Pittsfield students make horror film 2 MCI seniors wrapping up ‘Misprision’

PITTSFIELD – Two Pittsfield teens who graduated two weeks ago from Maine Central Institute – an actor and a filmmaker – collaborated to make a short feature film in the woods of Maine.

Matt Nichols and Steve Parkhurst, each known as much for his quirky sense of humor as for his filmmaking ability, are in the final stages of editing “Misprision,” a thriller, horror film.

The word “misprision” means both misinterpretation of your surroundings and concealment of a crime, which are both at the heart of the duo’s movie.

“It’s dark but tasteful,” said Nichols on Thursday. “There are no splats of blood.”

Parkhurst, who wrote the movie, said it is the story of a teenager who cannot tell the difference between his dreams and reality after he witnesses his father kill his mother at a remote camp.

The longtime friends used Parkhurst’s camp in the woods of Willimantic for the primary filming location for their senior project.

All of the filming was done digitally, and editing is on a standard personal computer.

Casting was challenging, said Parkhurst, but the pair ended up with Brett Laster-Loftus in the lead, along with veteran actors Debra Susi, Doug Frati, Kaitlin Gallagher and Julie Lancaster, all from the Pittsfield area.

“Doug took the character of the murderer above and beyond what we were asking,” said Parkhurst. “He played it like Jack Nicholson with a humorous edge.”

The teens admitted there was a lot of ad-libbing during filming.

“I don’t think Doug even knew where his script was,” teased Nichols.

During filming, there were definite challenges, the young men said.

They got a pickup truck stuck when they tried to ford a stream. They lost weeks of editing when a computer failed. They even scared themselves when they stayed overnight at the cabin to do some night filming.

The greatest obstacle was when the computer they were using to present their film to an MCI judging team failed. “This happened with 11/2 hours to go before my project was due,” said Nichols. Overcoming the problems, the boys each got an A grade on their effort.

But in the final editing, the school’s computer again failed, obliterating all of the editing they had completed. “We had to start over again from Scene 1,” said Nichols.

“It was a lot more challenging than we intended,” admitted Nichols. While other students at MCI complained of working five or seven hours a week on their senior projects, Nichols and Parkhurst put in 50 hours the first week alone.

“We produced a trailer which is four minutes long,” said Nichols. “That took us almost 10 hours.”

But the results are going to be worth it, they agreed.

“I think as far as when I wrote the script, it has come out as good as I imagined it,” said Parkhurst. “We definitely accomplished what we set out to do.”

The premier will be held – free of charge – at the Pittsfield Community Theater this summer. The teens hope to finish editing in time to have the showing during the July Egg Festival celebration.

Nichols has worked at the theater for the past three years and has been in frequent MCI drama productions along with Parkhurst.

Parkhurst is attending Keene State College in New Hampshire this fall, majoring in film production. Nichols will attend Eastern Maine Technical College with a goal of becoming a kindergarten teacher.

“I want to teach, but I will still be acting,” he admitted.

They said they plan to submit the movie to independent film contests once it is ready.