Smash’n: MAP students’ night to shine

“And the winner of ‘Best Animated’ is…”

Media Arts Program students, parents and friends will dress to the nines to attend the annual SMASH’N (Saratoga Media Arts Showcase) awards in the Mcafee Center on May 31 at 6:45 p.m.

SMASH’N, the biggest Media Arts Program (MAP) event of the year, showcases student work in film, animation, digital photography, drama and multimedia journalism.

Nominees from 14 categories compete for various awards, which are classified by grade level, project themes and other factors.

The first award will be the best“Map 9 Media Project,” a project assigned to freshmen, requiring them to address themes from novels in the English 9 curriculum such as “Romeo and Juliet.” It encourages students to focus on scene performance.

Sophomore awards include “Map 10 Multi-Media Journalism,” “Map 10 Animation,” “Map 10 Film” and “Map 10 Job Interview.”

For the Map 10 Multi-Media Journalism award, sophomores focused their attention on either a local or an international issue, with the theme “Be The Change” in mind. Nominees in this category thoroughly researched their chosen issues and proposed a concrete solution to foster positive change.

The nominees for Map 10 “Best Animation” created a flash animation about WWI with “striking imagery, utilized the principles of design, conveyed historically accurate information and posed thoughtful and challenging ethical dilemmas, all while leading the audience through the consequences of their choices and educating them on an aspect of the war,” according to the award description.

For their "Follow the Leader" film project, sophomore groups created allegorical videos that explore why people tend to follow corrupt leaders and what inspires people to resist them, which tied into their World History curriculum. Teams nominated for this award used a variety of visual principles and filming techniques, such as camera angle and movement, to create compelling storylines that clearly conveyed their ideas.

For the “Job Interview” project, industry professionals conducted mock interviews with sophomore MAP students, pretending to apply for an entry-level job in multimedia. Individuals receiving this award are recognized for giving the best interview of their group.

Junior MAP student nominees will compete in categories such as the “MAP 11 Multi Media Journalism,” “MAP 11 Film, Interpretative” and “MAP 11 Film, Fiction.”

The MAP juniors created reports for SHSTV and developed interdisciplinary MAP projects that connected to their studies in American History and American Literature. Successful Multi Media Journalism projects exhibit journalistic professionalism and depth. Technical considerations include “lighting, visual angle, pacing, point of impact, sound clarity, visual composition and filmic standards.”

For their Map 11 "American Story” film project, teams became American storytellers in order to create and produce a unique and meaningful story that connected to the 20th century on characterization, historical setting, story structure and the ability to deliver an emotional truth in a creative way. Teams nominated for this award “sophisticatedly used a variety of audio/visual principles and filming techniques (such as camera angle and movement) to create polished and compelling films that leave a lasting impression.”

Finally, MAP seniors will compete for the best “MAP 12 Curricular Project," in which they produced several small media projects connected to their English and Government/Economics curriculum. These included film trailers for their own dystopian stories, music videos explaining various economic systems, a filmed scene from their own originally designed episode of The West Wing, PSAs advocating the passage of bills or century. In these fiction films, the focus is supporting government projects, and mini-documentaries about the relationship between money and happiness in America.

In addition, all seniors have worked all year to create a “Senior Project,” which is meant to showcase the skills they have developed throughout the program and to gain new skills along the way. This self-directed process requires that students pitch their initial idea to a panel of MAP teachers, develop their own project plans and rubric, find a mentor to assist them, meet several milestone deadlines throughout the year and engage in a formal defense of their final work in front of their MAP 12 peers and a panel comprised of administrators, MAP teachers and MAP alumni.

The night concludes with a few overall awards, including “Best Acting in a MAP Film," “Student Leadership Award," “People’s Choice Award," and an “Industry Choice Award," chosen by a panel of media industry professionals in attendance.