THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 23, 1994 TAG: 9409230061
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY BONKO, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
WHEN YOU ARE young and healthy, what is there to fear from the future? Plenty, according to high school kids in Virginia Beach who during the past few months stepped before the camera for two teen documentary makers.
Steve Staley and Rick Bright, seniors last year at Tallwood High, borrowed an uncluttered technique used in the past by several acclaimed documentarians. They selected interesting people, pointed a camera at them, put a microphone in their hands, asked them to speak frankly and then got out of the way.
Parts of the film will be used as catalysts for frank discussions among 40 local high school students for ``The Class of 2000: Students Speak Out,'' a program on Channel 15 that airs tonight at 9 and Sunday at 3 p.m.
What are you most afraid of, Miss Tallwood High Senior?
``That after graduating from college with a degree in sociology or something like that, I won't be able to find a job, and I'll end up flipping hamburgers at Burger King or McDonald's.''
And you, Mr. Tallwood High School Senior, what scares you?
``What I fear most of all is. . . being a nobody.''
For almost a year, Staley and Bright walked the corridors of high schools in Virginia Beach, malls and homes, focusing their camcorders on the faces of students who talked fearlessly about their education, their future, their ambitions, almost anything at all.
``The camera seemed to knock down the walls between us,'' said Staley.
``We were met with open hearts. We went up to the kids, told them what we were doing and we were taken seriously.''
The future? It worries many of the students.
``I'm afraid I won't be able to get a job, be forced on welfare and live the rest of my life in the projects.''
Projects? Norfolk has projects. Portsmouth has 'hoods. Does rich and resorty Virginia Beach have projects, too?
While acknowledging that they will need a sophisticated education to succeed in the 21st century, some students admit to shirking in class.
What's left for them? How will they set their future straight?
The military will rescue them, some say to the camera.
``There is a real concern about the job market among the seniors,'' said Staley, who was 14 when he first borrowed his grandparents' camcorder to put his ideas on tape. He started with homemade videos, than a movie, than this ``Class of 2000'' project.
David Ferraro, WHRO's executive producer for local programming, first saw the work of Staley and Bright in a video competition sponsored by the channel's high school broadcasting partnership. ``They showed good technique, imagination and wit. I saw their work as a perfect match with our `Class of 2000' project,'' he said.
The match was made, and tonight at 9, you'll see high school students taped by Staley and Bright confessing what is important to them. by CNB