Tech
students put creativity to test with public service
spots
Monday, December 27, 2004 • By BILL BRAY
• The Express-Times
FRANKLIN TWP. -- A group of friends is sitting at a
table drinking shots.
One man stands up to leave, and the others try to stop
him. He gets into his car and winds up in a wreck.
"Don't be a statistic," appears on the screen, ending
the 30-second public service announcement on drunken
driving.
The announcement is the work of Jacob Roehrich and Josh
Knoble, both sophomores at the Warren County Technical
School. They, along with the rest of Rich Patricia's
video-editing class, created public service announcements
that will run during the school's programming on Comcast
Cable.
Roehrich said he and his classmates found a lot of
statistics about drunken-driving victims in the course of
their research.
"We thought 'Why would you want to become another
statistic?'" said 15-year-old Roehrich, who hopes to work in
television as a career.
Roehrich and Knoble shot about five minutes of video and
edited it down to 30 seconds.
The students will also enter the video in a national
drunken-driving public service announcement contest
sponsored by the American Automobile Association. Winners
receive college scholarships or savings bonds and could see
their spot aired nationally.
Last year, Warren Tech public service announcements made
it to the national judging but didn't win any awards,
according to Patricia.
Patricia, called "Mr. P" by his students, said he wasn't
allowed to help the students with their projects, which
included scripts, storyboards, shooting and final
editing.
"They started off from scratch," Patricia said.
The projects were the first full- scale productions for
the students this year. Many students found that their ideas
sounded great on paper but posed serious logistical problems
in the field.
Kristin Wolfenden and Michelle Tayburn, both 15 and from
Oxford Township, ended up changing characters after their
initial shoot.
"We had to go shoot so many times," Tayburn said.
Initially, Wolfenden played the part of the drunken
driver, but the partners later decided to use a friend, Adam
Lertora, 18, for the role. Tayburn said they used background
music to build tension throughout the piece, which
culminated with a crash.
Other teams got help from local law enforcement and a
local auto body shop to help stage wrecks.
"I think they were great," Patricia said. "This year, I
think the kids have a real good chance (in the
contest)."
The announcements will air during the school's program
"Reel to Reel," which can be seen locally on Comcast Cable
Channel 21 at 6:30 p.m. today, Patricia said.
Reporter Bill Bray can be reached at 908-475-1596 or by
e-mail at wbray@express-times.com.
© 2004 The Express-Times. Used with
permission.
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