Shannon Bucci, Reporter
@SBCourant
While most students can be found racing to their cars to beat the rush of traffic at the end of the day, Izzy and Isaac Marshall are typically seen editing, writing scripts, and creating graphic art for their unique films produced in the film room. Both Izzy and Isaac Marshall have pursued distinctive paths in filmmaking at NCHS, and look to continue inspiring each other and their peers through their work and in their future lives.
Izzy and Isaac had been introduced to filmmaking at a young age by their dad, a documentary filmmaker. “When my dad taught us about editing, I was more interested in it than Isaac was at the time, but when he came to the high school he realized he also had a passion for it.” Izzy said. “Now for the first time we are in the same class so we are able to bounce ideas off of each other and help each other out with our films.”
Even though Isaac is only in his second year of filmmaking, his work has benefitted greatly from the time he has had in Advanced Filmmaking. “The class has given me an opportunity to pursue filmmaking in depth because it’s hard to pursue on my own,” Isaac said. “When you have a class you have more time and a better structure to do it in.”
Advanced Filmmaking teacher Jennifer Sinski has seen great improvements in both Izzy and Isaac’s work from
the beginning of their filmmaking careers at NCHS to now. “Izzy is a very strong writer and artist, so her storyboards are really beautiful and have helped her with her production level,” Ms. Sinski said. “She moved up into advanced filmmaking this year and she has explored all different types of filmmakers, coming up with her own very unique style.”
Aside from her film classes at NCHS, Izzy has also pursued filmmaking at a program at UCONN as well as one at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. “The first program I did was more digital media in general, but at the School of Visual Arts we saw every aspect of filmmaking,” she said. “The first week was screenwriting, the second week was filmmaking and the third week was editing. It was cool to use different programs and meet new people that had the same interests as me, and it definitely improved my filmmaking skills overall.”
While Izzy focuses on the more artistic side of filmmaking, Isaac has chosen to pursue a different style of film. Isaac focuses on documentaries and real events. “Isaac has taken more of a documentary path, where he is storytelling but through real life scenarios,” Ms. Sinski said. “This year he’s made a few really interesting documentaries. One of them is about the capitol theatre, and another one he recently did was on the art department, which was a great promotional video for us.”
Aside from filmmaking, Isaac has also taken an interest in music, and he occasionally brings aspects of his own
musical talent into his work. “I like to play the guitar, so in one of my first documentary films from last year I came up with a couple of little tunes to put in my films” he said. “Even though I don’t usually mix the two, it was cool to see both of my interests in one spot.”
Izzy is also one of the co-presidents of the NCHS film club, which has been growing in publicity and popularity since it was first created last year. “I’ve been involved with the film club since last year, when we put on the first ever film festival at the high school,” Izzy said. “It gives people a great opportunity to come from all around
Fairfield Country to share their work and get feedback from professional judges.” This year, the club has more than 25 schools involved, and hopes to continue to gain more recognition in years to come.
Izzy and Isaac both look to pursue filmmaking in their future, and will likely continue to produce films for the rest of their high school careers. “In the future I think Izzy has the potential to work in an editing company and be in a production or editing field,” Ms. Sinski said. “She has the potential to do whatever she wants to pursue, because she’s a great leader, student, and she is smart and driven.”
“Isaac has the same amount of potential and drive as Izzy does,” Ms. Sinski said. “He’s a year or two behind her but he is always the first one to get to class and the last one to leave, he has always had that kind of attitude towards filmmaking.”
Although Izzy is leaving NCHS next year, Ms. Sinski looks forward to seeing Izzy and Isaac’s work in the future, whether this be at NCHS or in college. “I can’t wait to see what they are both able to produce in their futures, because they both have amazing potential and a really great drive.”
