Maxima – Official International First Look (2016) – Alec Latulippe, Noah Libby Movie HD from Alec Latulippe on Vimeo.

AUBURN — An Edward Little High School film class learned Thursday a trailer they produced did not make it into the Maine horror film festival, “Damnationland.”

But the trailer, a teaser for an anticipated horror film called “Maxima,” is published at Damnationland’s website. And students learned real-world lessons about filmmaking, teacher Shawn Rice said.

The introductory film class was invited by the Maine horror film festival’s co-producer, Ryan Jay Wilson (EL Class of 2001), to participate in an inaugural trailer contest for the festival. The festival premieres Friday, Oct. 16, at Portland’s State Theater.

At first, Rice said, he was hesitant about making a trailer with an introductory film class. However, his students embraced the project and created a trailer about a murder, a detective and a cold case.

Rather than offer six weeks of introductory teaching about camerawork, lighting and story lines, students “learned on the fly and through trial and error,” Rice said. “A hard-and-fast approaching deadline and an authentic audience were more than enough motivation to make the project happen.”

One of his returning students, aspiring filmmaker Alec Latulippe, took on a leadership role in the project, including playing the main character. Noah Libby was director and cinematographer.

The class filmed much of the trailer on location, including one scene at Randy’s Auto Parts, where the staff helped set up the opening car-crash scene with a wrecked auto.

The film students learned teamwork, business and networking skills by reaching out to local businesses and parents for support.