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Schools

Ridge High Sophomores Capture Spirit of Local Firefighters on Film

'Heroes in the Smoke' documentary debuted this week at Ridge High School Performing Arts Center.

It takes an unusual passion for helping one’s neighbor in a crisis and extraordinary courage to rush headlong into a burning building. It is this passion and commitment that five Ridge High School sophomore film makers sought to capture in a 54-minute documentary about the 100 years of service of the Liberty Corner Volunteer Fire Department.

The documentary, titled “Heroes in the Smoke” debuted in a public screening on Tuesday night at the Performing Arts Center at Basking Ridge High School and received enthusiastic reviews.

 “I love to see young minds perform in a professional way. I was very impressed with  what they pulled off in that production. It was a big accomplishment—it was awesome,” said Brian Marston, a resident of Basking Ridge.

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The film was directed by Ridge student Mark DePasquale. Chris DeLorenzo served as director of photography; Alexander Molander and Colin Boulter composed and performed the music; and Chris Szeluga was responsible for camera operation and audio recording. 

Peter Aprahamian, fire chief of the Liberty Corner Fire Department, said he was seeing the film for the third time on Tuesday.

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“Every time I saw it, I was more impressed. They are extremely talented young men. They did a great job of capturing the spirit of volunteerism and how much the volunteer firefighters want to help the community and love what they do,” Aprahamian said.

Marston said the two things that the film impressed upon him were the effort and dedication required of volunteer firefighters and the sense of camaraderie that they share. About 30 people attended the showing.

The film featured dramatic footage depicting the firefighters during drills and archival photographs of recent fires and historic photos showing the early days of the fire company since it was established in 1917.

Though DePasquale said that one of the directors he admires most is James Cameron, a director who is known for his astronomical budgets, DePasquale and his production team produced the film, which took seven months to complete, with no budget.

“We couldn’t buy anything even if we needed it. We already owned all of the equipment. Chris DeLorenzo and Chris Szeluga owned the cameras, my brother already owned the Flip cam we used,” DePasquale said.

Camera "dolly" on skateboard wheels

“We had to be creative. We used do-it-yourself camera rigs out of household items. To create a dolly effect, Chris DeLorenzo attached skateboard wheels to paint stirrers held together with duct tape, then the camera sat on the painter sticks as we pushed it,” said DePasquale.

The opportunity to make the film came about when the students learned that they were expected to log 25 hours of community service as part of their curriculum.

DePasquale said that his brother, Ron, and DeLorenzo’s brother, Troy, have been members of the Liberty Corner Fire Company for the past six years. When he and DeLorenzo talked about the community service requirement, they decided to put their skills together to help convey the value and principles of the fire company — which also happened to be celebrating its 100 year anniversary last fall.

DePasquale said he learned a lot in the process.

“There are no video classes at our school, so we had to teach ourselves everything. I just figured out how to edit using professional software and set up shots that would be interesting,” DePasquale said.

DePasquale said, “Making the film opened my eyes to the deep bond that is shared by all of the firefighters. They put their lives on the line for each other on a daily basis, and when they’re not fighting fires, they are still great friends and are willing to help each other out in many other aspects of life.”

Composer Alex Molander said he and Colin Boulter wrote all of the very dramatic music and used as many different instruments, including: piano, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass Cajon box drum, viola, and cello.

He said the collaboration process flowed easily.

“Mark would show us clips of the movie, and tell us the feeling he wanted to create for that scene. We then worked to write the music he envisioned in his head,” said Molander.

Students had no idea of amount of work involved

Molander said that during the making of the film, what was most surprising to him was the amount of work and creativity that goes into getting the right shots —especially Point of View (POV) shots, that allows the viewer, for instance, to be able to look at a scene from the firefighter’s point of view.

Molander said he hopes that the film and his music help the audience feel the bond among the members of the Liberty Corner Fire Company and their sense of dedication.

Camera operator Chris Szeluga said he learned a great deal but had no idea what he was getting himself into.

 “This process was quite new for us. We were prepared with the knowledge we had prior, but for me personally, this documentary allowed me to further broaden my knowledge with the equipment we used. Under the direction of Chris DeLorenzo and Mark DePasquale, we all were able to learn what it really takes to produce a movie,” said Szeluga.

 “Not only are there tons hours of shooting interviews and events, but then there’s the painstaking task of editing it all. Despite the hard work, I’m looking forward to producing more movies with our team,” said Szeluga.

He said one of the most interesting moments was when the tripod were trying to get a close up shot and one of the hoses burst and he had to dive out of the way with his camera and tripod, covering it with his body to keep it from getting wet.

For Chris DeLorenzo, director of photography, there wasn’t a lot of opportunity for planning shots.

“We had more of a run-and-gun style. Most of the shots were spontaneous. That was the thrill of shooting this documentary. Every day we didn't know if we would come home with a winning shot or if we would come home empty handed,” said DeLorenzo.

He said, throughout the project, he developed a real love for film and photography.

“I was passionate about both before, but never did I experience it through a project of this scale.  During this project I learned about film and firefighting. It takes 300 working hours to make an hour film, and firefighting is more than a job or pastime, it is a lifestyle,” said DeLorenzo.

He said he hoped that the audience would leave with a sense of what the firefighters experience on a daily basis.

Dave Carroll, historian for the Liberty Corner Fire Company, and foreman for Engine 2 said he was really excited about the fact that the students developed the story about the fire company using video — a medium that will appeal to the current generation because they would like to use the film for recruiting volunteers.  

Carroll said, “The production is remarkable. What struck me the most was the realism they were able to capture, the authenticity they were able to convey on the screen, and the powerful representation of who we are and what we strive to be.”

The DVD of the film can be purchased by contacting firemovie11@gmail.com. Simply say that you would like to purchase the DVD of "Heroes in the Smoke" and you will be sent instructions on what to do to complete the purchase.

Watch the trailer of the documentary, "Heroes in the Smoke" on YouTube.

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