GREAT BEND – Great Bend High School students enrolled in Mr. Dan Heath’s fourth hour Audio-Video Production class advanced to the top 30 in the 10 Day Film Challenge, sponsored by Arts Equality.  The Film Challenge is a national contest where students produce a video for a chance to win various awards.  

“The kids have to write, shoot and edit a 3-4 minute film within 10 school days,” said Heath. “It gives [students] a chance to see how they stack up against other schools around the country.” Two GBHS classes participated in the free competition.

The 10 Day Film Challenge is no walk in the park. There are a number of rules. Heath said there are many constraints in the competition that prevent production before or after the designated times. A character, background, a line of dialogue, a prop and the genre are all released on the first day.

“The rules put everyone in the same place,” said Heath.  “It makes it a lot more challenging.”

Industry professionals view and score competition entries according to a provided rubric. Skills such as acting, directing, lighting, sound, cinematography and continuity are assessed in the rubric.

Students participate against other schools in their region, going on to compete with other regions if they win their own. “The country is divided geographically,” said Heath. “There’s Florida, New York, New Jersey and the rest of the country. ” The top five schools in a region advance to national judging. The top 10 finalists attend an award ceremony in Boston, Massachusetts.

The instructor is allowed to answer any questions the students may have, but the video has to be completely the students’ work. “It’s really hard as a teacher to let the kids make mistakes.” said Heath.  “Sometimes you have to let them go down the wrong track. Until they actually do it, they don’t know how hard it is.”

Students who participated came out of the experience with an understanding of just how hard it is to create a movie and they now have an appreciation for the career.