Senior Anna Patterson, who has taken TV classes since her freshman year, has edited and produced several of the festival’s upcoming showings, including Hamster, a vignette-comedy short featuring the countless ways a pet hamster could be killed, and Ghost Club, a short involving a group of friends investigating rumors of a haunted school.
“I’ve had the role of producer for as long as I can remember because I love being able to make people’s ideas into reality, and organizing everything to create something really amazing,” Patterson said.
