For student filmmakers at Treasure Mountain Junior High School, seeing their creative visions come to life just got a little easier.
CenturyLink, an Internet and phone service company, recently awarded the school’s film program a $1,200 grant as part of the Clarke M. Williams Foundation’s Teachers and Technology program. The program gives money to schools that are using innovative methods to implement technology in their classrooms.
Sharon Maddux, who teaches Treasure Mountain’s film classes, said she will use the grant to help purchase Final Cut Pro X film-editing software for the computers students use in the class. Final Cut Pro X, which is an upgrade over the iMovie software students currently use, will allow students to develop a better creative eye and think in more advanced ways about what can be done with raw footage during post-production.
“Post-production is a whole other creative element,” Maddux said. “You have production, which is hugely creative in thinking about how you want to shoot everything, but then you can transform that in post-production. We want them to continue to think outside the box in new and creative ways.”
The new software is also crucial to keep challenging the students, Maddux said. Now, more than ever before, students already know the basics of video editing, because many have done film projects for other classes.
“Some of the kids are coming in with some experience, even at this age,” she said. “And some of them are already even using Final Cut Pro at home. Even the kids that are coming in with little filmmaking experience are already somewhat familiar with iMovie because they’ve been using it forever.”
One student who had some filmmaking experience before entering Maddux’s classes is Alex Sexton. He said the chance to make movies is one of the highlights of his school day.
“It’s definitely a class I look forward to,” he said, adding that he particularly enjoys working with green screens. “Going to math is like, ‘Ugh, math.’ But coming to this class is cool. I get to film and walk around the school and be with my friends, actually doing something.”
Students in Maddux’s film production classes — she also teaches a film studies class — complete several projects throughout the year, based on certain themes. This year’s themes included “Into the Mind” and “Tributes.” Students’ tribute films focused on topics as varied as SpongeBob to the suicide-prevention project Reasons to Live.
“I love what they come up with, and I love that they come up with such diverse projects,” Maddux said.
Sexton said the favorite film he made this year was a tribute to the frozen food Hot Pockets.
“It’s the greatest microwaveable food in the world,” he said. “So it was fun to get creative with that. We made a funny video about some kids at lunch and how the Hot Pocket is perfect and you can’t destroy it. One kid trips, and the Hot Pocket gets dramatically slow-moed through the air.”
Some of the best student films from this year will be on display Wednesday, April 29, at the TMJH Filmmaker’s Showcase. It is set to be held at 6:30 p.m. in the school’s forum area. Maddux said people will be surprised by the high quality of the films.
“That, to me, is what’s so cool,” she said, adding that it’s fun to see the growth students achieve as filmmakers throughout the year. “People come out and are like, ‘Wow, these kids can really produce some interesting videos.’ They’re really pretty talented.”
Many students in the class want to pursue filmmaking as a career. Maddux, who is in her seventh year leading the film department, said some former students currently attend film school. She said helping foster a passion for filmmaking is one of the best aspects of her job.
“It’s awesome to be a part of it,” she said. “But then it requires patience because I have a few years to wait until they make their college decisions and see what’s happening.”