A lot can happen in single moment.

In the short film “Why Me?” student filmmakers Sarah Richardson, Rob Critelli, Da Nija Williams, and Yanelle Nieves explore a moment in the life of teenager Emily Cappaletti when she gets asked on her first day.  Viewers learn what Cappaletti painfully never realizes on screen: it was all a prank.

The film took first place in the Drama Category of the Artists Alike Film Festival on February 2. Its creators attended the festival and awards ceremony on February 6, where they received a “skyscraper” award.

The concept of the film came out of a conversation with club adviser and Digital Cinema teacher Mr. Gary Joseph

“We wanted to focus on a single moment of time,” said Richardson, who wrote the script. “We didn’t have to worry about a beginning, and not all films have to have resolution. We just brainstormed around a moment that would involve a lot of emotion and feeling.”

Although the final product was successful, the process had some challenges. Because the Video Club doesn’t meet as a class during the school day, the group shot all their footage in one night at Richardson’s house, only to realize later that none of their audio worked, and they had to re-do everything.

“We realized we had no sound and had to do it all over again,” said Richardson. “But this meant finding new actors, because the ones that we filmed first were busy and couldn’t come back a second time.”

Those new actors included Alexia Nieves and Teddy Davis, who act alongside Richardson, Critelli, and Williams.

The film will advance to the next round of competition.