Most 10 year olds spend their days running around playing sports outside or new video games, but that was not SENIOR Daniel Perrea. At just ten years old, Perrea became the youngest person ever to enter the 48 Hour Film Festival where he had to create a short film in just two days.
“I kind of went into it not knowing what I was doing, but it was nonetheless really fun, and I learned a ton! You don’t realize how much work goes into making a short film until you have to do it in two days,” Perrea said.
Perrea’s filmmaking journey started long before the 48 Hour Film Festival. At just age six, Perrea spent his time creating disaster scenes with Halloween decorations as special effects.
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It’s a creative outlet where I’m able to combine all my visual, audible and narrative ideas into a satisfying final product. And I won’t hesitate to say that it’s just fun.
— SENIOR Daniel Perrea
“I used to build cities out of blocks on this table in the basement, and then I would set a camera up on a tripod and shake the table to simulate an earthquake,” Perrea said.
For Perrea, filmmaking is more than just running around with a camera and a few props; to him, it is creating stories that people can enjoy and love. “It’s a creative outlet where I’m able to combine all my visual, audible and narrative ideas into a satisfying final product. And I won’t hesitate to say that it’s just fun,” Perrea said.
Filmmaking has given Perrea the opportunity to travel to Los Angeles for a Universal Studios film intensive. He also traveled across the country to film a documentary on Frank Lloyd Wright for National History Day that went on to win first place for best individual documentary in the state in 2015. “I was fortunate enough to fly out West to view some of [Wright’s] homes there, but I also traveled to Chicago to view some of his most famous buildings. Wright most of his life lived and was based out of Chicago so there are lots of buildings of his up there,” Perrea said.
When Perrea is not creating short films, he can be found composing his own music.
“I guess you could say I first started composing when I was four and I’d improvise little sonatas on the piano. Since then I have always been able to sit down at the piano and just play infinitely,“ Perrea said.
After a few years of being away from the piano, Perrea found his way back to it in eighth grade. As he reunited with piano, Perrea reached out to composer Nelson Everhart in hopes that he would be able to shed some light on the world of composing.
With the help of teachers and Everhart, Perrea has been able to grow as a composer and share his talents with the WHHS community.
In 2016, Perrea composed music for the WHHS production of Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov. His compositions for the show earned him his first Cincinnati Cappie Award nomination.
Since his work on Cherry Orchard, Perrea has produced music for other WHHS performances such as Julius Caesar and She Kills Monsters. He received his second Cappie nomination for his pieces in She Kills Monsters.
Perrea is still undecided as to where he will go to college next year as he waits to hear back from schools, but he plans to study both film production and film scoring.
