Testing their skills

The purpose of Skills-USA is to nurture a solid American workforce.

But to two local young men, the organization and its national competition served as an experience they won't soon forget.

Timothy Huey, who graduated from Cape Girardeau Central High School last year, was part of a digital cinema team that advanced to the national competition this past June in Louisville, Kentucky.

Not only did he enjoy observing the techniques of other digital media students from around the country, but he said he was impressed by the event's scope overall.

"It was really interesting to see the career fields represented by the different schools," he said.

Area students attended the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in June in Louisville, Kentucky.Submitted by Randy McWilson

Michael Mahan, who was on the team with Huey, described the experience as great fun.

"It was nice meeting people from other states," he said.

Randy McWilson, the boys' instructor at the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center, where both are now attending community college, has been encouraging students to get involved in Leesburg, Virginia-based SkillsUSA (skillsusa.org) activities since 2001.

McWilson also has served on the organization's National Television Contest Team since 2009.

"The students have the opportunity to measure their own skillset against others in similar programs across the area, state and the nation," McWilson wrote in an email. "For many of them, the chance to visit Jefferson City, Missouri, for state or Louisville, Kentucky, for nationals may be the first time they have experienced a significant trip very far from home."

Students compete in video editing at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in June in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo submitted by Randy McWilson)

Plus, the students get to network with peers as well as business and industry professionals.

To make it to the national event, McWilson's digital media students begin in January at the local level by producing a 30-second promotional video in only three hours.

After that, those who do well compete on the district and state levels before heading to Louisville in June.

When Huey and Mahan competed last summer, they were tasked with making a short thriller film in only 48 hours.

All they had was their own equipment, the knowledge gleaned from McWilson's instruction in things such as lighting and shot composition, and the parameters they were given on arrival at the competition.

Part of the main contest floor is shown at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in June in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo submitted by Randy McWilson)

What followed was a manic sprint of sleepless nights, with Huey seeing to the audio and Mahan dealing primarily with the visuals.

"It was a whole ordeal," Huey said.

The team members concocted a storyline about a man losing his mind as paranormal activity erupts all around him.

"We went, like, the horror route of thriller," Mahan said. "It was a really fun challenge."

To achieve an eerie, tense effect for the video, the team filmed in their hotel lobby during the night when it was mostly empty.

Ultimately, theirs ended up coming in 12th out of 38 other short-film entries in the competition.

Besides having a chance to flex their technical muscles, both young men said operating under such a compressed schedule showed them what is possible with focus and determination.

"When you get an idea, you commit to it; you can't get sidetracked," Huey said. "You have to keep working on it and working on it."

As usual, McWilson said he was gratified to see what his students were able to whip up in a hurry.

"I am always amazed and pleased with the quality of their work under such stringent guidelines and tight deadlines," he wrote.

ljones@semissourian.com

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