On May 22, the SCAHS film program hosted the first annual SCOSCARS, a State College twist on the Oscars award ceremony. 

Like the Oscars, the SCOSCARS contained six award categories– Best Soundscape, Editing, Cinematography, Screenplay, Director, and Best Picture. Winners were decided by a student-selected panel of seven teachers.

The SCOSCARS kicked off with head organizer and art teacher Austin Van Allen introducing the event. The night was an effort of the film program, which includes semester-long, introductory class Cinema Arts, and two-year program IB Film, as well as the unofficial Film Club. Van Allen made sure to thank all who contributed.

“There were a lot of different pieces and a lot of people who helped, so I feel very thankful that so many people were part of that process,” Van Allen said. 

Van Allen emphasized the communal effort that the SCOSCARS took. Students in Commercial Design created logos and backdrops, Photography students took pictures, and the Roar Store supplied popcorn for viewers to snack on. Under Van Allen, a student committee also organized much of the night.

Junior and IB Film student Via Helling headed the student committee, and like Van Allen, detailed the community at the SCOSCARS. 

“It’s really cool to see everybody come together for film and help each other on films … not even necessarily in [the film program],” Helling said. “I feel like that’s really special, especially during times like this, that people get together to help each other and make art together.”

Part of the student committee’s job was to select the teachers for the decision panel. These seven teachers received information and criteria for the awards, and after watching all the film nominations, determined who deserved the award most. 

Social studies teacher Trevor Dietz recounted his reaction to being selected for the panel. 

“When I got the invite, I absolutely agreed because it’s a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of our students, and help them take pride in their work,” Dietz said, going on to describe the impact of the SCOSCARS. 

“I teach 10th grade social studies, so I’m not fully in the world of our film classes, and I knew our students did amazing things: but it’s moments like this where you truly get to see it,” Dietz said. “I will say that this made me incredibly proud to teach at State High, and to see the amazing work of our amazing students–and their passion and their drive and just their true talent blew me away.”

The winners that Dietz and the rest of the panel chose were announced at the SCOSARS. The announcements were made by students, who often acted out a funny bit before presenting the award–a golden trophy–to the winner, who came onstage and gave an acceptance speech. After that, the winning film was played for the audience.

Winners were as followed: junior Isabella Zeman for Best Soundscape, junior Benson Lin for Best Editing, junior Via Helling for Best Cinematography, senior Isaac Vanness for Best Screenplay, junior Nolan Brautigam for Best Director, and junior Nate Tranell for Best Picture.

Tranell, who won Best Picture, detailed his excitement at winning arguably the most prestigious award for his 20-minute film “The Sleepless Watch”. 

“I was kind of shocked, because all the other filmmakers had made some really well thought out projects that I thought were better than mine … it was a shock and kind of an affirmation,” Tranell said. 

Tranell’s film was created with $50 and an iPhone 14, but not at the expense of quality. Tranell highlighted the time and dedication behind “The Sleepless Watch”–from the screenplay, to hiring actors, to blocking and filming scenes, to the final editing. 

Van Allen similarly noted the combination of elements.  “You have art, you have music, and then you layer in storytelling on top of that,” Van Allen said. “But because it’s such a combination of all those things, you get something really unique and I think it’s really special. I’ve fallen in love with it.”

“If there’s one word I could use to describe making a student film, it’s chaos, but chaos is also rewarding when you can clump it together to make something incredible out of it,” Tranell said. 

Along with celebrating students like Tranell, another goal of the SCOSCARS was to raise awareness for the film program, which not only connects students with their interests, but also teaches real-world skills.

“As someone who wants to go into either production or post-production, I feel like it’s really cool to learn about different aspects [of filmmaking],” Helling said. “I hope [the SCOSCARS] inspire people to maybe take a look at the [film program] and take classes.”

Van Allen agreed. “I hope that the SCOSCARS will grow our filmmaking programs here, and get more students to take Cinema Arts. Video editing, I think, is really important in the 21st century,” Van Allen said. “You can use video editing skills, not just to make movies, but to use in business or Instagram, or all those types of things people are doing to get what they’re passionate about out to the world.”

In the future, Van Allen and the student committee plan to make the SCOSCARS an annual event to celebrate students, raise awareness for the program, and continue to build community at State High: all through the art of film.