BRATTLEBORO — All across Vermont, community media stations like BCTV were asking the same question: “How could we keep productions small and outdoors to stay safe, while having video campers create something significant and feel connected?”
Enter Crowdsourced Cinema Vermont, based on Northampton Open Media's long-running project of the same name, which organized 36 teams from Vermont and New Hampshire to re-create every scene from the 2000 Tom Hanks movie Cast Away.
Each team took creative license with casting and film techniques, and the scenes were edited together for a wildly inventive premiere released on Zoom.
BCTV's small crew of three and Instructor Frederic Noyes produced one scene, “HELP,” in which the lead character seeks the help of rescue airplanes along the banks of the Whetstone Brook. BCTV's scene from last year's Cast Away airs approximately 33:47 into the video.
For 2021, the camp returns to an in-person, one-week format for ages 9-12 and will be held largely outside, in keeping with public health guidelines.
Based on last year's success, BCTV will turn to Crowdsourced Cinema Vermont for inspiration and structure.
The famous movie to be re-created will be selected in mid-May, and BCTV will be assigned one or two age-appropriate scenes by the organizers. Then it's up to the campers how they want to reproduce the scenes using BCTV's video equipment, materials from home, and their imagination.
Compared to camps of past years, the emphasis will be less on editing and more on film techniques; campers won't be using the computer.
“Whatever they create, it is sure to be uniquely Brattleboro-made and will be a critical piece of the final crowdsourced film when it premieres in September,” program organizers write in a news release.
BCTV will follow CDC and Vermont guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19. All staff will be fully vaccinated. For dates and registration, go to brattleborotv.org/video-camp.