Near the beginning of March, students in Video Production were assigned their second-to-last video project of the year, a music video.
Each group had to choose a song and come up with an idea that could match the song without being the same as the original song meaning or music video.
“It seems like the project that students are excited about most out of all the projects,” Video Production teacher Barry Cogswell said.
To help organize their work, they had the option between making a storyboard of the music video or a shot list describing each shot.
When choosing a song, some students may correlate different parts of the process of filming when coming up with the idea.
“It’s a good song, and it’s easy to do choreography for,” senior Konner Maine said.
Maine went on to say he came up with the idea of their video and chose the song “Float On” by Modest Mouse, in which the lyrics are literal, so it’s essentially telling the story for them.
Of course, when one finally comes up with an idea, choosing the filming location becomes a challenge. The school setting is only enough for certain ideas. It limits the creativity of some students who are not able to film outside of school.
For those who can film outside of school, their videos are sure to show the vast expanse of Lake Stevens, especially when the duration of filming includes spring break.
“The filming has been super fun. Yesterday we went out to Lake Stevens and jumped in,” senior Devyn Zurel said.
Zurel’s group filmed outside of school although not during spring break. His group had to jump into the lake to get their shots. Although not everything always goes to plan, it’s super fun to film and hang out with friends at the same time.
“We had a lot of people who were fun to work with. We always laughed during filming,” Zurel said.
These music videos, once completed, will be shown on the TV’s around school during lunches, so keep a lookout for them.
But that’s not the only place these videos may be shown. Students may submit their music to the Northwest High School Film Festival (NWHSFF).
“I found students whose work I thought were great and would do well in the festival and asked them to submit,” Cogswell said.
The NWHSFF is an annual event that students in video classes all around the Puget Sound region can enter. The festival consists of over 200 student submissions from over 20 schools, all competing to win a custom award from a panel of judges.
The NWHSFF offers great opportunities for students interested in film production and provides scholarships for those who’s film is eligible for screening.
“There are usually scholarships available for students who want to go to film school,” Cogswell said. “[When] submitting the videos, it does ask if particular students are interested in the scholarships.”
NWHSFF is one of the largest high school level film festivals in Puget Sound, and it’s been around for over 20 years. The deadline for submissions closed April 23, with the official screening on May 20, at Lincoln High School in Seattle.
Lake Stevens students who submitted their work will be going on a field trip to the film festival with Cogswell.
Keep a look out for music videos on the school’s TV’s, and keep in mind how hard these Video Production students worked on them.
“If you’re interested in creating videos, if there’s like that little voice inside your head that says that would be cool, I’d say give it a shot. I think you’ll end up having a lot of fun,” Cogswell said.
