Film Student Finn Scully ‘21 Progresses to Finals in New York Times Competition

Photo courtesy of Scully.

Newman senior and aspiring filmmaker Finn Scully ‘21 recently became a finalist in the New York Times “Coming of Age in 2020” competition for his short film “Alone,” encompassing his thoughts and reflections from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.  I sat down for an interview with Scully to discuss the competition, the pandemic, and the art of filmmaking. 

When did you first hear of the NYT Coming of Age contest? When did you decide to apply?

[Newman Film teacher, Jeff] Iwanicki told us about the contest in Film class, around October. I was busy editing films to apply early for college film production programs and almost did not enter. The original version of the Alone film was 3 minutes and 30 seconds. To edit it down to the 2 minute maximum for the contest was actually a lot of work. But it seemed like a good challenge to see if I could make it shorter and keep the overall feeling.

Going into the writing and filmmaking processes for your short film "Alone," which emotions/ideas did you want to express? How did you choose to express these ideas?

Usually, I would have a storyboard in advance. But for this film, I was just walking around Boston where I live, and feeling stunned by how suddenly empty it was. I took lots of footage of places and images that spoke to me. Some of them were places I walked by frequently but suddenly I saw them in a fresh way. There was a quiet feeling around the city that something serious was looming. Back home, I started to look at the images. This film was entirely made in the editing stage. I put some pieces together and set them to music for two preliminary films, one called “Quiet” and another called “Isolated.” For Film class, we had to submit something about our reactions to the pandemic, so that is when I wrote the voiceover, added different music and some clips from other movies, and created “Alone.” It just kind of flowed, because I had a lot of thoughts about being stuck at home.

How did you react when you found out you were a finalist? 

Well, at first I wondered if the email was a hoax! But then I saw that the guy had a real New York Times email address. Then I was kind of surprised and very excited.

What does the art of film mean to you?

Film is my lens onto the world, pun intended. It's how I make sense of things. I included two clips from other films in “Alone,” because I am always thinking about what would be a relevant film quote or clip to make sense of the world.

When did you discover your interest in film?

My middle school actually offered several film electives. In seventh grade, I did a semester on Hitchcock films and was hooked. I also went to film camp every summer, where we did everything, scripting, acting, filming, editing. One thing I love about the Newman School is that we have a great film program.

How would you describe your creative process when going into a new project?

If I'm working alone, I just jump in and start getting footage to see what I like. If I'm working with other people like in Film class, which I really enjoy, we start with a brainstorm. We do a rough storyboard, but we don't make it too exact. We have to go into the spaces, especially when we're filming around school, and see what the lighting, sound, and angles will be like.

Has the pandemic had a major effect on your creative process? 

I really love to make films together with other people. I think I do my best work if someone else has a script, and I can think about the cinematography that would bring the script to life. But in the pandemic, I have to do things mostly alone. I've been learning about different kinds of shots, like one that is called a 'dolly zoom' where the camera moves closer as you change the zoom ring on the camera. It keeps the character in the same spot but the background changes, which gives the scene a distorted look and creates suspense or tension. But it is basically impossible to do a dolly zoom without a crew of people. 

The IB even canceled the Collaborative Film Project, which is usually a highlight of senior year. But IB saw that it would be impossible to do in the pandemic. All of us in the Film class were really disappointed.

Are you looking to pursue film as a career? If so, what are your next steps?

I am definitely planning to go into cinematography for my career. I've applied to 16 film production programs in the U.S. and Canada, which is a lot, but these programs are very small and specialized. Fingers crossed for good news.

The full three-minute version of “Alone” can be viewed here on Newman’s Vimeo account.