Congratulations to Melissa High School's AV Production team for their 6th place finish at State! Their film, The Student Film, was a finalist in the narrative category at the UIL Young Filmmakers State Competition which took place on Thursday, February 26, at the Austin ISD Performing Arts Center.
AV Production teacher Quelonn Lucious praised the team’s accomplishment, “I’m incredibly proud of our students for the work they’ve put in. Advancing to state is a reflection of their creativity, discipline, and commitment to excellence. They’ve truly raised the standard for our program.”
“When I was producing The Student Film, I thought of it as a love letter to my AV experience. I wanted the film to be a reflection of the difficulties and necessity of team work on a project, and I feel it has done that and brought me even closer to my cast and crew since then,” said Zella Clark, student writer and director of The Student Film.
Students in the MHS Narrative Production class worked in a team for several months to produce a comedy short film. The Student Film is a comedy about “an ambitious student director attempting to redeem himself after he was let down and mocked by his rival for his film the previous year. He is determined to make his film incredible this year, but odds defy him when he is paired with a dysfunctional film crew consisting of his self-involved, best friend, a crazy girl, a phone-addicted kid who refuses to speak, and one underqualified man to do everything from sound to camera.” The Melissa community can view this film at the following link: The Student Film.
“Directing such a large cast and crew was definitely difficult as I was constantly being pulled everywhere on set, but I found the best way to approach it was that everyone needs a different form of communication: while some need gentle motivation, others need to be pushed and consistently reminded of certain needs,” said Zella. “Overall, I am extremely grateful for the production experience this film gave me and I am very glad my crew and I were given the honor of being recognized for our hard work at the state level.”
Congratulations again to the MHS AV Production team for your hard work and dedication! Go Cardinals! To learn more about our AV Production Student films, visit www.melissaisd.org/studentfilms.
The Student Film: Writer and Director Zella Clark
Student Credits: Mitchell Warner, Muhammad Rahman, Casey Sta Maria, George Tucker, Liam Rutledge, Christian Spresley, Boston Scadden, Supreet Sudharshana, Abdullah Sowe