Vote for Plainview High School's 5 short film entries in Film Prize Junior virtual fest

A film created by Plainview High School students already has snagged a top prize, but it and four others now need your votes.

The school entered five short films into the Film Prize Junior competition, billed as the South's largest student film festival. Winners, selected by judges scattered across the country, were announced on April 23.

One, "The Janitor," won for best thriller.

The big winner was "Cherrywinche," which took the grand prize for middle school student films and $2,500.

Now all the films are available for anyone to watch and vote for in the Film Prize Junior Virtual Festival. Plainview's films are among 92 submitted from 50 schools across 12 Louisiana parishes.

"Cherrywinche" is Plainview's sole film in the middle school category. The four other films are in the high school category.

To watch the films, go to https://filmprizejr.com. Scroll down and look for the Plainview High School link in both the middle and high school categories.

Then, to vote in the middle school category, go to https://filmprizejr.com/vote-middle. For voting in the high school category, go to https://filmprizejr.com/vote-high.

The winners will be announced May 4, said Dustin Howard, who supervises the students in their media elective while also teaching math and being Plainview's boys basketball coach.

Plainview was the only Rapides Parish school to enter, and it's not their first foray into or win at the festival, said Howard.

He said about 25 students worked on all of Plainview's films in different capacities.

Getting started

The prizes come just a year after students began dabbling with video, starting last year with a short news program that is broadcast to the school. Howard said Plainview's principal at that time, Sonia Rasmussen, wanted an enrichment class for students who didn't need remediation in their classes.

Her only caveat was that it should involve technology.

Spencer Willis, then a sixth-grader, had the idea for a newscast, and "The Buzz News" was born. Howard shot and edited the video on his own phone.

The school's new principal, Bryan Landry, loved the program. He arranged for the school to add a digital media class, which Howard teaches.

Then a random email seeking entries arrived from Film Prize Junior. The newscast went on hiatus while Howard and the students focused on a short film titled "Repaired."

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It won the audience choice award and a $1,500 prize, as well as the Founders Circle Award that gave them $250 to work on their next project.

Now, this school year, there are two digital media classes. The school has upgraded its equipment, adding a camera, a green screen, an editing computer and more.

Three of Plainview's entries were filmed before the addition of the camera, though. The first film it shot was "Cherrywinche."

"Cherrywinche"

The film takes its name from a creek not far from the high school. It follows a boy who encounters a man as he's walking along a road toward that creek.

Twelve-year-old Spencer, now a seventh-grader, plays the boy.

No spoilers, but the film packs an emotional punch. Willis stars opposite his own father, Eric Willis, a choice made so that they would be comfortable acting together.

Spencer said involving family members was something the students always planned for the project. He said he guessed his dad is excited by the film, and said he's joked recently about getting famous.

Kaden Johnson, a 13-year-old eighth-grader, was the director. He said a lot of work was done before they ever picked up a camera.

"We had this plan for months and months," he said, also saying they had the idea for the film during the first month of this academic year.

"We were thinking, let's do something local, something that maybe people could relate to around here."

The first duo picked to star in the film were Kaden and his grandfather, but he said his grandfather didn't want to do it. So it went to Spencer and his father.

"It all really worked out in the long run because they did a really good job," said Kaden, who described jumping and yelling when the film was selected the grand prize winner.

Pinpointing sites to film was a lot of work, said Kaden. Selecting a site that had a good bridge where the characters could fish was key.

They settled on the Strothers Crossing bridge across Cherrywinche Creek, which Kaden called "probably the most unique bridge you could find without driving a while."

The bridge has a steel grate deck and can be imposing to those unfamiliar with it. Both boys said it took time to get used to walking over it.

"It was hard to walk on it," said Spencer, who had to walk across it multiple times while filming. "It's kinda like, you gotta slow down a little bit.

"It's just a sketchy bridge."

The students also hired an Allen Parish student who has a drone pilot's license to shoot aerial video for them.

Howard credits sophomore Bailey Dunn, 16, for selecting the right music for the film, a step he called crucial. Bailey kept listening to samples until she found the best fits for three scenes.

He remembers her telling him the music needed a vibe similar to the 2000 film, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"

Bailey said they selected all the music during one class, and she said she knew the three tracks would fit scenes from the film well when she heard them.

"Without the music, I don't think the film lands," said Howard. "The first scene is, like, him driving around. If the song wasn't right, two minutes of driving around would have felt like eternity."

"But Bailey chose the right song, so it's artsy."

And it wasn't just scripts, filming and selecting music. The students had to shoot behind-the-scenes photos, make movie posters and provide lengthy information about the films for the Film Prize Junior's website.

The creative experience gave insight into her fellow students, said Bailey.

"It's really fun getting to work with other people you're in class with every day, and you wouldn't think that doing something like this together would be as cool as it is," she said. "But seeing the final product is really fun and cool."

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Plainview High students seek local support for 5 short films in fest