Director, cinematography, editing: Aaron Dylan Kearns
Music: Public domain recordings of Claude Debussy's "Serenade for the Doll", "Clair De Lune", and "Golliwogg's Cake-walk"
Genre: Humor
Runtime: 2:44
Budget: What budget?
Release Date: July 7, 2014
Festivals/screenings: Light had its world premiere at the 2014 Reel Riot Film Festival at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta
Synopsis: Returning home to find the power is out, our subject attempts to make light.
Why include student films from when I was a young teen in my filmography? To illustrate how the juvenile filmmaker progresses from year to year. Also, encouragement was given to young filmmakers by the High Museum of Art and the Woodruff Arts Center with the 2014 Reel Riot Film Festival in which I was fortunate to have Light shown in an auditorium setting. Such programs are great for youth and I'd like to acknowledge how beneficial they were to me when I was a youth.
Light was quick work, filmed when I was between the equivalent of high school sophomore and junior years. I had learned that the High Museum was hosting a film festival for high schoolers, the end submission date was July 7th, and it was July 5th. I had already two completed films I wanted to submit, Top-Top Not Feeling Well, and Day on the Mat, but as Day on the Mat was a documentary of about 30 minutes, I was concerned its length might be problematic, and I worried as well about a very loose comedic short. I wanted to do a film that was more traditional in feel, though still comedic, which would show some editing, animation and storytelling skills. Thus was born Light, a film in which, ironically, the screen is often black as the subject of the film is dealing with returning home to find the power is out and trying to produce light. The movie was filmed in one evening and edited the next.
Light and Top-Top Not Feeling Well were accepted in the Reel Riot Film Festival, the experience of which I've already related on the Top-Top the Penguin film page.
2014 Reel Riot Film Festival program:
