Larissa and Nathan, local high school students, edit their short video for the judges of the Regional Skills Competition held on February 23 and 26 at Durham College’s Oshawa campus.

Local secondary school students visited Durham College’s Oshawa campus last week to participate in a two-day Regional Skills Competition held by the School of Media, Art & Design on February 23 and 26.

The event hosted pairs of students from schools in Pickering and Oshawa, Ontario who competed in 2-D animation and television and video production categories on February 23 and photography, desktop publishing and graphic design categories on February 26.

Entered into the competition by their teachers, each pair had to follow a set of guidelines to create their final products. For the television and video production competition, students were asked to film a 30-second short commercial or public service announcement about bullying and how it affects high school students. They had to use specific types of cameras and edit their videos by inserting transitions and music.

In the 2-D animation competition, students were given a quote about the environment and asked to create a short 2-D cartoon using Adobe Flash using the quote. The students had five hours to complete their video or cartoon and show the judges.

“This competition was a great opportunity for us to put our skills to the test and hopefully come out on top,” said Nathan, a Grade 11 student. “We had such a great time filming around the campus!”

Students were also given access to the Mac labs to complete their projects and since most had never worked with a Mac, loved the experience.

“The Mac labs we got to use were really helpful as well,” added Larissa, a Grade 10 student and Nathan’s partner. “They helped us better develop the skills we already have.”