JCHS Film Students Host Festival

Jasper County High School film students competed in the inaugural Six-Hour Spring Film Festival on the campus of JCHS.

The film festival was part of the Spring 2021 “Writers’ Workshop” organized by JCHS English teachers Luke McFarland and Heather Suwinski.

Filmmaking teams of three to four students were given a prompt by one of four visiting writers and only six hours to plan, shoot, and edit a 1-3 minute film interpreting that writer’s words.

The winning film, “The Four-Inch Tooth,” was produced by students King Smith, Chris Rae, and Maegan Stanley. Stanley, also a JCHS Engineering student, made a custom four-inch tooth from a megalodon, an extinct shark species. She handcrafted the tooth prop from a chunk of 2×4 wood using a band saw, belt sander, and spray paint.

The film was based on an excerpt from “The Lime Habit” by James S. Owens, a writer from Milledgeville. Owens remarked, “Seeing the words from my essay on-screen honestly did blow my mind. I never thought I would see such, and to do it within the time constraints of a school day was epic.”

The other films were inspired by “The Ferris Wheel” by James Braziel, the poem “Lay at my Feet” by Tina Mozelle Braziel, and the poem “Poetry” by James Murdock.

JCHS Film teacher Tyson Harty reflected, “I was so impressed by how my students used the high school campus in their film scenes. They brilliantly captured the beauty of sunlight filtering through trees, the blowing green grass, and even small rock outcrops.”

The festival films may be viewed at the “JCHS Film” YouTube channel. In addition, follow “JCHS Film” on Facebook for updates on the growing film program’s exploits.