Reflections is a national, arts-based program that encourages students to express their creativity across a theme and through a variety of venues. This years' theme was "Together We Can." The program competition begins at the local level with winners moving onto state and then the final, national level.
For the first time Hopkinton had a winner at the national level. Two Hopkinton students, Helen Gao of Hopkinton High School and Zachary Ritterbusch of Hopkins School, earned distinction in the National Finals for the PTA Reflections Competition. Helen Gao, earned an Award of Excellence in the category of Visual Arts and Zachary Ritterbusch received an Award of Merit in the category of Film Production.
HCAM News visited with Zachary at his home to learn more about his film project. In this HCAM News video, Ritterbusch talks about how he made his film and how it felt to win a national award.
Ritterbusch's short film entitled "Mission 5" was created entirely using Lego pieces. To get the Legos figures "in action", he first took 558 pictures, moving the Lego pieces ever so slightly with every frame. To complete the stop motion effect, Ritterbusch then used Google Picasa to make his pictures come to life.
To make it into the running for the national competition, "Mission 5" had to combat some stiff competition, winning at both the Hopkinton and statewide levels. Ritterbusch was one of 5 Hopkinton students winning at the state level before being awarded his national prize.
What are the aspiring filmmaker's plans for his next project?
"I might just start another today," said Ritterbusch.
