Student Films WWII Movie on Island
By Karen Gould

A scene from "Dogs of War" with Andrew Chambers (left) and Caleb Straight. (Photographs courtesy of Scott Roguska)

Independent film maker Scott Roguska, 17, has just finished editing his latest project, "Dogs of War," a fictional World War II chronicle of elite American paratroopers near the end of the war.

Nine Island students joined Mr. Roguska in the production, taking the roles of the soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division. The group spent 10 months tromping through snow-covered terrain and summer fields on the west side of the Island to film the one hour drama. Most of the filming was done near Stonecliffe, British Landing, Stone Brook, Hubbard's Annex, Brown's Brook, and the field across from Wawashkamo Golf Club.

The story is told in narrative from the perspective of the lead character, played by Kyle Sweet, who examines the decisions he makes in war. "Dogs of War" is a story about the impact of war and the loss of innocence.

Attention to detail was important to Mr. Roguska, who said one of the first challenges was finding period props. World War II replica weapons used during filming were provided by Island resident Steve Rilenge and authentic period clothing worn by the characters was purchased specifically for the movie, said Mr. Roguska.

DVD jacket from the new film by Scott Roguska that was shot on the Island using local students as actors.

"The story is told in a credible and efficient way and the action sequences are remarkable in the attention paid to the smallest detail," wrote Island resident Lee Finkel, in his review of the movie. "The ping of a clip ejecting from a Garand rifle is a detail to delight war buffs, who must be considered a prime audience."

Mr. Roguska finished writing the story in November 2005, while he was a junior at Mackinac Island Public School. He admits the story changed a bit during filming to accommodate the weather. The first day of shooting was January 15, and when the snow melted before production was complete, rather than lose the integrity of the story line with the disappearing snow, he modified the script to incorporate all four seasons. The last scenes were shot in October.

"What originally was intended to be the movie, ended up being the middle sequence," said Mr. Roguska.

Over the 10-month period, 28 days were spent actually filming scenes. He ended up with more than two hours of raw footage, from which he edited the film. The entire process moved smoothly with the help of Mr. Sweet, who also served as producer, helping to organize scenes and assisting with the editing.

Previously, Mr. Roguska had done all of the behind scenes work himself.

"It was cool to have someone help me out a bit," he said.

This project is his most ambitious to date. His longest film before this took a month to shoot and was 16 minutes long.

Mr. Roguska finished editing the project in November.

"It was pretty indescribable to watch it all together," he said, "and to see a whole year of work was pretty amazing."

Mackinac Island students taking part in the film included Kyle Sweet as Vic Delaney, Caleb Straight as Frank Brooklyn, Robert Chambers as Captain Frost, Thomas Rilenge as Dean Paddock, Jeff Roguska as Evans, Austin Jaruzel as Barnes, Jesse Straight as "Doc" Church, Andrew Chambers as Colonel Black, Robert Chaffee as Vladek, and Scott Roguska as Caine.

Mr. Roguska is now a senior at Gulf Coast High School in Naples, Florida, but plans to return to the Island in the spring to be graduated. He has been making films since he was 10 years old and plans to attend film school, possibly Columbia University in New York.

"Certainly not every person with an interest in making films becomes one of the greats, however, all of the greats began just like this," wrote Mr. Finkel in his movie review.

The film is available on DVD and includes additional footage of out-takes, character profiles, deleted scenes, and a 12-minute documentary showing behind the scenes preparation for filming a sequence.

Mr. Sweet, who is an 11th grade student at Mackinac Island Public Schools, is taking orders for DVDs of the film, which cost $15, at (906) 847- 6414.