By Amanda Dyer
News-Sentinel Staff Writer
Updated: Friday, May 16, 2008 6:18 AM PDT
After a year of training, filming and editing, the members of Lodi High School's video production class are ready to showcase their short films on one of the silver screens at Lodi Stadium 12.
The films, which cover subjects that range from drug use to skateboarding, all examine topics relating to teens and the ways in which young people are disconnected from the rest of the community.
All of the five films are 15 to 20 minutes long and were funded by a $30,000 grant provided the California Council for the Humanities' Youth Digital Filmmakers project. The grant funds were matched by Lodi Unified School District.
The money was used to buy four high definition cameras, Hollywood-caliber editing software and new computers.
Class teacher Jerry Pike said though the equipment is too advanced for students, some of them will have an opportunity to grow into it in future classes at Lodi High.
Pike said he hopes the films spark discussions on the topics they address. More than that, though, he wants people to come.
"It's going to be fantastic," he said.
The grant also paid for advising by David Myers, owner of Reel Home Productions, a Woodbridge-based company that does corporate videos, short films for churches and a podcast that focuses on scrapbooking.
Myers said the videos provide a unique perspective on the issues.
"I'm excited to see the final product on the screen and seeing what the audience comes away with," he said.
Apart from learning about video production, Myers said students learned about how to work with people.
Senior Brooke Martin's film, which deals with teen drug use, is a particularly vivid example of that lesson.
"It was really hard," said Martin, 17. "It's a touchy subject and it's hard to get people to open up about it."
Despite the inherent difficulties of getting teens to talk about their illegal activity on tape, the film is a revealing look into the lives of a several Lodi teenagers and their experimentation with drugs.
In one scene, a teen confesses he's used heroin, crystal meth, ecstasy and acid. In another, a different teen debates with his friends how much weed they can smoke on an outing, so he still has enough to "smoke a blunt before youth group."
Like most of the young filmmakers, Martin's take on her documentary subject comes from personal experience. In her case, that experience came from a group of friends who abused drugs.
At first, Martin said, the California Council for the Humanities questioned whether or not her group's film would promote drug use. But she assures viewers that message behind her groups' film is squeaky clean.
As the viewers get further into the film, she said, she's counting on people thinking, "Wow, these people are losers."
Martin, who hopes to transfer to the University of California, Los Angeles after studying at San Joaquin Delta College, is pondering doing an internship with Myers at Reel Home Productions.
Juniors Jessica Champion, Jose Ramos, Josh Stevens and Brennen Pacheco also hope to continue working on their video production skills, if not as a career, as a hobby.
The four students spent the year working on a short film titled "No Way Dude," which deals with the separation skaters feel from the rest of their community.
All four teenagers either currently skateboard or used to skateboard.
"We're just trying to show everybody that we're not a bunch of troublemakers," Pacheco said.
The film's moniker comes from signs in Lodi that indicate where skating is prohibited and addresses issues like the demise of the Lodi skate park.
The group said for the first half of the school year, they basically just tried to wing it. Eventually, though, their film grew into something of which they could be proud.
"It becomes really stressful, but it's really satisfying," Ramos said.
Contact reporter Amanda Dyer at amandad@lodinews.com.
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