In an effort to create a new generation of talented filmmakers, the Arlington Public Library held an introductory filmmaking workshop called Video Boot Camp in July.

Arlington teens were given the opportunity to dive into the craft, learning basic technical skills and terms that they can apply on a live film set. And the best part, they would leave the program with a completed film project under their belt.

Week one of Video Boot Camp, eighteen young filmmakers gathered in Southeast Library Branch's community room and were ready to hit the ground running. The main objective for the first week was to break students out of the mindset of aimlessly pointing and shooting with a camera without having any vision or plan for their shots.

"In here, you're not recording your sister's singing recital or 'Dylan's' first little league game. You're going to learn how to shoot like filmmakers."

Students were taught several basic camera angles and movement techniques that enable them to visually tell a story in a way that won't put their audience to sleep. By the end of the first day, students were assigned to different teams or "crews," and each crew came up with their own unique concept to make into a short film. The following weeks each focused on a different phase of film development; pre-production, production, and post-production.

Independent 'Indie' Filmmaking Rule #1: "Anything that can go wrong... WILL."- Murphy's Law

Quiz any one of the Video Boot Camp participants and they will be able to recite to you Murphy's Law on the spot. Before our eager crews were let free to venture into the world and momentarily "interrupt the peace" for the sake of creating art, certain measures need to be addressed to ensure that 'Murphy' didn't prevail. Before any serious production could take place, crews had to ask themselves several important questions: Do we have a script?, "Who are our actors? What will they wear? Where/when are we going to film? Do we currently have the budget for a 20-car police chase or is our script in need of some "minor" adjustments? This phase in development is known as pre-production.

Week three was the official shooting day for each crew's film. Entering this stage meant that all pre-production business had been handled, everyone in the crew knew his/her job, and the actors knew their lines like the back of their hand. Crews were ready to hit their locations and begin shooting their projects!

Once filming was complete, it was time to edit all of the footage and produce the final movie. Week four was our post-production/in-workshop viewing day.

Directly after post-production for Video Boot Camp concluded, our filmmakers were finally able to kick back, relax, and view their hard work during the film screening segment of our Open Mic Talent showcase at Southwest Library Branch.