News Photo by Jordan Spence Rogers City High School student, 17-year-old Dyshauna Rutherford was named the winner and people’s choice for the Thunder Bay International Film Festival Student Film Competition.

ROGERS CITY — There is one main reason Dyshauna Rutherford chose unity as her theme for her winning entry in the Thunder Bay International Film Festival Student Competition.

“I love nature around me I realized that importance of unity. Me alone, plant alone and even animal alone couldn’t flourish without each other.”

It was the first time 17-year-old Rutherford entered a film competition. She took first place and people’s choice, in second place was Cameron Bullock also from Rogers City, third place went to students from California (entries could be made from all around the world).

“When they announced my name I don’t know what I was thinking,” she said. “I know I was crying. I know afterwards when I got to collect my thoughts I was very grateful. It was important to get validation from people who don’t even know me.”

Rutherford said she’s had an interest in movie creation for a few years. But, it wasn’t until this year when she took a computer broadcasting class at Rogers City High School that she really learned about her passion.

The video competition was also an assignment, said instructor Ben Witter.

“This class is about teaching the tools to help them tell their stories,” he said. “We love the competition was close so the kids could enter. This also helped them to put a lot of visuals into their final product. I’m super proud of the outcome.”

The video was filmed on a Canon Rebel T6 camera during a three day period, she said.

“To be honest it was very last minute,” Rutherford said. “I think that’s how I do my best work. All my creative avenues; the best projects are the ones I procrastinate on.”

Because the film was made within the first year of owning the camera she had to learn a lot of new techniques.

That was one of the hardest parts, she said.

“I tried to mess with exposure and aperture all that kind of stuff,” she said. “To make the perfect lighting and get the shot, that’s decent to look at.”

She said her favorite part about the project was how she had to delve into the world around her.

“I had to research all the aspect of plant life,” she said. “That was cool. I was able to learn about it (science) on my own terms. Which is easier.”

The film is about three minutes long and details how biodiversity means unity to Rutherford.

“I used a lot of overlays to make geometric visuals and that made it a little more interesting,” she said. “I tried to use a lot of bright clips. I do have a vault of video and image I recorded a long time ago. I used the brighter of those to make it pop more.”

Northeast Michigan Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative Network Coordinator, Meaghan Gass said she was happy with the turnout for the competition’s viewing.

“We had more entries than last,” she said. “We had entries from Stockbridge and Scottville.”

There was also a filmmaker’s panel where the students could ask professional filmmaker’s questions.

“The filmmaker’s on the panel were very impressed by the student’s films and they really think Dyshauna should pursue filmmaking. The way she was able to tell the story really pulls you in,” Gass said.

Rutherford said she loves film creation and plans to continue. She has made plans to enter another film festival downtstate.

“I don’t know a better way to explain it. It (filmmaking) allows me to put something back into the universe that’s positive and beautiful,” she said. “It helped me realize it is something I love to do.”

To view the films go to http://bit.ly/2017TBIFFStudentFilms

Jordan Spence can be reached via email at jspence@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5687.