The chance to make a video for a contest and earn extra class credit turned out to be more than just an additional project for four students from Georgia Regents University. Their first foray into acting and filmmaking paid off with $1,000 and a first-place prize.
The contest, sponsored by the American Physiology Society, called for short videos that presented some aspect of physiology in a way the general public could understand. What set the GRU students’ video apart was not just its serious topic, but a humorous and direct approach.
“Hillbilly Hypoglycemia” starred student producers Michael Ridlehoover, Alexis Wren and Zachary Minter. Freshman Trent Arant, a TV/cinema major, filmed, directed and edited the piece. All four split the prize money.
“We had spent a lot of time learning about insulin and hypoglycemia in our class on endocrinology,” said Ridlehoover, who graduated in May and is heading to dental school. “We had to pick something that we went over in class, so we started bouncing ideas back and forth. We thought of doing a music video, and then somebody suggested a backwoods kind of thing. That struck a chord in me.”
Ridlehoover ran with the hillbilly theme and created a script that he acted out with Minter. The video trails two “hillbillies” who are fishing when one loses consciousness. At the hospital, the diagnosis is hypoglycemia, and the doctor gives a complete explanation of the causes and treatment.
“This video provides an insight to what actually occurs in the human body with the physiological disorder hypoglycemia,” said Minter, a senior chemistry major. “The scenario represented the binding of insulin and the results of the insulin signal, along with some added humor to make an educational video enjoyable.”
Wren, a junior chemistry major, had seen Arant’s videos and recruited him to put together the final piece. Arant, who plans on a career as a photography director, already boasts a résumé that includes music videos for local bands, football videos for local high schools and short films.
“I had seen his videos and knew how talented he was,” Wren said. “I was positive that if we could come up with a good concept and script, Trent could make us an amazing video. Once we got together and started filming, Trent gave us a lot of great insight, such as what angles would look cool, what kind of shots would really make it stand out and how to act.”
The filming took about 12 hours, and Arant edited the video in about three. The final cut was submitted to the competition last fall, and the team learned in February that they'd captured the $750 first place price. In addition, they earned $250 for accumulating the most views of the video on YouTube (www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1EEgiX4Av8).
“I’ve won a few awards before, but it was nothing nationally ranked,” Arant said. “This is definitely one of the biggest things that I’ve done. This is definitely going to open up some doors for me.”
In April, the science students flew to Boston to receive the award at the American Physiological Society’s annual experimental biology meeting . In addition, their work will be published by the society, and they’ve been asked to write a classroom activity about the portion of the video that describes how insulin is taken in by cells.
The project had another secondary plus, said Ridlehoover, who had never acted in front of a camera. It gave him and Minter a chance to poke some fun at their Southern twangs.
“Yes, it’s ironic: We have those accents and are graduating from college,” said Ridlehoover with a laugh. “It was very tongue-in-cheek. We had a good time making fun of ourselves.”
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