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On The Job: Movie MakersThere are a lot of new movies coming out in the next few weeks but there's one you probably haven't heard of. It's called "All Aboard the Train Right to Insanity." It's described as a drama, action, adventure and mystery. I recently went "On the Job" with the lady behind the production. "Quiet on the set!" "Action!" Girl 1, (acting): "Are you that famous basketball player?" They may not be Julia Roberts or Steven Spielberg, but give them time. These kids are making their own movie - working in front of and behind the camera. Organizing it all is Melissa Lozoff, a professional actress in Chapel Hill, who told me she came up with the idea for this junior movie-making class a few years ago. "I love being with kids and I still love film and TV and I thought there's a lot of theater companies out there and I thought, why don't you do something different. And, uh, it just sort of popped in my head: you know, why not movie-making for kids?" So Melissa started Movie Makers, a 12-session class for kids 6 to 17. The classes are held once a week, divided by age group. The students get instructions on acting, scriptwriting, and cinematography. They work with costumes, props, and of course, make up. "They create their character, they come up with whatever kind of character they wanna be, ideas for settings and plot, and then I take it all and try and write a script around all of that." The classes start with facial exercises and vocal exercises. "Weeeeeee, whoaaaaaaa, wowwwwwww." Then it's time to get to work. "Scene 13: Lisa sits next to Allison and Lara, they're already sitting on the train. When in comes Evan. Of course, Evan does not bathe and doesn't smell very good so they don't let him sit with them." It's fun, but the kids also learn life skills about working together, waiting your turn, and the creative process. When it's over, there's a Hollywood-like premier on the big screen, and a videotape copy they can take home. It's easy to see why Melissa Lozoff loves her job. "First of all I get to do so many things. I get the play theater games, I get to help write scripts, I get to do acting workshops, I write parts for myself sometimes for fun." I even got in on the act... portraying a man reading a book. "He was fantastic! Beautiful! I really believed you! It was great." If you would like to Melissa log onto the Movie Makers website.
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