Rough Cut & Halloween 2019

I followed through on my promise to present a rough cut of the media film project my Grade 10 English students had worked on earlier in the year in October.  The only things that were missing were music, sound effects, and a title.  I assembled the students involved in my classroom one afternoon and we watched the 9 & a half minute film.  The short film is not a sequel to last year’s film project.  The students approved of the rough cut and looked forward to seeing the final cut in December.  I told them to see me beforehand if they came up with a good movie title.  Otherwise, I would have to think of something. 

            

As much as I enjoy the post-production process (editing, music mixing, and adding subtitles), my goal is to have that responsibility taken over by students.  The reason why I haven’t done this earlier is because the school only has basic movie editing software.  Letting students create the soundtrack is possible because we have laptops equipped with music mixing/recording/editing software.  I will keep this in mind when I propose doing a film project with my English students in 2020.

            

The last day of October is a day of fun and excitement in Arctic Bay.  October 31 is, of course, Halloween, and community members enjoy wearing costumes and trick-or-treating.  The weather is not cold enough to deter kids & adults from collecting candy and we haven’t had to worry about polar bears disrupting the festivities.  (Polar bears may have been a concern prior to my arrival in 2013 but I haven’t investigated).  Adults are able to get away with trick-or-treating if they’re with their kids.  Frankly, I don’t mind.  I just make sure to have more than enough candy to give out.

            

Preparations for Halloween began a week in advance at Inuujaq School.  Classes were given a week to decorate their doors.  The best decorated doors would be announced at the Halloween Assembly and the lucky classes would be awarded pizza parties.  There would also be a best dressed costume contest.  Of course, the assembly would open with the High School Drumline.  We started preparing in mid-August and by October 31, we had three cadences ready to go.  A few of my students & I would finish the performance with solos.  We practiced a few times in the gym to get comfortable with playing in large open spaces.  The biggest challenge would be playing in the dark.  The only light we would see would be from the drum sticks and camera flashes.    

            

October 31 began like any other school day.  Morning classes still went ahead but I doubt any teaching was done.  Most classes were busy putting the finishing touches on their door decorations.  My door wasn’t decorated this year but that’s okay.  A group of high school students turned the science room into a haunted house.  The elementary & middle school classes came to visit after morning recess.  From what I was told, the haunted house proved to be too scary for some.

Lunch was extended by 30 minutes to give everyone time to change into their costumes.  I drove home to pick up my costume and bring all my previously worn costumes to school.  My drummers expressed interest in wearing them.  I drove slowly, making sure the large Rubbermaid container did not fall off the skidoo.

            

This year I dressed as Pinhead, the antagonist from the Hellraiser franchise.  I haven’t watched the movies nor read the comic books but the mask on the Spirit Halloween website is what got my attention.  The character has hundreds of pin needles sticking out of his head.  The needles on the mask are plastic.  To be fair, the mask is the only Pinhead attire I wore.  The vest, pants, and skeleton arms were from other costumes.  Unfortunately, it’s a challenge to see out of the mask because of the small slits near the eyes.  You may need to use scissors to make the openings larger.

            

I instructed my drummers to come to school at 1:15pm to set up the drums & equipment in the gym.  They were impressed by my costume.  I opened the Rubbermaid container and left it in my classroom for students to look through and try the costumes.  It took us about 15 minutes to set everything up.

            

Everyone was called down to the gym at 1:40pm.  My drummers & I were already standing outside the entrance, holding our sticks and waiting for the assembly to begin.  I got many curious & surprised looks from students, teachers, and parents when they saw my mask.  I think many did not know who I was.  The gym quickly filled with people.  The assembly began at 1:50pm. 

            

The principal welcomed everyone to the assembly and called on the High School Drumline to begin the program.  My drummers & I did our final stretches and walked into the gym in single file.  Once everyone was standing behind their drums, I signalled a teacher at the back of the gym to turn off the gym lights.  I raised my sticks in the air and clicked them 4 times.  (The lights inside the sticks only turn on when they hit something).  The concert began.

            

Next year's plan is to have lights on all the drums.

We played three pieces written by Cassidy Byars.  The sheet music can be found on the Free Drumline Music website.  Each piece was between 45 seconds to a minute in length.  The audience really liked the drum light effects.  The solos were also well received.  Our concert lasted six minutes.

            

The assembly continued with the costume contest.  Each class paraded around the gym, showing off their costumes, while the judges quietly chose and wrote down the best costume in the groups.  There were 15 groups: from pre-school all the way to teachers.  Winners received gift certificates to the local Co-op store.

            

School was dismissed early at 3pm so that everyone could get home and ready for trick-or-treating at 5pm.  My old costumes had been worn by high school students and I was glad my Pinhead outfit was warmly received.  I packed all my costumes in the Rubbermaid and drove home.

            

Empty boxes.

I assembled all the candy boxes I bought into the living room and retrieved three large bowls from a kitchen cupboard.  I dumped candy into the bowls until they were full.  I changed into my Pinhead costume at 4:45pm and unlocked my front door.  I sat near the front door and waited.  The trick-or-treating did begin at 5pm.  I gave four pieces of candy to each person.  Some kids were too scared to approach me and I had to give the candy to their parents/guardians.  A lot of people came to my door.  I had to refill the bowls several times.  Despite giving out a lot of candy, I still had plenty left over when everything was done at 7pm.  I would save some for myself and give out the rest at a later date.  I quickly put away the candy, changed out of my costume, and walked down to the community hall for the worst costume contest.

            

12 & Younger Group.

The contest began at 7:15pm and featured two groups of participants: 12 & younger, and 13 & older.  All the contestants arrived in costume and walked to the stage to get a number.  They then took a seat in front of the stage.  It’s always fascinating to see the wild combinations that people come up with.  Most of the contestants hid their faces behind masks & helmets.  The true identities of the people in costume are revealed at the end.  I stood at the back of the hall and filmed the contestants walking around the hall, showing off their costumes.  They went back to their seats after the music stopped.  It took a few minutes for the judges to agree on the winners.  All the prizes this year were monetary.  Many people, mostly kids, crowded near the stage to see the winners remove their masks and reveal their true identities.  Once all the prizes were given out, the contest was over. 

13 & Older Group.