Teens’ film reels in first prize

Have you heard the rumor that if you put Mentos chews into a Coke, it explodes?

Well, if you haven’t, no worries, there are plenty of outlets in cyberspace to learn about these strange things.

One of those web sites is MentosGysers.com, which now features a video made by Sam Holmes, 18, of Wake Forest.

Holmes and his younger brother, Paul, put together a short film depicting a Western scene in which the hero rides off on a unicorn propelled by the Coke that exploded when mixed with the Mentos.

The original and entertaining piece won the brothers first place, bringing home $500 of iTunes music.

Though the prize was decent, their mother Ann Holmes said they enjoyed the recognition more.

Sam Holmes is a freshman at N.C. State University. Although he is an amateur film producer and director, his mother said he is also interested in design which is what swayed his decision between UNC Wilmington and State.

Holmes’ reasoning for not attending Wilmington was far more humorous.

“Because I gots mad skills at filmmaking and I don’t need no one teaching me,” he joked.

The brothers started making films when Sam was 13. Their first camera was a surprise Christmas gift from their grandpa, basically a $99 toy that could shoot 60 seconds of video.

The video was then downloaded to the computer. The boys learned their way through editing the short clips, adding effects, and put it all together to create their first video, Secret Agent Guy.

Their mother said they later graduated to borrowing the family’s average-quality camcorder and then edited all the clips together to make a 10-15-minute film.

“I think it’s an expressive outlet for them,” said Ann. “They’re both musical, and this just seemed to be a natural way for them to express their creativity.”

The brothers used to film some of their skits at Second Hand Rose thrift shop on North Main Street, and bought their props and costumes there.

The first competition the brothers entered was sponsored by Panasonic and they submitted their video Ballstronaut. It is a story about a young boy who travels to the moon following a swift kick in the pants. They didn’t win.

But they did win first place in the Mentos Gysers’ Contest with their video The Spectacular Chronicle of the Lone Unicorn Rider.

Sam Holmes said the idea came to him in a dream.

The video includes cowboys, bad guys and, yes, a unicorn.

The boys film their videos in front of green screens, which are just green nylon table cloths their mom bought at Party City.

“We composite film, photos, animation and drawings together to create our backgrounds,” Sam said.

Graphics, special effects and music is all filled in later in sync with the acting.

There are a lot of minute details that go into making a minute-and-a-half-long film, but for Sam, that’s not the most difficult part.

“It varies from film to film but some things like getting actors to cooperate and not totally suck has been a problem in the past,” he said. “The best part is when we get to show off our movies.”

The brothers find out about the contests from surfing the Internet.

“We enter to win,” Sam said.

Sam and Paul are very close and both enjoy juggling and unicycling, which they’ve also videotaped and have included on their web site, bigeastern.net.

Even in putting these simple videos together they’ve learned a lot about editing and selecting music. They keep things interesting.

Sam plays saxophone, piano, and accordion, and Paul plays trombone and bass guitar.

Paul, 16, is a sophomore at Wake Forest-Rolesville High School and looking forward to exploring visual arts next semester.

He is also teaching himself computer animation, in addition to all of the special effects and editing software he has learned to use.

Sam enjoys visual arts, painting, drawing, and sculpture.

Sam is working hard his first semester of college and his mom said he has realized that if he has to work this hard, it would be nice if it could be on something that he really enjoys.

Sam said what he enjoys most about filmmaking is “Being able to create a reality in which I am not limited by reason.”

He said he will continue to make films while he is attending school during the weekends and summers.

“He enjoys creative expression and inventing things and is also strong in math and science, the reason why he has decided to apply to the School of Design at N.C. State. At his point, he believes he will probably keep cinematography as a hobby rather than career,” said Ann.

“Both boys have always had a flair for the unusual,” she said.

The brothers are extremely creative, but their mother has no idea where their knack for film originated.

“It wasn’t from me or my husband,” she said. “I think it’s just a way of expression that we didn’t have when we were young.”