Behind the Dreams
April 24, 2019
Everybody sees the final show. The perfect one. The clean version. The flawless cut. But beyond the laughter and the jokes of the bloopers, there’s abundant dedication to get from a cluster of random clips to the pristine end result. The cast gets the applause and the accolades, but the crew works incredibly hard as well. With endless hours of editing, intricate shots, and specific details, the production of Shattered Dreams was no different.
“It’s all blurred together,” director Matthew Pszyk said. “We’ve spent around 6 months on this project.”
Shattered Dreams is a program set in place to educate the community about drinking and driving by displaying a gruesome car crash featuring student victims. This is shown to the whole student body and both preceded and followed by meaningful short films telling the story of 4 reckless high school students, each of whom are gravely impacted by the crash.
“It’s a lesson everyone need to learn and it such a big affect on students,” cinematographer Bailey Coyle said. “Everyone needs to see the impact, even if it just saves one kid.”
The crew is made up of sophomore, junior, and senior students apart of the broadcast program. Each member is responsible for specific tasks, from writing to directing to filming to editing. With so many responsibilities at hand, it appears as a daunting task, but every individual involved is committed. This was not just the crew’s, but Shawn Neill, the current broadcast adviser’s, first time overseeing Shattered Dreams. While intimidating, the crew was able to overcome these obstacles.
“If you have a game plan you’ll know what to do. You’ll feel more comfortable jumping into it, which can be difficult,” Neill said.
While the long hours of the project created a definite physical strain on crew members, there were emotional impacts too, as Jacob Keeter, cinematrographer, shared. He has seen the impact of drunk driving first hand within his own family and was greatly affected by the program.
“Just seeing the crash just triggered some memories. I just kinda took a deep breath and said ‘You know what? I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna put all of my energy in to this and I just picked up a camera and started filming,” Keeter said.
Stories like Keeter’s inspire the program and create passionate crews member to carry out the message. It is the passion and dedication of the crew makes Shattered Dreams so impactful and and allows viewers to connect to the program just as much as the crew has.
“When I found out shattered dreams was a thing I was very excited to be part of the team to work on it and use the my energy from that memory to do this project.” Keeter said.
The premise of Shattered Dreams is intended to craft a reality that will encourage students to make the correct choices. As crew, constructing that actuality has an even more monumental reaction. So while watching the final product, remember the message the crew is working so hard to present.
“It’s being able to create this multi level experience for people watching it,” Pszyk said. “Film is a powerful medium, but to have people actually experience the thing is pretty powerful.”
Shattered Dreams is a production put on by the school district in cooperation with other Frisco agencies. The students are actors and the events and injuries portrayed are fabricated. This is done for the education of the school and community to inform them of the dangers of driving under the influence.
For more information about Shattered Dreams check out our storieshttps://cen10news.com/9119/news/living-dead-obituaries/#photo
