Williston Middle School Documentary | Video

Chris Williams | 12/10/2012

The Bakken is attracting media attention from all over the world, with some reporters coming from as far away as Germany. A cinematographer from New York recently visited Williston. He lived in a man camp for a couple of weeks with his crew, and captured the sights and sounds of Williston. He also helped four students at Williston Middle school make a documentary about their school.

Andrew Wonder makes movies. He has worked for MTV and studied film at NYU. And he also helped four students make a documentary about the school bond issue in District 1.

"They’re the ones there every day. They know how crowded the hallways are, they know what the facilities look like. They know what the other students are like," he said.

The students had three days to shoot video of why the school bond should pass, but before they started, Wonder`s crew had to teach them how to shoot.

"They taught us about thirds, and shutter speed, and about IOS. A lot of things about the camera that we probably wouldn`t have already known," said student Raghen Lucy.

Wonder says the girls picked it up faster than anyone he has taught before, and they got better as they went on.

"All of the footage we got back from them, would have been footage I would have been very happy getting back from someone I hired."

Making the video gave the girls a better understanding of their school.

"It was pretty exciting, we got to see all the new students that came in," said student Casside Hansen.

Doing this project helped the girls develop new skills, and it also taught them something about life.

"You need to take the opportunities that come your way because you never know what you`re going to learn and where that`s going to take you," said student Jacie Kohler.

"Learning about the photography because it could help you, when you wanted to capture something interesting in your life," said student Kailey Woodhams.

They did such a good job with the video, it`s now being shown in the Big Apple.

"I came back to New York, and everyone asked me how Williston is. And I`ve been taking out the video and showing it to everyone because I`m just so proud of the work they did, and what they accomplished in just a few days," Wonder added.

The video is about the school bond issue, and you can vote on that tomorrow at any of the Elementary Schools in Williston.

To see the video, visit vimeo.com/andrewwonder/willistonmiddleschool

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