The creepier, the better Teens compete in 2023 Halloween Student Silent Film Festival

The Halloween Student Silent Film Festival (SSFF) is a film competition in which students from area high schools create original motion pictures. Unlike other film competitions, however, the movies submitted will tell their stories in visual terms without the aid of voices or sound effects.

The festival takes place at 7 p.m. October 18, 2023, at the Tivoli Theatre, 5021 Highland Avenue, Downers Grove. The Spooky Red Carpet Social Hour takes place from 5:30 – to 6:45 p.m. and it features a pre-show screening of classic Halloween-themed silent films.

“This year’s event has a deliberately broad theme that revolves around Halloween,” said Ed Newmann, one of three founders of the event. “We’re aiming for a truly unsettling atmosphere with plenty of room for elements of horror, suspense, and outright creepiness. Participants can even take a completely different approach and try creating something that’s a Halloween-inspired comedy. We hope students will unleash their imagination and create something that’s truly spine-chilling.”

Each film will have musical accompaniment by film festival founder Derek Berg who is a professional pianist and CEO of the Clarendon Hills Music Academy. Following the awards ceremony, the three winning films will be shown again, this time accompanied by an original musical score.

“The festival is a celebration of the art of silent cinema as well as a unique educational opportunity for contemporary young moviemakers,” said film festival founder Bill Allan.  “It’s a way for young people to discover and appreciate the techniques and accomplishments of pioneering motion picture artists at the dawn of the moviemaking era.”

Participating high schools and media instructors:

New Trier High School, Jim Syrek
Bremen High School, Michael Lynch
Riverside/Brookfield High School, Gary Prokes
Neuqua Valley High School, John Gelsomino
Lyons Township High School, Bill Allan
Barrington High School, Jeff Doles
Maine South High School, Mason Strom

Each participant will be provided with an HD digital file of his or her movie with the accompaniment sound track.

“In addition to being an incomparable experience for all the participating students,” said film festival founder Derek Berg, “the winning filmmakers will have powerful pieces of work for their portfolios.”

The public is warmly welcome at the film festival. Advance tickets are $18 and can be ordered online at https://www.studentsilentfilmfestival.org/. Same day tickets are $25 at the door.

Humble beginnings

The Silent Movie is an art form unto itself. The ability to tell a story in purely visual terms, without the aid of a synchronized soundtrack, is a special skill with its own set of challenges and opportunities.

Beginning in the mid-1910s, small suburban theatres employed a piano player, but large city theaters had massive theatre organs that had a wide range of special effects. Theatrical organs such as the famous “Mighty Wurlitzer” could simulate some orchestral sounds along with a number of percussion effects such as bass drums and cymbals and sound effects ranging from train and boat whistles to car horns and birdsong. Some could even simulate pistol shots, ringing phones, the sound of the surf, horses’ hooves, smashing pottery, thunder, and rain.

“We believe it is important for the upcoming young moviemakers of today to understand and appreciate the art of cinema as it existed in the beginning,” Newmann said. “At a time when nearly anyone can create high-definition, stereophonic, sync-sound movies with a mobile device that fits in his or her pocket, many young people have little idea of the challenges faced by early filmmakers.”