A day is 24 hours. Obviously, right? But most of the time, people don’t realize how long 24 hours actually is. People sleep through a third of that day, maybe even a half. The full 24 hour day isn’t ever truly experienced. However, there are factors that can push against this barrier, and hold off sleep for a little bit longer. A job, or schoolwork, or maybe even the 24 Hour Video Contest.
The 24 is a film video contest held across 15 high schools of Orange County, challenging video production classes to create a music video in 24 hours. It’s difficult, grueling, wildly fun, and the Yorba Linda Mustang Video Productions class are this year’s winners.
The song every school was filming for was “Now I’m the Fool” by Angelina Jordan, and the Mustangs took this song and ran with it. They created an alternate reality where freshman Kathryn Gary starred as an alien falling in love, and the execution of the video pulled their idea through to victory.
What adds to the beauty of the amazing video and the exciting win was how hard the journey was to get there. Richard Cadra (S), the current Video Productions teacher, said it himself that “[w]inning the 24 Hour Film Competition was the culmination of an exhausting 24 hours under pressure filming and editing … It was an incredible bonding experience for the class since they spent so much time together working hard but also having so much fun.”
Mattea Bunton (10) sheds some light on the process of the 24, explaining that the preparations “began weeks before the actual night of the 24. One of our amazing producers, Skylar Snyder, came up with the idea for the music video, and we decided to go with it because no one had any better ideas. After we had our story set, our other great producer, Christina Wright, started arranging actors and locations that would be available to film. After all that preparation, on the day of the 24, we were all set to film.” Bunton admits that the actual 24 hours of the competition went by in a blur, but she does remember that “everyone had a really great time just being on set and helping out.”
The recent awards ceremony was held with our Mustangs in attendance. So many amazing schools were there, and our Vidpro class came out with six awards, before being announced as the Best Music Video. Bunton describes that “being at the screening and hearing our school’s name be called out as the winner of the Best 24 Hour Music Video felt absolutely surreal … in that moment, it just felt so impossible for our school to be able to win the highest award.”
This moment will forever mean something, not only to Yorba Linda High School, but to these students as well. Spending a whole 24 hours with classmates is an incredible bonding experience, linking these students together in a way that goes deeper than merely school. Bunton goes on to say that Video Productions “has changed my high school experience for the better by giving me a sense of community … without Vidpro, I would have never made some of the closest friends I have today.”
It’s experiences and accomplishments like these that bring people together in the best way possible. It’s working together. It’s problem solving. It’s endless late nights editing. It’s seeing all your hard work pay off. Video Productions is something special, and it will build an unbreakable sense of friendship among students. Cadra notes that “every year my students say that participating in the 24 is not only one of their highlights of the year, but one of the top highlights of their entire high school experience. This class enables students to become such amazing friends with each other since everything we create is a group project.” He encourages any creative people out there to come, be a part of something big, be a part of a community. Bunton closes by saying that “the whole experience was amazing as always, and our producers are so deserving of all the awards won.”
So, congratulations, Video Productions! We can’t wait to see what you come up with next.
