24 MAY 2018 REEL TALK By Eric Luse This March, students of the Arcadia Film and TV program embarked on a journey to Nashville, Tennessee to compete in the Student Television Convention. Hundreds of schools from across the nation gather to participate in competitions using both f i l m m a k i n g a n d broadcasting skills. It’s a mad dash of hurried creative thinking and keen teamwork to produce work that could win the team a top award. It is the result of months of fundraising, with the help of parent volunteers, and what the Arcadia Film and TV team of ten students worked the whole year for. DAY 1 - LIFT OFF The team met up at the Southwest check-in desk, ready for the trip! “When we hopped on the plane, the captain sung one of the funny songs that Southwest sometimes sings, which was obviously hilarious,” said student Max Swiergol. “Once we landed, we jumped on a charter bus and headed towards our exquisite home for the next few days.” Upon arrival, the students checked into the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Resort, and readied themselves for the fast-paced days ahead of them. DAY 2 - CRAZY EIGHTS The first day of competitions is a timed contest where each school or school team is handed a prompt at eight in the morning. The team has eight hours to write, produce, edit and turn in a finished product. The prompt for creating a short documentary was “sounds good to me.” Four words and eight hours to make something out of it. “Since Nashville is the country capital of the world, we wanted to stay away from music, as we believed every group would take this angle,” said Lindsay Formica. “‘Sounds good to me’ is something you say when someone asks you to go on an adventure.” The crew split up. Some groups asked strangers on the street for interviews, other students ran to grab cutaway footage to support the interviews. Back at the base hotel room, editing and voiceover work is being done. Seven hours and forty-five minutes later the students were turning their work in a whole 15 minutes early. DAY 3 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY The team starts the day by breaking off into groups. Each group received prompts from the STN officials and had limited time to create their work. Instructors are forbidden from helping more than the occasional suggestion. Team member Nick Forney suggests there are two ways to look at these competitions. “From an outside perspective it appears stressful and exhausting,” said Forney. “And while it definitely was tiring, the urgency led us to work together as a team and push us to our limits.” The day ends with the group heading to an aquarium themed restaurant. As a team prank tradition, the students told the hostess it was their teacher’s birthday so they could sing happy birthday to him. His birthday is nowhere near the month of March. DAY 4 - COMPETITIONS The resort is a paradise of domed greenhouses full of plant life and running fountains. One section even has a Jungle Cruise style boat tour. This creates a lot of exotic spaces for students to film but produces a lot of echoing throughout the hotel. A different school’s group just after them was past deadline and disqualified for being late. Anchor team member, Chris Smith remembers running the length of the hotel to turn in their project on time. DAY 5 - CLOSING CEREMONY A convention hall of enthusiastic students who have traveled from all corners of the country. Loud screams emit from pockets of the crowd as schools discover they’ve won. With twenty different competitions for high schoolers and eight for middle schoolers, it’s a two-hour ceremony. Crazy eights is announced last. Arcadia is announced as winning Honorable Mention for documentary short. Three delegates retrieve the award from the main stage. The group is beaming as they walk back to gather their luggage and head home. It’s agreed among the group that it’s fitting they won an award for the crazy eights, since it’s the competition they all worked on as a team. — Eric Luse was born in Boston and raised in Arizona. He has worked as a screenwriter, casting director, producer and actor in the independent film industry. He is the proud instructor of the Arcadia High School Film and TV program. Film and TV program wins Honorable Mention in Nashville (left to right) Nick Forney, Narsah Kharnis, Dallas Greene, Christopher Smith, Jacob Staudenmaier, Max Swiergol, Dash McDonald, Alex Teneyck, Rachael Schulman, Lindsay Formica. PARTNERS IN CARE Let us be your partner in care  On staff nurse available 24/7  Healthy meals and snacks prepared daily  Awake staff on-site 24/7  Small resident to staff ratio  Daily on-site activities  Private bedrooms and bathrooms  Certified in Dementia care  Live music weekly Paradise Living Centers is dedicated to providing the best in luxury assisted living and respite care. Now open for new residents at our third location, located in historic Arcadia. Contact us to schedule a tour today! 480-878-4112 302 E Montecito Avenue  Phoenix, AZ 85018 Three locations paradiselivingcenters.com ft Christ Lutheran School Preschool - Grade 8 • www.clsphx.org LC-MS 3901 E. 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