{"id":50949,"date":"2026-03-20T13:45:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T17:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/?p=50949"},"modified":"2026-03-20T13:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T17:46:09","slug":"big-screen-small-community-film-club-offers-students-new-opportunities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/student-life\/2026\/03\/20\/big-screen-small-community-film-club-offers-students-new-opportunities\/","title":{"rendered":"Big screen, small community; Film Club offers students new opportunities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For film club advisor Ms. Heather Hamilton, the idea for a new club at the school was not just about movies. It was about creating a space for students who see film as something more.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe had Katie Taylor and Logan Golden come to us with the idea,\u201d Hamilton explained.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But her connection to film started long before this year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cMr. [Dominic] Didio and I were both part of Film Club when we were in college, and I was the president,\u201d Hamilton added. \u201cI really understand the need for certain students that have that love of film to be able to meet with other creatives and talk about those things.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<aside>\n    <div class='pullquote sno-pullquote-6a45d0feb5fd2 sno-animate pullquote-shadow'>\n                <div class=\"quotebody\">\n                        <div class='largequote'>&ldquo;<\/div>\n                                    <p class='pullquotetext'>I really understand the need for certain students that have that love of film to be able to meet with other creatives and talk about those things<\/p>\n                            <p class='quotespeaker'>&mdash; Ms. Heather Hamilton, Film Club Adviser <\/p>\n                        <div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<style>\n.sno-pullquote-6a45d0feb5fd2 {\n    display: flex;\n    float: right;\n    margin: 30px 0 30px 30px;\n    width: 50%;\n    border-color: #87bcf2;\n    border-top-width: 5px;\n    border-right-width: 5px;\n    border-bottom-width: 5px;\n    border-left-width: 5px;\n    background-color: #030249;\n}\n.sno-pullquote-6a45d0feb5fd2 p.pullquotetext,\n.sno-pullquote-6a45d0feb5fd2 p.quotespeaker {\n    color: #ffffff !important;\n}\n.sno-pullquote-6a45d0feb5fd2 .pullquotepic {\n    width: 33%;\n    margin-left: 25px;\n}\n.sno-story-body .sno-pullquote-6a45d0feb5fd2 p.pullquotetext {\n    font-size: 22px;\n    line-height: 1.4em;\n}\n.sno-pullquote-6a45d0feb5fd2 .quotebar {\n    background: #b5d6f4;\n    flex: 0 0 90px;\n    margin-top: -15px;\n    margin-left: -15px;\n    padding-left: 15px;\n    padding-top: 15px;\n    margin-right: 15px;\n}\n.sno-pullquote-6a45d0feb5fd2 .largequote {\n\tcolor: #ffffff;\n}\n.sno-pullquote-6a45d0feb5fd2 .quotebody {\n    width: unset;\n}\n<\/style>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That understanding shaped the purpose of the club from the beginning.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt felt like something we wanted to take the helm on and make sure kids aren\u2019t deprived of that opportunity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From there, the vision expanded beyond simply watching movies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe want to cover everything,\u201d Hamilton explained. \u201cFrom the classics to brand new movies that have come out in the last few years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The goal is not just exposure, but understanding how film has evolved.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThere\u2019s this large impact that the classics have had,\u201d she said. \u201cBut movies are vastly different now. We can learn so much from those techniques and how they exist today in different forms.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For many students, that deeper level of thinking is unfamiliar.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cA lot of times students watch a movie and they don\u2019t realize how much is going on behind the scenes,\u201d Hamilton noted.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The club aims to change that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe want to go past just saying I liked it or I didn\u2019t like it,\u201d she explained. \u201cIt\u2019s about getting deeper than that, talking about influences, and how that movie could go on to influence something you make.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That creative element is just as important as discussion.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe want to show everybody how to use gear,\u201d Hamilton said. \u201cYou don\u2019t need top notch equipment to be able to make a movie.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At its core, the club is about connection.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIf you\u2019ve seen ten movies in your lifetime, or you\u2019ve seen a hundred in a year, those students can mesh together,\u201d she said. \u201cThey can talk, recommend, and suddenly you\u2019re introduced to a whole new director you didn\u2019t even know existed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<aside>\n    <div class='pullquote sno-pullquote-6a45d0feb692b sno-animate pullquote-shadow'>\n                <div class=\"quotebody\">\n                        <div class='largequote'>&ldquo;<\/div>\n                                    <p class='pullquotetext'>\u201cThey can talk, recommend, and suddenly you\u2019re introduced to a whole new director you didn\u2019t even know existed.\u201d<\/p>\n                            <p class='quotespeaker'>&mdash; Ms. Heather Hamilton, Film Club Adviser <\/p>\n                        <div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<style>\n.sno-pullquote-6a45d0feb692b {\n    display: flex;\n    float: left;\n    margin: 30px 30px 30px 0;\n    width: 50%;\n    border-color: #87bcf2;\n    border-top-width: 5px;\n    border-right-width: 5px;\n    border-bottom-width: 5px;\n    border-left-width: 5px;\n    background-color: #030249;\n}\n.sno-pullquote-6a45d0feb692b p.pullquotetext,\n.sno-pullquote-6a45d0feb692b p.quotespeaker {\n    color: #ffffff !important;\n}\n.sno-pullquote-6a45d0feb692b .pullquotepic {\n    width: 33%;\n    margin-left: 25px;\n}\n.sno-story-body .sno-pullquote-6a45d0feb692b p.pullquotetext {\n    font-size: 22px;\n    line-height: 1.4em;\n}\n.sno-pullquote-6a45d0feb692b .quotebar {\n    background: #b5d6f4;\n    flex: 0 0 90px;\n    margin-top: -15px;\n    margin-left: -15px;\n    padding-left: 15px;\n    padding-top: 15px;\n    margin-right: 15px;\n}\n.sno-pullquote-6a45d0feb692b .largequote {\n\tcolor: #ffffff;\n}\n.sno-pullquote-6a45d0feb692b .quotebody {\n    width: unset;\n}\n<\/style>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The experience is meant to be interactive.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe want to have discussions,\u201d Hamilton explained. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of like you get what you give to this club. We want students to participate, talk, and meet people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Looking ahead, what excites her most is not a specific film, but the growth she expects to see.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI\u2019m excited to see everybody start to come into their taste in film,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are a lot of people who haven\u2019t been exposed to a lot of films. I know I wasn\u2019t at your age.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That exposure can shift perspectives.<\/span><\/p>\n<aside>\n    <div class='pullquote sno-pullquote-6a45d0feb6ff5 sno-animate pullquote-shadow'>\n                <div class=\"quotebody\">\n                        <div class='largequote'>&ldquo;<\/div>\n                                    <p class='pullquotetext'>I\u2019m excited to see people get new perspectives on things as they watch movies out of their culture or out of their native language<\/p>\n                        <div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<style>\n.sno-pullquote-6a45d0feb6ff5 {\n    display: flex;\n    float: right;\n    margin: 30px 0 30px 30px;\n    width: 50%;\n    border-color: #87bcf2;\n    border-top-width: 5px;\n    border-right-width: 5px;\n    border-bottom-width: 5px;\n    border-left-width: 5px;\n    background-color: #030249;\n}\n.sno-pullquote-6a45d0feb6ff5 p.pullquotetext,\n.sno-pullquote-6a45d0feb6ff5 p.quotespeaker {\n    color: #ffffff !important;\n}\n.sno-pullquote-6a45d0feb6ff5 .pullquotepic {\n    width: 33%;\n    margin-left: 25px;\n}\n.sno-story-body .sno-pullquote-6a45d0feb6ff5 p.pullquotetext {\n    font-size: 22px;\n    line-height: 1.4em;\n}\n.sno-pullquote-6a45d0feb6ff5 .quotebar {\n    background: #b5d6f4;\n    flex: 0 0 90px;\n    margin-top: -15px;\n    margin-left: -15px;\n    padding-left: 15px;\n    padding-top: 15px;\n    margin-right: 15px;\n}\n.sno-pullquote-6a45d0feb6ff5 .largequote {\n\tcolor: #ffffff;\n}\n.sno-pullquote-6a45d0feb6ff5 .quotebody {\n    width: unset;\n}\n<\/style>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI\u2019m excited to see people get new perspectives on things as they watch movies out of their culture or out of their native language,\u201d Hamilton added.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If she had to choose one film to represent that learning, one stood out.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cJurassic Park, just the first one,\u201d she said. \u201cIt has so many techniques in it that maybe an untrained eye wouldn\u2019t notice right away. The camera work, the lighting, the music. Every aspect of that movie, you can pick apart and see why it works.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ultimately, success will not be measured by attendance alone.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThis club is successful so long as I see that kids are enjoying watching new movies and being open to new perspectives,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But more than that, she hopes to see confidence grow.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt\u2019s a success if I see the creativity grow,\u201d Hamilton added. \u201cTo watch these kids make their own movies and feel confident and excited to do that instead of nervous.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For Film Club, that is the real goal. Not just watching films, but creating something of their own.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For film club advisor Ms. Heather Hamilton, the idea for a new club at the school was not just about movies. It was about creating a space for students who see film as something more. \u201cWe had Katie Taylor and Logan Golden come to us with the idea,\u201d Hamilton explained. But her connection to film&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,11],"tags":[],"staff_name":[1546],"class_list":["post-50949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-life","category-top-stories","staff_name-electra-triantafyllos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50949"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50952,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50949\/revisions\/50952"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50949"},{"taxonomy":"staff_name","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/staff_name?post=50949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}