Two students in the library, each feeling stressed as they work on an important essay — that’s something that happens at many schools. Those students hearing voices, seeing apparitions, and getting attacked by demons wielding axes and tridents — that’s somewhat less typical.

That latter scenario, however, played out in Strain Theory, a short movie made as the 2024 senior film at Charlotte Latin School: a year of planning culminated in a two-day shoot that yielded a gripping ten-minute movie. The movie, directed by Sydney Lawrence ’24 and written by Evan Li ’24 and Olivia Warren ’24, starred Serena Hu ’24 and Dominick Charles ’25 as the two stressed-out students who start by carping at each other before succumbing to full-blown paranoia.

“I like how the concept was something that relates to how every student feels — but obviously exaggerated,” Sydney said. After the film premiered on campus on April 28, it was made available via YouTube, finding an audience inside and outside Charlotte Latin. Sydney was particularly proud that some of the viewers were people who might not usually attend a school play or be interested in the arts: “We had a lot of good feedback from students saying ‘I know that feeling.’”

Serena said she had to adjust to the fragmented nature of film shooting, which made her greatly appreciate her costar. “I don’t know Dominick that well, but during this shoot I learned that he’s so talented,” she said. “That made everything a lot easier. I could get into a scene because I felt him doing it.”

Sydney has acted in many plays at Latin, but Strain Theory was her first time directing. “I got to express myself creatively through a different lens,” she said. “It was great to be on the other side.”

Joe Stauffer, a film professional based in Wilmington, North Carolina, advised the students, provided equipment, and served as lead cinematographer. “I had a lot of ideas for shots,” Sydney said. “We didn’t have a big budget, but we had Joe Stauffer, who knows his stuff” — as she learned, skill and creativity can go a long way.

The Student Producers who shepherded the project through the school year were Sydney, Olivia, Evan, Jasmine Zheng ’24, Ryan Samii ’24, and Alexa Marcus ’24. Strain Theory required the efforts of three Latin faculty members and 27 Latin students; Matt Cosper, Director of Theatre Arts at Latin, who served as Executive Producer, noted that some of those students were new to the performing arts. He observed, “When a kid shows up late in the game and discovers something new about themselves, that’s special.”

Strain Theory (and an accompanying behind-the-scenes video) is available on YouTube.