Students get a moment in the spotlight

Lights, camera, action. Not the usual three words a high school student may have in his or her repertoire. But for the students who had the opportunity to enroll in a documentary filmmaking class at Spy Hop Productions through an internship offered through their AMES program at Cottonwood High School, those three words opened a whole new world.

The Academy for Math, Engineering and Science provides high school students unique opportunities to extend their knowledge beyond the typical high school curriculum. Through a collaborative internship program with Spy Hop Productions and their Reel Stories classes, students such as William Jones, a junior, are able to write, produce and premier their original documentary films at the Tower Theatre.

William’s film, titled “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?” was one of five that premiered on July 6. The nine-minute documentary focuses on the Native American language and what today’s youth can do to keep it alive and preserve it. William himself is Native American and wanted to bring the subject to light.

“I realized that not a lot of people knew much about this subject, and the feedback I received after the film was really positive,” William said. “I enjoyed the entire process of making the film, from learning how to use the equipment, to editing, to seeing my film on the big screen. It was insane.”

The Youth Documentary Arts Program at Spy Hop is an arts and humanities program consisting of four separate classes that allow participants opportunities to explore stories and issues important in their lives and communities. In addition, students are taught story development, the creative process, nonfiction filmmaking styles, camera operation, cinematography, sound engineering and editing.

“The Reel Stories experience is such an empowering process,” Spy Hop Program Director Matt Mateus said. “The students experience every aspect of creating a film, from production to storytelling to watching their finished documentaries on the big screen.”

With his experience as a film maker, William plans to go to college and is seriously considering majoring in Art. He says movie making may be in his future.