Category: Digital Media Arts

Published March 10, 2023

2023 Digital Media Arts Nominees

NOTE: Some entries may contain adult themes. Minors, please ask for parental permission before watching.

Artios Academies of West Michigan – “ALONE? The Sisters Revenge” (17:05)

Created by: Isaac Rasmussen

Synopsis: A girl hiding the truth about her younger sisters death, deals with guilt and the hate of her haunting younger sister.

Grand Haven High School – “Fidgeting With Fire” (1:34)

Created by: David Lenger

Synopsis: Silent narrative surrounding a young girl’s important decision on whether she will reach out to her absent father.

Holton High School – “My Sister: Emily Faith” (2:30)

Created by: Natalie Wiseman

Synopsis: My mother shares my family’s story of the love and loss we felt regarding my sister Emily Faiths short time here. She was born when my mom was only 23 weeks pregnant. She passed away after 1 month and 10 days. We share what she taught us in her short time being here. “Life is not measured in the amount of breaths you take but the amount of moments that take your breath away”.

Mason County Central High School – “The Lurker” (4:12)

Created by: Brody Shelton

Synopsis: The Lurker is about a group of teens going for a hike and eventually stumbling upon the not so well known “Dusk Woods” of which one of the group members has heard of because she is a “horror fanatic”. As the teens travel through these woods, the jokester of the group (Wyatt) discovers several pieces of paper warning about the dangers that lie within. As the teens continue with their travel, they each go missing one by one. The remaining group members believe that everyone is just messing with them, until they find some concerning remains.

Mona Shores High School – “The USB” (8:07)

Created by: Noah Fritzemeier

Synopsis: The main character goes to the back of an ally to buy cheats for math homework, however; what conspires is nothing but a horrible guilt ridden trip. One full of sorrows and regret.

Reeths-Puffer High School – “James” (3:21)

Created by: Dylan Mason

Synopsis: James is into making weekly videos about being more sustainable at his school. He posts a video which results in him getting some hate comments and his car vandalized. His grades start slipping at school and he is pulled into the counseling office where he explains what’s been going on to him. The councilor Mrs.VanHalen gives him an envelope of anonymous student messages that thank James for what he is doing at their school. James wraps up the film by reminding the audience that someone is always out there for you, and you are always loved.

Published March 16, 2022

2022 Digital Media Arts Nominees

NOTE: Some entries may contain adult themes. Minors, please ask for parental permission before watching.

Fremont High School – “Mental Illness” (16:26)

Created by: Emma Robart

Synopsis: My video will be about how depression affects my mom’s life and how she lives with it every day.

Mona Shores High School – “CHECK.” (4:16)

Created by: Erik Kubicek

Synopsis: The short film ‘CHECK.’ follows a troubled young boy while he has a moral argument with his father, all while playing a game of chess. The two reopen wounds not only for themselves, but also reopen wounds over the loss of the boy’s mother. The story comes to a climactic conclusion in which the characters find themselves at their most vulnerable, and reach a saddening stalemate. The story addresses the trauma in losing a loved one not only within, but also within the most important of relationships.

Muskegon High School – “Andrew’s comedy skit.” (5:10)

Created by: Andrew Potter

Synopsis: My comedy skit talks about funny wifi passwords. I used the joke concept of “Who’s on first?” originally made by Abbott and Costello. My version has some lines similar to the version Jeff Dunham had done in 2020. I am not going to say that this was my own original joke but I am giving the original makers the credit for the joke concept.

North Muskegon High School – “One Thing About High School” (6:54)

Created by: Trystan Guerrero

Synopsis: Looking back on high school as our time is about to be done.

Pentwater High School – “Don’t Overcook Pizza” (7:58)

Created by: Leonardo Lozano, Haley Powers, Alivia Kolenda, and Alexis Settler

Synopsis: A young woman discovers that everyone in the world has disappeared and she is alone in a town where the citizens are guilty.

Spring Lake High School – “Memories” (3:24)

Created by: Grace Kleppe

Synopsis: Someone once said to treat your sadness as a guest. Let it in, comfort it, and when you’re ready, let it go. One thing about sadness is what we can learn from it. We create new memories from the sadness, from the experience we share with it. These are videos collected over the years, stitched together to tell the story that, yes, sometimes sadness and grief take a toll on us; however, we can either learn and make new memories, or let it control us.

White Cloud High School – “Don’t Text and Drive” (2:17)

Created by: Aleeya Grifford, Sydnee Ochs, and John Sidor

Synopsis: A group of teens go for an afternoon drive and make some poor decisions. The driver’s decision to text and drive results in a car accident. White Cloud High School Media Club students explain the dangers of distracted driving, and the ways in which teens can prevent these poor decisions.

Published May 19, 2021

2021 Digital Media Arts Nominees

NOTE: Some entries may contain adult themes. Minors, please ask for parental permission before watching.

Artios of Grand Haven – “Chase Your Dreams” (1:41)

Created by: Isaiah Winters

Synopsis: This is kind of like a short film about going out in life and doing what YOU want to do, not what others think you should do. I go over what all happened in the past year or so, and then start to show the upside of thing that we can do next year to make it the best year of our lives.

Mona Shores High School – “P.S. Missing You” (5:32)

Created by: Cameron Seiferlein

Synopsis: A man is trying to deal with his emotions after losing someone he loved. Throughout the story he gradually starts accepting the truth and moves on. The story is told through the notes he writes while on a nature walk.

OAISD Careerline Tech Center – “New Driver” (7:40)

Created by: Kinsey Nelson

Synopsis: For months Kim was excited to get her license, it was a symbol of friendship to her and her best friend Maddie, or at least she believed it was the both of them who thought this. The day she receives her license she discovers Maddie at another friends house. It turns out that the whole time that Kim was excited, Maddie didn’t reciprocate these feelings and had been driving around with her new friend, Steph. Kim, extremely hurt, stomps away after screaming at Maddie about how their friendship didn’t seem to mean much and goes home. While at home she reflects on what she has done and comes up with a plan, she will get rid of the competition, impulsively she messages Steph and requests they meet up. The next day at their picnic, Kim goes through with her plan and murders Steph with poisoned food.

Pentwater High School – “Women with Hemophilia: Understanding Medical Bias” (7:12)

Created by: Haley Powers, Grace Powers, and Paige Ruggles

Synopsis: “Women With Hemophilia: Understanding Medical Bias” is a documentary about how medical bias often works specifically against women. It spotlights women with hemophilia as an example and highlights the voices of a few women who live with hemophilia. We asked them about their experiences with their diagnosis and how they believe women can work to combat medical bias.

White Cloud High School – “The Story of Daniel Ament” (19:03)

Created by: Aleeya Grifford, Rylee Hewitt, and Valerie Saville

Synopsis: Our White Cloud Media Club (WCTV) was provided with an amazing opportunity to interview Daniel Ament, the first ever to receive a Double Lung Transplant due to vaping related illnesses, via Zoom, on February 23, 2021, thanks to Spectrum Health and the Newaygo County Headway Coalition. Ament is the world’s first double-lung transplant recipient. At the age of 16, he became severely ill from vaping and was on life-support for 29 days. He underwent double-lung transplant surgery in 2019.

Today, Ament is committed to sharing his story publicly and launching a non-profit organization that will encourage young people to live a healthier and happier lifestyle and improve overall mental wellness with training for counselors, coaches and parents to provide alternatives for coping with the pressures of being a teenager void of substances. He has spoken nationally about the harm of nicotine use and vaping, and has appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning, America” and on CBS.

Published March 17, 2020

2020 Digital Media Arts Nominees

NOTE: Some entries may contain adult themes. Minors, please ask for parental permission before watching.

Fruitport High School – “Beads With a Story” (2:09)

Created by: Justin Miller

Synopsis: Short form interview-style micro documentary on a West Michigan native (Macy Shwander) explaining and answering questions about her business, Macy Meraki.

Holton High School – “Leroy Allen” (10:33)

Created by: Paige Byrnes, Alexia Stewart, Abby Wisniewski, and Emma Wisniewski

Synopsis: In the short film “Leroy Allen,” a young girl asks her older sister to read her a book that she found titled: Leroy Allen. Leroy Allen is about a teenage boy named Leroy who goes missing. His friends Kimmy and Angela go looking for him, but end up finding much more.

Mona Shores High School – “The Underneath” (8:39)

Created by: Dade Breuker, Connor Fritz, and Will Urban

Synopsis: Two spelunkers find danger hidden underneath their high school.

Muskegon Heights Academy – “Jaiden Williams – Youth of the Year” (1:15)

Created by: Ashton Smith, Javontae Villareal, David Wallace, and Dareon Williams

Synopsis: Interview with Jaiden Williams, who won the Boys & Girls Club Youth of Year Contest.

OAISD Careerline Tech Center – “Papeles” (19:03)

Created by: Dafny Estupinan, Alec Mares, and Alexus Ortiz

Synopsis: “Papeles” is a film about the struggles and worries that Hispanics and Latinos in America have to constantly think about and worry about. This powerful film shows this from a different viewpoint.

Pentwater High School – “Social Media and Teenagers?” (7:51)

Created by: Haley Powers and Alexis Settler

Synopsis: “Social Media and Teenagers?” is about how social media is affecting teenagers. Several teens are interviewed and asked the same questions.

White Cloud High School – “What is White Cloud?” (6:18)

Created by: Abygail Derks, Rylee Hewitt, Sophie Kehr, Valerie Saville

Synopsis: We created a documentary featuring the town of White Cloud, it’s history, and vision for it’s future. Many people think that White Cloud is just a small town with limited possibilities, but that is far from the truth. We interviewed commissioners, librarians, and even the mayor. White Cloud is full of amazing people. It may be small, but it has so much life.

Published April 10, 2019

2019 Digital Media Arts Nominees

Here are the 2019 Digital Media Arts Nominees.

NOTE: Some entries may contain adult themes. Minors, please ask for parental permission before watching.

Grand Haven High School – Joe Pontarelli, Solomon Schultz, Oscar Sipe, and Brendan Vander Meer – “Chasing Adventure”

Grant High School – Alec Comstock, Jared Evans, and Raymond Gardner – “Danger in the Concrete Jungle”

Mona Shores High School – Brandon DePouw, Nolan Duff, Seth Koeller, and Charlie Milek – “Partially misGuided”

Newaygo High School – Adrian Briones – “OFFSZN: Alec Berwald”

OAISD Careerline Tech Center – Allyson Rogers and Chad Watrous – “Polarized”

Oakridge High School – Dylan Rusco – “Afterlife”

Pentwater High School – Nicole Daniels, Meagan Grondsma, Haley Powers, and Lucas Quinteros – “Felicidad”

Spring Lake High School – Sam Negen – “The Supporters”