Cortland Standard .net

By AMY GERNON
Staff Reporter
agernon@cortlandstandard.net
GROTON — A group of Groton High School students rounded out their senior year with red-carpet treatment in May, competing with students from across the country at a high school film festival held in Cresskill, New Jersey.
Mick LeVick’s Digital Media Relations class submitted four short films to the 2015 Cresskill High School Film Festival, and two were selected as official runners-up. This makes Groton High School the only school in the competition to have two submissions selected for screening during the ceremony.
LeVick and his students traveled to Cresskill for the festival, which was designed to give burgeoning filmmakers a taste of what they can expect in the film industry.
LeVick said he is not surprised that his students’ work was selected for recognition, but it was an honor to have them chosen given the scope of the field. Two of their four submissions were selected among more than300 short films in five categories, sent in from 28 states.
“This is the first time I saw real talent,” said LeVick, who has been teaching English and public speaking in the district for 20 years. He added that after14 years of instructing the course, he has started to see professional quality films being produced by his students.
“When I started seeing their projects, I knew we had something special,” LeVick said.
The films screened at the festival were “Three Extremes” by Chloe Chalker and Sarah Stelick, and “Stalker” by Tristen Buckley, Patricia Lang and Veronica Chamberlain.
“Three Extremes” is a short horror flick about a girldiagnosed with schizophrenia because she is being driven mad by three ghosts, LeVick said.
“Stalker,” approximatelyfive minutes long, is a movie trailer for a hypothetical horror film from the perspective of a stalker, featuring a girl who is unaware that she is being followed, according to Buckley.
The other two submissions that were not selected were public service announcements about teen drinking and suicide, by Chalker and Ken Tallman. In order to be considered for the PSA category, the film had to be under one minute, according to Chalker.
The other submissions to the festival were a horror movie trailer, also by Chalker, and a PSA on teen suicide by Ken Tallman.
Unlike their teacher, the students said they were surprised to have their work selected from such a large pool.
“This is definitely going to be one of my favorite memories from high school,” Chalker said, adding that the class was like a family to her and offered her the freedom to pursue her creative interests. Chalker will be studying sociology at SUNY Cortland beginning this fall.
Stelick, who will be studying nursing at TC3 beginning this fall, said the class has been a creative outlet for her.
LeVick said the skills his students master in this class will carry over into their careers, adding that he thinks it is great that his students will be pursuing such different courses of study in college next year.
The creative process is not as easy as it seems, LeVick said, and his students agreed. At times, his students would ask him to tell them what he wanted, LeVick said, adding that’s not how the creation process works.
Stelick said she did not realize how much time would go into producing such a short film.
“But the time is so worth it once you see your film and what you’ve created,” Buckley said.
“There is such a strong group this year, and they truly love making films and working in digital media,” LeVick said of his students.
All of LeVick’s students agreed on two things: first, Digital Media Relations is their favorite class, and second, LeVick is their favorite teacher.
“This is an elective class, and these students choose to be here,” LeVick said, adding that on top of their regular class work, they are often filming10 or more hours a week outside of class to complete their projects.
LeVick said it was a testament to their dedication that students in the class are still filming and editing, even though the last day of class is today.