MEDORA — Seventh grade students at Medora Junior-Senior High School cracked the case and called “that’s a wrap” on the production of their recent film project, “A Medora Hornets Mystery,” in their computer science class.
Riley Morris, the school’s computer science teacher, started doing film projects in 2018 with his students when he worked with the after-school program.
Once he began teaching computer science, he thought it would be a good idea to integrate aspects of media arts along with coding projects the students usually work on in the curriculum.
The computer science classes have produced 11 short films so far with Morris assigning one video project per class each school year. In his interactive media class, the students typically produce two short films.
“A ton of prep work goes into creating a film, even when a video is short,” Morris said. “I spent roughly a month of the second trimester introducing the students to media production and script writing before we started work on the project.”
Morris said the students had the opportunity to do a test run by creating a short commercial to practice sorting files and video editing before the real fun began.
The students’ newest film, “A Medora Hornets Mystery,” began production in early January and finished mid-February.
“Once actual production began, I had the students engage in a writer’s room activity,” Morris said. “They tossed out all their wildest ideas, and we started to focus on the good ones.”
After the initial concept and characters were in mind, the students began diagramming out plot points using Blake Snyder’s Beat Sheet from the screenwriting book “Save the Cat!”
Each student involved wrote at least one scene of the script, and those were connected and revised if needed.
“I provide some degree of direction for this process, but students are responsible for creating the entire script themselves,” Morris said.
The time came to start filming, and the students rehearsed their scenes and remembered their lines, working through the script like a checklist. From there, the story they created came to life through the magic of film.
This “who-dun-it” film follows the sudden murder of social studies teacher Reuben Nehrt with Emmanuel McDonald, played by Isaac Reed, accused of the murder.
McDonald’s father, Ronald McDonald, played by Morris, hires famous Detective Sarah Powers, played by Josie Bowers, to solve the murder and prove McDonald is innocent.
Powers enlists the help of some interesting characters, a rootin’ tootin’ country boy named Gunner Buck Hunter, played by Damon Branaman, and a mysterious goth named Raven Onyx Poe, played by Zoe Scott.
Sent on a mission to find the culprit, Buck Hunter interrogates James Sparrow, played by Cody Johnson, who was very upset when Nehrt took his sword from him during class. Sparrow had a pretty convincing alibi, however, since Nehrt was his favorite teacher, and he was at the other end of the school getting help with his math homework.
Poe is sent to interrogate the “Dragon Ball Z” fanatic, Sanji Smith, played by Faxon Phillips, who was upset with Nehrt for promising him coffee and not delivering. Unfortunately, Poe doesn’t find any leads from her conversation with Smith, who impatiently wants to go back to watching “Dragon Ball Z.”
Detective Powers interrogates an erratic woman named Karen Walmart, played by Gage Brown, who was upset with Nehrt over an incident at his previous job. Powers found Walmart had a pretty solid alibi since she was in the McDonald’s drive-thru arguing with the manager during the time of Nehrt’s death.
The trio reconvenes to discuss their next move when suddenly, a mysterious note is slipped underneath the door of the room threatening Detective Powers to stop the investigation. Needing time to think carefully, Detective Powers heads home to look over the evidence.
Ready to regroup, Detective Powers tries to call Buck Hunter, but he is not answering. Then the film cuts to Buck Hunter tied up in a chair unable to move, leaving the detective in suspicion and suspense for what happened to her partner in crime.
Without spoiling the rest of the film, the students worked diligently in bringing this suspenseful murder mystery to life with only a little help from Morris himself.
Once the filming was completed, the students began to sort the 300 media files to begin the editing process. Unfortunately, the trimester ended before the students could fully complete the editing process, but Morris gladly picked up what little was left to do.
“The project was about 90% student ran with the teacher helping to pick up the slack as needed,” Morris said.
During the editing process, the students learned how to use iMovie effectively, including adding music and green screen backgrounds correctly. The students also learned how to use programs that real industry professionals use every day, such as Photoshop and Final Cut.
“They learn to brainstorm, plan, collaborate and problem-solve at a high level,” Morris said. “Though this lesson does not really involve coding, it does have the students use computers for something that has real-world applications as well as learning the importance of attribution and the legal aspects of copyright.”
Besides creating films, the students focused greatly on coding and the engineering design process during the first trimester. Students had the opportunity to complete Project Lead the Way’s Innovators and Makers course, which allowed them to write simple JavaScript programs for a simple computer board called Micro:bit.
“My high school students delve even deeper into coding and program development, but they definitely scratch the surface in middle school,” Morris said.
A common theme used in Morris’ classes is teaching the students to plan, create, test and problem-solve as a team.
“These are basic, everyday life skills that I want all my students to develop before they leave Medora,” he said.
Some of the students involved in creating the film said they learned a lot from the experience and the class itself and shared their favorite parts of the project.
“I liked seeing everyone get to act silly during filming,” Brown said.
Phillips and Bowers both enjoyed the filming and said it was a good experience.
“Making movies is not as easy as it seems,” Bowers said.
Phillips said he learned new skills in acting and script writing.
“Sometimes, it’s hard not to laugh once you start filming,” Brown said.
All of the students said the class has taught them how to type faster, how to use editing software and coding mechanics.
“In the future, I hope we get to design and build things, like robotics,” Bowers said.
Phillips said he hopes to see more 3D designing and modeling projects in the future.
In the future, Morris hopes by creating these video projects, the students will learn an enjoyable skill in a world that relies heavily on social media for advertisement and customer engagement.
“There is a shortage of people who lack technology skills in the job market, and I hope Medora is doing its part to bridge that gap,” Morris said. “In a perfect world, I’d love for all my students to learn to create program and also be able to video edit like professionals.”
To find out the shocking ending of “A Medora Hornets Mystery,” watch the short film in its entirety on the Medora Hornets Media Facebook page.