Seven FHC art students were honored for their film making talent at the second annual St. Charles Community College Student Film Festival on April 28. As part of their awards, each student received a festival trophy and a partial scholarship for classes or materials at the community college. In addition to these individual awards, the art department received the festival’s first ever High School Traveling Trophy.

The art department, led by graphic design teachers Mr. Bob Storts and Mrs. Michelle McCune, entered a total of 12 short films in the contest in the beginning of April. Each film was student-directed, filmed, animated or created, using the graphic design lab’s computers. Entries varied from music videos to animated sketches to public service announcements. After review by a panel of SCC judges, winners were announced. Students from FHC who were honored include:

Senior Katie Hussey, 2nd place

Senior Megan Lattanzi, 2nd place

Seniors Kristen Robbins & Katelyn Nugent, 2nd place

Sophomore Chris Franklyn, 1st place

Juniors Barrett Hanebrink & Drew Grzechowiak, 1st place and Overall Festival Winners

Mr. Storts was excited by the success students had at the event.

“This is the second time we’ve had student work entered in [the festival],” Mr. Storts said. “I was pleased that we were able to do as well as we did.”

Sophomore Chris Franklyn, who placed first in the music video category, was also happy with the results.

“I’m proud of how the movie turned out,” he said, adding that if he could go back and do the project again, he would want to experiment with more effects on his photos and audio. Franklyn used Apple iMovie, GarageBand, iDVD and Adobe Photoshop to create his project.

Amidst all the individual success, however, Mr. Storts also pointed out the positive recognition that the overall department recieved. “I was really proud of the new traveling trophy,” said Mr. Storts. “We had the most quality entries out of all the high schools that entered. That’s encouraging.”