Hollywood in Hemet: West Valley will premiere its eighth annual summer movie at 6 p.m. July 12.
BY CARY BOONE/The Valley Chronicle
Lights, camera, action! Those words aren't normally heard in Hemet and San Jacinto, but students have been hearing them around West Valley High School last month, as West Valley's school of film and technology program produced its eighth annual summer movie, titled ?Last Summer.?
The movie premieres at 6 p.m. July 12, in the West Valley theater. Cast and crew said they are looking forward to the movie's premiere, when they will arrive by limousine and walk the red carpet at 5 p.m.
This year's story centers on Mike, played by newcomer Joey Baca, and his sister Jilly, played by Elizabeth Crowley. This will be their last summer before Mike heads off to college. Before he leaves, Mike and his best friends are going to spend the summer trying to find proof of the paranormal. Mike's friends, the ghost seekers, include Alexandra Freeman as Anna, Rowan Love as Craig, Meagan Buchmiller as Nikki, and Jason Knightly as Sean.
Directed by theater teacher Stacey Bailey, much of the action is being shot on the West Valley campus, but the crew also is using local locales such as the Western Center for Archeology and Paleontology and Red Mountain near Sage. The Western Center is filling in for an abandoned asylum, while Red Mountain is the site of a crash scene.
?We've been incredibly lucky (at securing sites). Everybody we've asked has said yes,? said director Bailey.
Bailey was busy Monday preparing the cast for the evening's shooting schedule.
?Look to your script. Page five. I need to reshoot Mike saying ... anyone got a car, to sleep-over summer,? yelled the director to a cast of more than 50.
The cast includes teenagers as well as children, and students from other high schools.
Despite the pressure of shooting a film in less than three weeks, the cast and crew seemed loose and upbeat.
Many alumni are among the cast and crew, such as Justin Jones, who graduated from West Valley in 2002, and Lauren Campbell, a 2005 graduate.
?There's a big difference between stage acting and TV acting. The difference is there's a camera in your face,? said Campbell, who attends Mt. San Jacinto College.
?It's extremely weird,? agreed senior Danielle Cary, who hopes to get into the technical aspect of film and theater.
According to Jones, the lead editor and special effects person, this year's piece of celluloid is ?much more polished? than previous years.
For Joey, who's playing the lead, it is his first time acting in anything.
?Every scene, I'm excited,? said the 16-year-old. ?I always wanted to be an actor.
?I heard about doing the summer movie. My best friend, Robert Ambrose, introduced me to it.?
He said he was surprised ?with how much time we have to memorize our lines.?
Actors can do the lines over and over for each take, allowing them to be better prepared, he said.
It costs $100 to be in the film, but cast members can get scholarships in several ways: by securing a film location, by a sponsorship, or by selling tickets to the film, which costs $5.
Tickets will be for sale at the door. For information, call 765-6420.
http://www.thevalleychronicle.com/artic ... dmovie.txt
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