By Charly SHELTON

A lonely man. An unlocked car door. A bank heist gone right. And a mistaken identity. Crescenta Valley High School’s Cinematography 5-6 class will take these plot points and craft a short film comedy, with the community’s help.

“‘The Driver’ is about a lonely, desperate young man named Trevor who unexpectedly finds the connection he seeks with a group of robbers,” said Kristen Brown, senior at CVHS and producer on the film. “After an unsuccessful bout of speed dating, Trevor sits in his car in a parking lot, feeling defeated. Three robbers from the bank next door jump in his car, thinking he is the getaway driver. Trevor plays along and soon figures out that the three robbers don’t know each other and their only common ground is that they are united under a crime boss. The film follows the characters covering up their tracks and bringing the money to a drop-off, while Trevor struggles to be accepted for who he is.”

The film is the final project for the third year class of the cinematography program at CVHS. Within the first two weeks of the school year, the students of the class decided they would like to put together a short film for submission to festivals.

“We discussed the possibilities of fight scenes, a bank heist, awkward first dates, dinner parties and more. Eventually, we began putting scenes and stories together and came up with a rough sketch of our film,” Brown said.

As this is the official capstone film of Crescenta Valley’s Cinematography 5-6 class, all seven students in the class have been assigned official positions. Austin Marks, grade 11, is the director. Kalea Ruiz, grade 12, is the assistant director. Justin Wang, grade 11, is the director of photography. Emma Kupershmidt, grade 11, is the director of continuity. Max Dubner, grade 12, is the director of performance continuity. Paul Rosette, grade 11, is the sound engineer.

Some students from the second year Cinematography 3-4 program will help out as production assistants, gaffers (lighting), camera operators and craft services (food and drinks). The students of the Drama Department will also be called upon to take up the actors’ roles in test shoots sometime in January before the actual start date of the five-day shoot that begins on Feb. 10.

A production of this size does not come cheap, however. This is where the community comes in. The class has started an Indiegogo campaign to raise the $5,000 it will take to make the film. The funds will be spent on location permits, equipment rentals and craft services. On the Indiegogo page, there are rewards at different levels of donations. For $20, supporters get a thank you in the credits of the film. For $50, supporters get a credit and a copy of the film. For $100, supporters choose their own credit at the end of the film. For $250, supporters can have a walk-on role as a featured extra in the film. And for $500, supporters can get an executive producer credit for the movie. As of press time, $1,580 has been raised toward the $5,000 goal. To make a donation and help the students make their film a reality, visit http://igg.me/at/DriverFilm.

  Charly Shelton