Horse Creek Academy (HCA) students have been announced as winners in C-SPAN’s 20th annual StudentCam competition, a documentary film contest in which students across the nation have the chance to explore complex topics through the video camera lens.
C-SPAN, a media organization that provides Americans with unfiltered access to government proceedings, is available locally in Aiken through Comcast.
This year’s StudentCam theme was, “Looking Forward while Considering the Past,” and participants were expected to follow one of two prompts: “In the next 20 years, what is the most important change that you would like to see in America?” or “Over the past 20 years, what has been the most important change in America?”
HCA students Evan Fulmer, Xavier Penvose and Fitz Ahlers will receive $750 as third-place prize winners for their documentary, "Is it Real?," focused on the regulation of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
This documentary covers the advancements of AI, and its “near perfect photorealistic generation of images and photos.” The film highlights its potential for misuse, like the falsification of video evidence.
The team interviewed Jeffrey Bennet from SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) General Counsel in regard to possible effects of AI on the entertainment industry, and with Jonathan Gaston-Falk, Student Press Law Center Staff Attorney.
Ahlers said the most eye-opening thing he learned while working the film was the widespread accessibility of AI. “Almost anyone, as long as they have access to the internet, can do it,” he said.
“This is something you see every day and you need to watch out for it and make sure you’re educated on it,” said Fulmer.
“It feels great to win,” said Ahlers. “To me that means a lot, you know, for people to take actual value from my work, from our work.”
HCA students Eryn Fox and Nox Bradford will receive $250 as honorable mention prize winners for their documentary, "The Gender Crisis in America."
This documentary was about the pair’s concern for “the lack of healthcare in America for transgender people.”
Bradford and Fox interviewed therapists who specialize in gender identity with a focus on youth, transgender individuals, along with experts like Chase Glenn, executive director of Alliance for Full Acceptance and Tammaka Staley, founder and CEO of Youth Affirming Sex Education.
“It’s nice to see that people went along with the topic and didn’t just, like, immediately shut it down,” said Bradford.
“I also have friends and family who fall under that umbrella and they haven’t been able to get what they need because of these laws that are put in place that are preventing them from living their fullest life,” said Fox.
The students’ mentor, media teacher AJ Chambers, said that he made the documentary project optional because his students are new to broadcasting. “These students chose to still do [the project] based on their interest in their topics,” said Chambers. “For them, in their first six months of doing broadcast journalism, to produce a national award-winning documentary is pretty impressive.”
