Local teen has no problems balancing high school, filmmaking

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Junior year in high school is a stressful time. The looming prospect of college applications and the SATs leaves little time for outside activities —  but not for Los Angeles high schooler James Noel.

In between the chaos of school, Noel decided to begin dabbling in film.

“At one point, I was making a lot of little things," Noel recalls. "I started making some longer [films] and it ended up becoming a feature film.”

That feature is "The World"— a surrealist work steeped in elements of science fiction and traditional Westerns.

Noel is a true auteur — he served as the film’s director, writer and editor. Production on "The World" began when Noel was just 15 years old. The film wrapped production shortly after Noel’s 16th birthday.

“Pretty much in school, my focus is trying to get good grades," he explains. "It’s an important year, I think. Not that much is going on. I’m also making a different movie; I’ve been filming it over just whenever there’s time to film.”

Noel is an avid fan of sci fi, and he used "The World" as a way to experiment with the genre. He relishes breaking his audience's expectations for what a sci-fi film should be like.

Noel made his first films as a middle schooler in upstate New York. When his family relocated to Los Angeles, he continued his filmmaking activities at the Echo Park Film Center. It was in Los Angeles where Noel was able to develop and eventually finish his feature film.

Youth film instructor, Rick Bahto, recalls James actively taking part in learning both the technical and aesthetic aspects of filmmaking.

“James is a really enthusiastic student," Bahto says, "And he’s really jumped into the projects and been ambitious in his approach to them. He also has been really active in a number of the classes and engaged in learning a lot of new techniques.”

Working with a limited budget, Noel learned to be flexible. Instead of working from a script, he wrote his ideas as filming progressed. In the midst of schoolwork, he spent weekends and breaks filming and brainstorming ideas for scenes.

Despite all these challenges Noel enjoys seeing his thoughts come to life. “I think my favorite part of filmmaking is...the shoots themselves," he shares. "I have the ideas, but [shoots are] when I can actually apply them to the actual movie.”

While he stays dedicated to his grades and schoolwork, Noel doesn’t see himself giving up film anytime soon. He is currently planning on wrapping up his latest film, "Omadox," in the near future – its description promises that the film will be even stranger than The World.

For fans of experimental cinema, James Noel will be a name to remember.