‘SPARC’ the imagination: Short film by six graders selected for screening at FiLUMS 2015

Imagine, Create, Anytime, Anywhere! is a stop-motion film by Haque Academy students.

KARACHI: It might appear strange at first to see six graders contemplating the best camera angle to cover the entire set or the frames to zoom in on while editing a film. But Sparc — Special Programmes Among Regular Classes — at the Haque Academy makes strange things possible.

One of the short films made by these students, titled Imagine, Create, Anytime, Anywhere!, has been selected for screening at FiLUMS 2015 in Lahore, arguably the country's largest international film festival, alongside other entries competing for awards on Saturday.

"Our film focuses on the habit students have of wandering off into their own world while in class," Kiana Nicole Horwitz explained the theme. "We want to tell viewers not to be afraid to create, imagine, anytime, anywhere — but at the same time, don't forget to study in class!"

Kiana, 11, was part of the six-member team, along with Mikail Sheikh, Mohammad Hamza Ali, Ashar Bukhari, Syed Omar Ahmed and Zainab Baber, who spent more than 20 hours spread over the school term on the project.

"For the past two years, the Haque Academy has been teaching a film-making module to class six students as part of Sparc," explained arts faculty member Zheela Ali Khan, who mentored the students along with technology instructor Asma Sikandar Gulbaz.

Sparc was born as a result of the ‘happy marriage’, as Khan puts it, of the academy's information and communications technology and arts departments. "This project seemed too ambitious at first," said Gulbaz. "We never thought that the students would be able to create such films but their commitment and enthusiasm has made all the difference."

She added that eventually all the student teams came up with their short films using stop-motion animation. "What began as mere eagerness to do something new has taken a leap that we never imagined to a prestigious film festival."

The mentors explained that the students began by writing the screenplay, building their storytelling and scriptwriting skills, and then designed 3D sets and props. Subsequently, they captured over 100 images of the characters moving with the stop-motion technique. Based on these images and using software for recording and editing professional videos, they developed a short film, learning the technical skills of film and sound editing in the process.

"The best thing we can do for the children of this generation is to give them the power to create," believed Gulbaz. "And there is no better way to create than exploring the possibilities of art and technology together."

Later this month, Gulbaz and Khan, along with some class six students, will be conducting a workshop at the upcoming Children's Literature Festival in Karachi to train other students in filmmaking and share their own experiences.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 15^th, 2015.