A team of film buffs at Lyons Township High School will have their work on display for all to see on Jan. 28.

That’s the night of the 9th annual Student Silent Film Festival at The Tivoli Theatre, 5021 Highland Ave., Downers Grove.

Lyons Township is one of 14 schools with films in the festival.

Senior Emily Schuler, 18, of La Grange, wrote, directed and was behind the camera for their short film. Gemma Mear, 17, a junior from Western Springs, acts in the movie that clocks in at around six minutes. Crew members in charge of lighting were Auggie Vymyslicky, 17, and Andrew Shepard, 17. Both are juniors who reside in La Grange.

Their advisor, Bill Allan, 53, has taught for 20 years at the high school where he is supervisor of television services. Allan lives in La Grange, walks to work at the north campus and is one of the driving forces behind the film festival.

The high school’s TV station, LTTV, has done a film fest for its own students for about 15 years, he said.

Several years ago, Ed Newmann, founder of Calabash Animation, had the idea for the silent movie festival for high school students, Allan said. The Tivoli has been the fest’s home for several years.

“It’s a classic restored and renovated historical theater. To do the silent film festival in that venue is incredible,” Allan said.

Each film is scored by Derek Berg, founder of Clarendon Hills Music Academy & Music Creation Academy.

It’s a daunting task, Allan said, adding “Derek has the hardest job.”

Berg plays the music for each live movie, much like was done in the 1920s when Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin were silent stars of the silver screen.

“The music is amazing. To have your film scored by a professional in a movie theater is just epic,” Allan added.

This year’s theme is “Let the Prop Lead” with the prop being a deck of cards.

“It has to be central to the narrative, not just in the background,” Allan said.

Schuler said their movie “The Master Deck” is about a puppet master with a deck of tarot cards that allow him to control the puppet played by Mear.

Three days of filming took place at the school’s TV studio and the La Grange Public Library.

Sophomore Jay Jaffre, 16 of La Grange Park, plays the puppet master. Jaffre was not available for this interview.

The ending, which was rewritten, has a twist that won’t be revealed here. If you are thinking “Twilight Zone,” you’re in the ballpark.

The process of playing a puppet evolved for Mear.

“I was trying to convey of feeling being trapped,” Mear said. “When I was offered the opportunity, I was pretty excited.”

“Gemma did a great job with the expressions,” Allan said.

Vymyslicky and Shepard had fun working on the lighting.

“I love art and I love watching movies. It would be such a cool experience to have my name up there (on the screen) in the end credits of a film,” Vymyslicky said.

Shepard noted that the students built a set in the TV studio which Schuler said was difficult. She wanted a dark black background.

“The studio isn’t that dark,” she said.

Thankfully, a large black curtain helped achieve the look she wanted. When they wanted to film at the library, they had to promise to be quiet, she said.

Schuler laughed when she recalled assuring library officials being quiet would not be a problem “because it’s a silent film.”

“Telling it only visually is difficult without dialogue,” Schuler added. “It was important the actors brought this to life with just physical movement. They were so good. Amazing.”

Mear admitted it was “challenging at times” to convey emotions without speaking. She has seen silent movies before, but did not study them to prepare. “We jumped in pretty quickly.”

Most of the movies are five to 10 minutes long, which is not a lot of time to tell a story, Allan said. But he thinks the students did very well with the six minutes they used.

“Every year, it’s a great opportunity to see my students work on something that’s uniquely different from other projects we do. And it’s open to the public. It’s a great opportunity to see their work on the big screen,” Allan added.

Unlike silent films of days gone by, the Lyons Township movie was filmed in color. The fake blood they needed “didn’t turn out exactly how we wanted,” Schuler said.

Filming in color, they could not use chocolate syrup to portray blood, an old trick used in black-and-white movies. As the director, Schuler learned that “everything that can go wrong can and will.”

“That’s why we had everyone working together, making sure we’re putting out those little fires,” Schuler said.

The festival’s red carpet social hour begins at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 28. Some previous festival films will be shown then. This year’s first movie starts at 6:45 p.m.Tickets are $25 at the door and $20 in advance. For more information and to buy tickets, visit www.studentsilentfilmfestival.org