High School Film Students Participate in the Macon Film Festival
Twenty-nine film students from Jasper County High School (JCHS) attended the Macon Film Festival as an inspiring start to a new year of filmmaking.
They watched eight short films ranging from two to 20 minutes produced by college student filmmakers from the United States and Germany. Following the screening, the students participated in a Q&A session with four of the filmmakers.
Third-year JCHS Film student Brooklyn Dalton was struck by one director’s comment that “if you want to film something bad enough, you’ll figure out a way to achieve it.” Dalton reflected that “the experience made [her] even more motivated and inspired to work in the film industry.”
JCHS English and dramatic writing teacher Luke McFarland observed that interacting with the filmmakers “really put the humanity behind what happens on the screen. Seeing real people talk about really making a film gives students a fire—-that’s why we take such trips.”
The students also visited the Center for Collaborative Journalism at Mercer Univer-sity where they toured the Macon Telegraph newsroom and the radio station 89.7 WMUM-FM at Georgia Public Broadcasting. They went behind-the-scenes and put on a mock production at the student-run TV station at WMUB.
In addition, the students were inspired by Mercer journalism professor Evey Wilson Wetherbee’s experiences as a documentary filmmaker with her film, “Saving Juliette,” about local citizens in Juliette, Ga. dealing with water quality issues living next to Georgia Power’s Plant Scherer coal power facility.
Sophomore Carlie Hall commented, “I learned many things about how people, by being creative and networking within their communities, can work around financial and time restrictions. It really opened my eyes to the idea of being resourceful in filmmaking.”
“I was very impressed with the critical questions our film students asked of the filmmakers and journalism professionals during the trip. They were definitely inspired by the interaction with real professionals in the field,” said Mr. Harty.
The “Audio, Video Technology, and Film” (AVTF) program is a three-year career tech education pathway currently in its fifth year at JCHS. The program has about 50 students across three film classes with an additional 40 students enrolled in the “Dramatic Writing for Film” class taught by Mr. McFarland. Teachers Harty and McFarland have both trained with the Georgia Film Academy (GFA) on its high school curricula and the JCHS Film program uses industry-standard equipment to train its students.
Georgia’s film and television industry ranks in the top three in the world along with California and New York. Despite the pandemic, Georgia set a new record with $4 billion in direct spending on productions in the state in 2020. Over the past several years, JCHS Film students have competed and won prizes in state and national film contests, including the GPB “Buckle Up” PSA contest, the Powerade “Power Your School” contest, and the Georgia College Bobcat Film Festival. The prize winnings have supported both the film program and helped motivate students to make and share their own films.
Students this year plan to produce and submit films to several film festivals around the state, as well as hold several local film events in the Monticello community.
JCHS film students learn everything behind the scenes, including camera, sound, lighting, set design, props and makeup, special effects, and video and audio editing. In addition to producing short films and documentaries, students also make productions for the school system, and promotional pieces and social media ads for businesses and organizations in Jasper County.
Those interested in working with JCHS Film should contact Mr. Harty at 706-816-8733 or JCHSFilm@Gmail.com.
“Our goal is to have students produce meaningful work here in Jasper County, graduate from our film program to work in and learn from the film industry, and then return to start film production studios here in Jasper County,” said Mr. Harty. “Film is growing all around Georgia, and Monticello is an excellent location with its small-town, historic charm and natural beauty.”
See the students’ original content on YouTube at http://youtube.com/JCHSFilm and follow their progress at http://facebook.com/JCHSFilm.