Fire Safety Video Competition

            At the end of last year, a number of TV students here at Melrose High School entered a statewide video competition.  Sponsored by the Massachusetts Association of Safety and Fire Educators, the competition challenged Massachusetts high school students to create an educational video about the dangers of fires.  Each video had to be between one and three minutes in length, contain several “tidbits” of information, such as statistics and advice on fire safety, and be well researched (the statistics have to be legitimate).  There are a few other rules that they have to follow.  For example, the participants could not actually film real fires, as that would be unsafe.  Instead they had to use copyright-free and public domain stock footage.  They were judged on a rubric scaling seven categories from one to four points.  For the most part, the categories were mostly about accuracy of facts and making the video creative as well as fitting  the requirements.

            Naturally, because it is a competition, there are prizes.  There are three prizes and three “honorable mention” awards.  A total of three hundred and fifty dollars are given out to the winners.  First place receives two hundred dollars in Best Buy gift cards, split among the group members, and their school receives a brand new camera for filming future videos.  The second and third place groups receive one hundred dollars and fifty dollars, respectively, also in Best Buy gift cards. The three honorable mentions do not receive prizes.

            Melrose has four finalist teams in the competition, each of which seems to have a shot.  The Imprint was able to interview two of the competitors; Quinn Wilkins and Addison Dowell.  Just from these two there is a large and visible difference in the teams.   Quinn Wilkins said that it took was about two hours of research, scripting, and filming to make his video, and one hour additional hour to edit.  On the other hand, Addison Dowell’s group took about five or six hours researching, scripting, and filming, and as much as ten hours editing.  Quinn Wilkins believes that while he himself does not have a great chance, that Melrose will win two of the six places. Addison Dowell claims that his video has a very good chance of winning.  If he wins, Wilkins says he would probably get a brand new 50mm lens for his camera, and Dowell gave no comment.

            If you would like to find the videos, you can find them at the youtube channel Melrose High TV. They are titled Burn Prevention Awareness: Second Chance, Burn Prevention Awareness: Cooking Safety, Burn Prevention Awareness: Radio Station Fire Awareness, and Burn Prevention Awareness: Alone in the Kitchen. 

         By: Duncan McLeod