By Justin Huang, Web Editor
During second period, students edged into the auditorium and sat in rows of seats with their friends and classmates. As they walked in, “The Erics” popped up on the screen in large, flashy letters and stayed until the crowd settled down. The lights dimmed, a spotlight began to shine on a table of gilded trophies next to the podium, and the audience waited for the event to start.
On Friday, Jan. 13, seniors Eric Lindsay and Chris Kennedy hosted the second annual Erics, an event showing off the best films and actors of Conestoga’s Advanced TV class. Lindsay invited the school down into the auditorium once again to honor his classmates, keeping last year’s experience in mind.
“Last year, since it was our first one, we were just taking the reins of it. This year, we really topped it off. We had better promos for all of the awards and we had better envelopes. It’s just the little things that matter,” Lindsay said.
[unitegallery erics16_17]
Indeed, many of those “little things” added up to lots of prep work for the class to successfully showcase their films and skills.
“Not a lot of work goes into hosting it, but the preparation in general takes time. We have to make promos for each and every video that goes up and we have to take two rounds of voting to make sure the votes go through,” Lindsay said. “A lot of people don’t see it in the audience but everybody in the class that gets to see what goes into it can really appreciate the work that goes into it.”
With Matt Balch controlling the screen with his laptop, 10 awards were presented as he played short, notable clips from each winner’s film. Two rounds of voting ensured proper nominations, and those who won each award gave a short speech on their success.
Kennedy even managed to win two awards this year, Best Short Film and Best Supporting Actor, on his work in two different films he helped create.
“Getting two awards this year was nice. We were just babies last year, and now we’re the large, beautiful boys that the school has groomed over four years,” Kennedy said.
As for Lindsay, he managed to grab the award for Best Picture.
“I’m happy to have won an award in my own show in the past two years, and I’m looking forward to winning more awards when I go on to the Oscars,” Lindsay said.
Below are all the winning films and awards.
Best Picture
“Grade Changers” – Eric Lindsay
Best Short Film
“Dead Bodies” – Chris Kennedy
Best Actress in a Leading Role
“Out of Her Mind” – Rosie Neff
Best Actor in a Leading Role
“Quick Cases: Conestoga Homeless Guy” – Matt Paolizzi
Best Supporting Actor
“Grade Changers” – Chris Kennedy
Best Supporting Actress
“Tomorrow and Tomorrow” – Rosie Neff
Best Editing
“Tomorrow and Tomorrow” – Zhayer LeGrand
Best Cinematography
“Tomorrow and Tomorrow” – Connor Kanto
Matt Balch Award (Brought least to the table)
“Attic Fight”
Frazer Award
Justin Huang can be reached at [email protected].
