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High schoolers create fast-food commercial Mail Tribune / Jim Craven North Medford High School students, from left, Bridget Anderson, April Jerden and Levi Huffman, work with Creative Communications producer and editor John Lowery to produce a commercial that the students wrote and directed for a fast-food restaurant. The commercial will air tonight during an NBA playoff game. Students had to squeeze ideas into 30 seconds By DAMIAN MANN In a world filled with fast-food aficionados, a high school student might be considered the ultimate epicure. So, when it came to doing a 30-second commercial for a local fast-food outlet, who would be better than a high school student to come up with the story idea? Three avowed fast-food junkies from North Medford High School entered a contest to write, produce and direct a 30-second Taco Time commercial that will air tonight, between 6:30 and 7 p.m, during an NBA playoff game on TBS. Don Dietl, owner of two Taco Time locations in the Rogue Valley, decided their idea was the best out of four schools, which also included Crater High, Phoenix High and Grants Pass High. "North met the criteria of community involvement, food quality and the quality of the product," said Dietl. Their idea was to show a baseball batter who gets enough energy from eating a taco to hit a home run in the ninth inning with all bases loaded. April Jerden, 15, said "It was really interesting. We learned a lot." Bridget Anderson, 16, said "Editing was the hardest part. But they let us do what we wanted." The students received help from Taco Time, Charter Communications and Creative Communications. Levi Huffman, 15, said, "They pretty much let us direct. We learned a lot, especially about trying to get everybody to come to the shots." All the students admitted they liked fast food. Anderson, whose mouth was stained blue from candies she'd eaten earlier, confessed, "Sometimes I'll have a Pepsi early in the morning." Fortified with the breakfast of champions, Anderson and the other students had no problems coming up with idea for the contest. Jerden said they even thought of one concept where a psychiatrist would come to the aid of a couple because the husband was addicted to tacos. Students from Grants Pass proposed the idea of a Chihuahua who comes to Taco Time to apply for a job - making fun of the Taco Bell commercials. But Taco Time officials wanted something more wholesome that projected the freshness of their food, and the North Medford students had just the script. The commercial begins with a ball game where one team is losing 3-0. It's the bottom of the ninth, all bases are loaded and the hitter asks for a Taco Time break. The next scene is in the dugout as the team wolfs down their tacos. After that, the batter steps up to the plate, hits a home run and the team wins. The students spent two days developing the story idea before submitting it to Taco Time. Anderson said one of the difficulties they had during the shoot was to make 42 volunteer students from North look like a large crowd. "We had to make a small group look big." After the shoot, the students went to editing facilities at Charter Communications where producer and editor John Lowery added graphics, music and other effects. The commercial splices together clips provided by the corporate offices of Taco Time, along with video of the ballgame at Miles Field. All the students agreed that paring their original idea down to a 30-second time slot was difficult. "The first time it was a minute long and we were not even half way through, said Huffman. Originally, the students even planned to shoot it as a basketball game, but realized this was baseball season. Teacher Frank Drew said, "The students acted as individual advertising agencies in a team effort." Drew said the Medford school district's plan to create a skill center would create more opportunities for business and education to work together on projects. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.