Tiny film stars – The making of The Snow Queen

7 December 2010

During November I was given a wonderful opportunity by The Watermill Theatre to direct/facilitate a short film of The Snow Queen with St John’s Infant School, Mortimer and MWS Media film Company.

The school gave each class from foundation through to year two a key scene from The Snow Queen, asking them to cast and perform in it, whilst transforming their classrooms and school facilities into small film sets by making props, costumes and scenery that could represent anything from the snow Queen’s palace to an enchanted flower garden. It was an ambitious and highly creative project that involved every teacher, classroom and pupil in the school. Every child had a part to play in the film regardless of their age or ability and all were given the opportunity to improvise with their characters and perform in dances, songs or short scenes within the film.

Throughout the project the children and teachers were fantastic; they were always upbeat and enthusiastic! When outside filming in cold, icy conditions the children got straight into character. Despite being small, shivering knights, witches, robbers or animals with runny noses and the odd cough or two, there was not a diva insight! However, there was the occasional mishap. On day one we lost our leading lady due to a tissue paper eating crisis in the foundation class and a few hours later our head troll had a touch of camera fright, crying and chewing his jumper with relish every time we tried to film him. We resolved the situation through a simple white lie ‘the camera is off and isn’t actually watching you.’ These words of encouragement initially failed to convince him but eventually he was performing the nasty, ghastly troll with as much energy and enthusiasm as a small boy could muster.

Aside from the occasional picking of noses when they forgot the camera was watching, the children maintained a highly professional attitude towards the filming. They stayed focused on each other, remembered their lines and even created their own, adding improvised dialogue and actions. Sometimes the characters would revert to Jedi’s, Ben 10 and pirates but I could always encourage the children to keep their acting related to The Snow Queen.

The children would spend many minutes in ‘wardrobe’ getting into costume and makeup. This was not because the makeup or costumes were particularly difficult but because it takes a five year old at least fifteen minutes to change into an outfit without becoming distracted by the joys of the classroom. However, it takes them one minute to forget they have face paint on, scratch an itch and give their makeup a very good smear! The patience of the staff and parents on costume duty was outstanding.

Perhaps some of the best moments of the filming process would be the outtakes. There is nothing quite so comical as a child whose attention span has begun to wander and the objects, actions and words that they can magically produce during their sudden lack of focus. Often I would find myself saying ‘that was good but how did you end on the climbing frame?’ or ‘the words were lovely but I don’t think the old lady would have her feet in her dinner’ or ‘that was great acting but where did that bit of Lego come from?’ On one occasion a small boy called Freddy had finished his scene and decided to climb on to a nearby tyre in the play area, when we suggested that this wasn’t a good idea, that it might be dangerous, he looked at us calmly and said ‘don’t worry…danger is my middle name.’ The sincerity with which he said this convinced both myself and the film crew to refer to him as Freddy Danger from that day fourth, a title that he lived up to on many occasions!

Although the children were initially shy of the cameras, with each take their confidence increased and their efforts improved until they were producing entertaining performances that they had every right to be proud of. I have every respect for St John’s Infant School for creating such an exciting, creative and ambitious project, and am particularly grateful to Beth Flintoff, Nicola Sumner and MWS Media for giving me the opportunity to work with such a lovely team of people.

I can’t wait to see the film!

Rebecca Glover – Drama Practitioner and Theatre Designer