Film and fame

For many high school students, showing an educational video is the equivalent of hitting the snooze button.

But when Red Bank High School debuted “A Day To Remember,” a student documentary of a fictionalized fatal drunk-driving accident, the rooms were silent, said Principal Gail Chuy.

“We showed it to the school before prom,” she said. “I’ve heard since then that you could have heard a pin drop during the advisory period when we showed it that day.”

On March 9, “A Day To Remember” placed first for electronic newsgathering at the Tennessee High School Press Association’s student media awards.

The mock crash, which was held in October on school grounds, was shot by student videographers in Glen Wagner’s broadcasting class. Contributors included Cricket Andrews, Jordan Graham, Meghan O’Connor, Emily Pierce and Mr. Wagner’s daughter, Sarah.

After the students shot the necessary scenes, Mr. Wagner said, he spent 40-60 hours editing the video.

“This is probably the largest project we’ve had kids working on, and we shot this thing like a movie production,” Mr. Wagner said. “The reaction has been really positive.”

In addition to student actors, many parents also had roles in the video. To add to the drama, victims of the crash were made up to look battered and bruised, and representatives from Hamilton County and Red Bank emergency services were on scene as if responding to a real event.

About 250 members of Red Bank’s senior class were lined up at the mock crash. Some students didn’t take the demonstration very seriously, but the video, which shows the aftermath of the crash, had an impact, Ms. Wagner said.

“It was funny because a lot of the seniors were poking fun at the live event,” she said. “They were like, ‘Oh, that’s not real,’ and some of them were smiling, but when the actual finished product was done, it got really serious reactions.”

“A Day To Remember” documents the crash and its aftermath, from the treatment of the injured to the court date and subsequent imprisonment of senior Mannie Duron, who portrayed the drunk driver.

The main goal of the film was to show students the lasting consequences of drunk driving and to discourage them from making selfish decisions, Ms. Pierce said.

“I hope other students take the message that you can’t just do what you want because it can hurt other people,” she said. “It’s important to realize it’s not all about you, and you need to take responsibility for those actions and the outcome of those actions.”

At the awards ceremony, which was held at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, the students said they were more confident than nervous.

“Not to sound conceited, but I kind of knew we were going to win,” Ms. Wagner said. “I saw the finished project before we went to the awards ceremony, and I remember thinking, ‘If this doesn’t win first place, somebody’s wrong.’ ”

Ms. Chuy said she volunteered the media class to document the mock crash when she was approached by Christy Smith, the highway safety coordinator with the Hamilton County Health Department.

The resulting film, she said, is comparable to work done by professionals at a mock crash held at a school she administered before coming to Red Bank.

“I thought the students would do a good job but nothing like the professional group did,” she said. “They have done a marvelous job, (and) I would put it up against the professionals anytime.”