When most people think of art, they automatically jump to paintings, music, or dance.

Until recently, few people considered cinema a form of art.

For sophomore Matthew Schiffbauer, filmmaking has been both an art form and personal passion for his entire life.

On Thursday, May 19, Schiffbauer will attend the Dallastown Spring Shorts film festival.

Dallastown’s film festival began as a school-exclusive video production contest before it expanded to include submissions from schools all across York County.

In eighth grade, Schiffbauer entered the Spring Shorts competition after his short film won first place in the middle school’s talent show.

During both eighth and ninth grade, Schiffbauer’s film won best in competition at the festival.

Schiffbauer’s latest video, Paper Plane, follows a group of friends that decide to pass the time by building a paper airplane before things go unbelievably wrong.

Paper Plane was nominated for six awards including best acting, originality, visual effects, and best of festival.

Schiffbauer talked about how he first found a passion in filmmaking.

“I just really loved watching movies when I was a kid. You can watch home videos of mine and I always saw myself distracted. I really think I was always into filmmaking when I was little. When I was nine, I finally decided that’s what I wanted to do with my life.”

Matthew Stack’s, Schiffbauer’s personal Youtube channel, where he uploads his creative content, has over 10,000 subscribers and an impressive collection of 78 videos.

Some other short films produced by Schiffbauer include horror-comedy Killer Monkey, depression awareness short Too Late, and spoof Bloody Wanker.

Matthew mentioned notable names like Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg, and Christopher Nolan as huge inspirations.

“They make these amazing films and it’s not just based off of the entertainment value. It’s more the techniques that they use in the film. Saving Private Ryan, for example: I love the beginning scene where the troops are storming the beach and the camera is all shaky like how soldiers would be. They would be shaky, they would be nervous. It was the point of view that I thought was very interesting,” said Schiffbauer.

Junior Lucas Miller has taken several video production classes and worked closely with Schiffbauer for three consecutive years.

“Matt has grown over the years by so much that I can’t even really explain. Not only has he improved his technical skills, but the execution of his videos has gotten so much better,” said Miller. “I seriously can’t wait to see what Matt is going to create next year and beyond that,”

Matthew’s YouTube channel can be found at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx0dhClMsv0hnALjM1QeBbA

All supporters are welcome to join Matthew at 6:30 P.M. in Dallastown High School’s auditorium on Thursday, May 19.