World Premiere

The physics movie I've told you about was finally finished at the end of last week. And after spending wayyy too much time and energy on this little project, I decided I wanted to make it special. Kids' enthusiasm has a tendency to wax and wane pretty easily, and with this overdue project, it had definitely waned. I wasn't ready to let it to fizzle out after all that work.

So, I planned the Red Carpet World Premiere of Three Laws of Motion for Thursday afternoon.

I got some long red paper from a roll in the faculty room for our red carpet. When the kids found out what was happening, one boy came to me excitedly and said, "Mr. Shorb. I'm your stage crew. Whatever you need, I'll do it. Just let me know." So, right away I started coming up with jobs for him. Close the windows. Turn up the AC. Pull the blinds down. Move the desks back. Tape the carpet down. Hit the lights. Test the volume. By the end of all this, he had about 10 excited people on his crew. Each would ask for a job then say something to the effect of, "Got it!" or "I'm on it!" and rush to complete the task. It was beautiful.

Another excited boy asked if he could announce everyone that came in on the red carpet, and if we could take pictures, and video tape, and do interviews. I loved the idea, but when it was only 15 minutes before dismissal, without planning, I had to turn him down. With a little more notice I could have had him critique what everyone chose to wear, who's hot, who's not, which wouldn't have been too exciting when they're all in school uniforms but slightly funny nonetheless.

The energy in the room was slowly rising. It was great.

During filming, one boy went to great lengths and collaborated with the technology teacher for special effects to get footage of him "sky diving." It was demonstrating some principles of air resistance. The resulting video was quite fun and his effort and independence were very admirable, but it didn't fit in our movie on the Three Laws. So, I asked him if we could show it as a pre-show feature to warm up the audience, much like Pixar does with their movies. He said, "So I'll be sort of like an appetizer?" Exactly. He was all for it, narrated his film like a pro, and received robust applause afterward.

The main feature was a hit. There was laughter, pointing, giggles, gasps, smiling, and everyone ended up singing along with the music by the end of it. It, too, received robust applause and they agreed it was worth the wait.

So what now? I'm hoping to get it on YouTube, at the very least for you to see, but that's going to require the hefty project of getting parent permission. There's a film festival in our city and I'm thinking of submitting, but I might be a little late for that, too. At any rate, each student will get their copy, and I'm mailing some to old Physics teachers of mine. That just might have to suffice.

It was a lot of fun and a proud accomplishment. But after the time it took, I have a feeling I won't be doing it again any time soon. Then again, we all know I'm quite a sucker for goofy film projects accompanied by original ukulele compositions, so time will tell.