Late last year when Benjamin Weil posted his black-and-white short “Hotel Overstimulation” on YouTube, he left a disclaimer.
Weil explained how he made the two-minute feature to submit for college admissions. “I recognize it isn’t the most razor tight project but the aim with it is to represent myself and the stories I choose to tell/the ways in which I tell them rather than create the most technically airtight production.”
The film is about living with ADHD in a constantly overstimulating environment. He added that he wrote, starred in, edited, audio engineered, and animated the film on his own.
What Weil, 18, left out is that he filmed the movie entirely within the hotel room he was sharing with his parents after they lost their rental house. And that he shot it with a cellphone on a tripod, then finished it on his iPad and a public library computer.
It was filmed in color, but he learned to use software a friend online told him about to convert it to black and white and enhance its emotional impact.
Beyond praising what Weil accomplished in the film, an intense mini thriller expressing his inner struggle, the Artist of the Year judges marveled at the circumstances under which it was made.
“Ben broke the mold on everything,” said Eric Timmons, who teaches film production at Santa Ana High School.
Said Victor Payan, founder and director of Media Arts in Santa Ana (MASA) and co-founder of OC Film Fiesta: “There’s a depth and darkness to his experience that he really channels to his piece.”
Several of the judges remembered Weil’s work from last year when he was a Film/TV semifinalist. Weil talked about being in an “artistic drought” a year ago, thinking his work had to be perfect. Now he is writing scripts to share the stories in his head without worrying about compromising his vision. He hopes to film some of these “impulse projects” over the summer.
“He’s rediscovered a joy in creating again,” observed Eric Nong, Viet Film Fest artistic director.
His family’s housing situation — sharing one room or sleeping in their car — might be relieved for Weil as he prepares to graduate from Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts.
Depending on what he called “the financial stuff,” Weil plans to attend Woodbury University, a private nonprofit liberal arts school in Burbank. He’ll be able to live in a dorm room.
“I’ll have a roof,” Weil told the judges, “which will kind of be nice.”
Film and TV finalists
In addition to Artist of the Year, the judges selected four finalists from among 16 semifinalists who showcased their skills in animation, cinematography, directing, editing, sound design, and visual effects:
Hunaina Hirji, Division 1: She is a repeat finalist. Her ability at creating bespoke sounds for a short commercial she debuted for her Artist of the Year presentation this year stood out to the judges. Her work was very precise, said Andy Lane, associate professor of storytelling at Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, where Hirji hoped to study film design. “Great work,” Lane told the 18-year-old Hirji. “You’ll be in big demand.”
Aztlalt Aguirre Paredes, Division 2: His montage of short films — including a re-imagining of The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields” and a look at the greatness of boxer Muhammed Ali — highlighted the quickly acquired editing skills of Aguirre Paredes, 18. He had played around on an iPad when he was younger but didn’t study editing until taking a video production class in his senior year at Buena Park High. For now, it’s mostly a hobby, said Aguirre Paredes, who plans to major in computer science.
Macy Patterson, Division 1: Patterson wrote and directed the short film “I Just Want to Be Pretty.” It explores the relationship between two sisters, the younger one’s desire to feel pretty like her sibling, and a cruel joke that brings them closer together. It was shot over 48 hours with a crew of 20 from El Dorado High for a film competition. A huge fan of “Barbie” and “Lady Bird” director Greta Gerwig, Patterson, 18, said she is tired of films that depict women tearing at each other. “It’s important to show relationships of being with each other, lifting each other up, and bonding.” She plans to attend film school at Chapman.
Tahlia Pompel, Division 1: Pompel, a cinematographer, did her Artist of the Year presentation by Zoom, from 5,000 miles away. She was in Edinburgh, Scotland, along with classmates and teachers from El Dorado High in Placentia on “kind of a school trip.” Even with a few glitches in the transmission, Pompel ably spoke about a PSA on the mental health of teens that was based in part on her own poetry. Her message: “Life will always be full of struggle. Find the little joys in between.” She’s 17 and a senior who was accepted into her dream school, New York University for film, but also got into Chapman and Emerson College in Boston.
