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Update on Eddie Szewczyk
Belleville reviewer now making
own films
Eddie Szewczyk |
When Eddie Szewczyk of Belleville began reviewing
Harry Potter movies for Young Saint Louis.com,
he was a 13-year-old middle schooler.
Now, he's in college and last month joined some
high school buddies here to make their own movie
in the 48-Hour Film Project. The film, titled "Arrangements,"
was only a few minutes long and didn't draw any
"Potter-like" crowds.
But, it did get a theater showing before a good-sized
audience at the Tivoli Theater on Tuesday, June
12. Their team was one of 72 teams taking part in
trying to make a film in just 48 hours. Sixty-seven
teams actually completed their films.
The 48-Hour Film Project is a nationwide program
to let amateur filmmakers try their skills. In St.
Louis, radio station KDHX sponsored the local filmmaking
effort.
(If you'd like to know more about the 48-Hour
Film Project, visit www.48hourfilm.com.
This spring, six of the 2006 national winners were
shown at the Cannes Film Festival.)
Eddie said, "This was the first time I've tried
this on such a short schedule. The work was exhausting,
trying to plot, write, act and produce a film in
two days."
He and his teammates took naps in shifts so the
filmmaking could go on constantly.
But, he said he'd like to try it again next year.
He said the team will know to do advance planning
before the 48-hour time clock even starts.
Under the 48-Hour format, teams pick the type of
film they want to make. Eddie's team picked a horror
theme, but they could have picked comedy, drama
or another genre.
Regardless of theme, the teams all had to incorporate
four things into each film. They had to use a baby's
doll as one of the props. They also had to have
characters by the name of Ryan and/or Rita. The
study of entomology (bugs) had to fit in the plot.
And all teams had to include one spoken line: "Don't
look now, we may be in trouble."
The teams started working at 7 p.m. Friday, June
8, and had to have the completed film ready for
the judges at 7 p.m. Sunday, June 10. The deadline
was absolute; one team's entry was rejected because
it was handed in 20 seconds late.
In Eddie's plot, there was plenty of trouble from
disease and violence. In fact, Eddie's character
kills himself at the end.
In the fall, Eddie will be a sophomore at Penn
State University. He said he picked that school
"because it had good theater and communications
departments." He wants to graduate with degrees
in both theater and communications.
He has a summer job with Radio Disney, where he
does some news reporting and works with the station's
Street Team. That's a group that does station promotions
around town.
This is Eddie's 7th year of working at Radio Disney.
YSL.com contacted Eddie to be its Harry Potter
movie reviewer because Eddie was reviewing for Radio
Disney by age 12.
At that time, Eddie was also active in The Muny
Kids and appearing in Muny plays.
At Penn State, he is active in school plays and
belongs to The Outlaws. That's a group that makes
a film every week and shows it on campus.
In writing his review of "Harry Potter and the
Order of the Phoenix," Eddie will be working on
another tight schedule. He sees the movie Monday,
July 9, and YSL.com will have the review
on the website on Wednesday, July 11.
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Attention
all wizards from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry: The Department of Magic has announced the replacement
of Professor Dumbledore. Professor Dolores Umbridge is
the new headmistress of Hogwarts. 
Our
journey to Harry's world begins with Harry and his cousin,
Dudley, receiving a surprise visit from those evil, soul-sucking
dementors. They come right into the quiet Muggle neighborhood
of Privey Drive, the home of his aunt and uncle, the Dursleys.