Digital Knight another huge success
Some of the best games, websites, photos and 3-D models were on display for everyone to see Thursday as North Fort Myers High School held its third annual Digital Knight in the media center.
Students got a look at some of the work from the school’s most talented students, with the winners showing off their work to interested visitors.
Jennifer Curls, arts and media coordinator at the school, said she had a record number of entries this year.
“We had close to 400 student projects, but we couldn’t fit them all, so we have about 300 spread around the room,” Curls said. “The prizes were amazing this year. They were donated by Victory Layne Chevrolet.”
First-prize winners received a Go-Pro camera. Second-place won a Wacom drawing tablet, and third-place winners got a $25 gift card to AMC theatres.
You couldn’t walk more than a few feet without seeing something interesting, whether it be photography or a music video. And the winners were more than happy to show their entries.
Kaitlin Richards-Gilbert, a junior, displayed her 3-D model of marshmallows taking a dip into a cup of hot chocolate.
“It was originally created as an animation, but my teacher entered it as a 3-D model because I didn’t have time to work on the animation,” Richards-Gilbert said.
Meanwhile, Vince Marcucci was showing off his winning music video, which was filmed to the beat of a Beastie Boys song and meant to get people up and moving.
“It’s called ‘Get Moving’ and it provokes people to get outside and get active. I went all around my school, my neighborhood and to the Cape Coral Yacht Club and asked people to be active while I filmed them,” Marcucci said. “It started out with a few different shots of people on their phones instead of getting outside.”
Sophomore Joseph Adams had people play his award-winning game, Golden Dungeon, a game with a “Legend of Zelda” feel.
“It’s real good. The idea is to get through the dungeon. I started around January and I’m still pretty new to it, but hopefully, when I try to buy a new version of the system I used, it will do much better,” Adams said.
Natalie Lozada won for 3-D animation, which shows a video chicken cross a street during rush hour to get a coin, only to fall into the water.
“It’s based on the popular App ‘Crossy Roads’ where you’re a chicken trying to cross the road,” Lozada said. “When it goes into the water, it’s game over. He gets the coin, but it’s a bittersweet ending.”
Francisco Franko shocked nobody as he won for best commercial with the “Teendrive” video that became a finalist in the Toyota Teen Drive video contest as well as the Senior Award with a $400 scholarship.
Josh Pollman won best website, Jordan Welch had the best graphic design, Patrick Caughey had the highest Microsoft score, an award given to freshmen, and Jami Melum had the best digital photography.
Andy Jeter, digital and web design instructor, said all the work was tremendous.
“There are students who have proven they could go into the workforce today with what they’ve accomplished,” Jeter said. “Our website winner created one for a German bakery. Some of this stuff is getting out there.”