After garnering gold at the SkillsUSA State Conference in Hutchinson, two Parsons High School students are headed to the National SkillsUSA Competition in Atlanta, Ga in June.
Senior Broderic “Brody” Wright, who is also PHS SkillsUSA chapter president, and sophomore Angelo Sigrah qualified.
“Last time at state I competed in video productions, but I like cinematography more, so this time we competed in digital cinematography, which is different and I had a lot more fun with it,” Wright said.
SkillsUSA Digital Cinematography (Digital Cinema Production) competitions require teams of two to create a 4–5 minute original film based on a specific prompt, theme, and technical elements.
Needing a second, he invited Sigrah to join him, and Sigrah said he was happy to oblige.
“First off Brody is really good at videos and he has taught me so much, and he is just a pretty good, chill dude,” Sigrah said.
Wright said they were only given the criteria one week before the state competition and were allowed only that one week to film and complete their work before appearing at the state conference to have their film judged.
The greatest challenge for the two - the limited time they had.
“A week sounds like a long time but it really isn’t, because you are coming up with the idea, filming it and editing it,” Wright said. “It’s a lot,”
Once given the information to proceed, the two of them sat down and brainstormed ideas.
“We had a prompt where we had to use a phone at some point in the video, so we just went off of that. And, we were supposed to be inspired by Paul Thomas Henderson and try to mimic his style,” Wright said. “That was about it. Everything else we came up with.”
The two decided to do a short video focused on a character who develops a new AI platform and tries to get others interested in it, but the AI quickly proves to have a mind of its own and has plans not in the best interest of its creator.
Sigrah said with everything going on with Chat GPT and advancements, and conversations surrounding it, the topic easily lent itself to fitting into their criteria.
Angelo said another challenge arose, when one of their main actors didn’t show up and having to find someone else at the last minute.
“Thankfully, he did really well,” Angelo said.
After the judges watched the movie, they interviewed the two young men to determine decisions for aspects like framing, composition, and camera angles that were used in filming and what their thoughts were behind certain shots.
Come to find out, Wright and Sigrah were the only ones competing in that category at the state level, but in Skills USA, being a single entrant doesn’t guarantee you will medal. You still have to earn it.
“They go off of points, so we got enough points, and we did well enough to get gold and go to nationals,” Wright said, expressing his happiness in taking a gold and qualifying for nationals.
“I think it will look good on a resume or something,” Wright said.
Wight’s mom, Kaci, is thrilled for her son.
“ Digital cinema production has been a passion of Brody's since he was in second grade,” she said.
Sigrah said he is pretty excited to get to go to nationals, too.
“I hope we win,” he said.
They are not sure what the criteria will be for the national competition, but they are excited for the opportunity.
This is a great way for Wright to wrap up his high school years. After graduation, he plans to go to Labette Community College to knock out his basics before heading off to college to study film.
For Sigrah, the win is inspiration for the rest of high school and beyond. This is his last year in Parsons. He is moving to Topeka, but he said once he graduates, he may head in a similar direction, being a content creator, making videos that make people happy.
That is something the world could always use more of.