Students participate in university wide ethics film competition

Several Behrend students are working with professor Mark Steensland to create a short film for the Penn State Rock Ethics Institute film competition. The goal for this third-annual competition is to focus on an ethical issue or to create a video that illustrates the benefits of being ethical in our everyday lives. Films must not exceed five minutes, and the submission deadline is April 20 and the finalists of this competition receive a $500 reward.

Evan Bukowski, Stephen Kabasinski, Edvina Dedic and Lindsay Ackman worked with Steensland in his advanced fiction production class as an independent study to create their production, which only took a day to film.

“They came up with a number of different ideas and then settled on a fake game show format in which students are presented with ethical dilemmas and then have to give the correct answer to win a cash prize,” said Steensland about his students. The group had chosen a number of ethical issues before settling on this one theme. 

The students put a lot of work into writing the film and they have worked hard behind the scenes during post-production as well. 

This competition is open to undergraduate and graduate students throughout the Penn State system to “promote ethical awareness and inquiry across the University, and in the public and professional sectors, through a three-fold emphasis on teaching, research, and outreach” as stated in the mission statement on the Rock Ethics Institute website, which is part of the College of Liberal Arts at Penn State that assists in promoting ethics education.

Originally the Behrend group was working on a different film project but was forced to cancel due to conflicts in everyone’s schedules. When Steensland found out about the Rock Ethics competition he told the class immediately. 

“They liked the idea of making something to compete. So we got to work right away,” said Steensland. 

All ethical themes are welcome for this competition that will encourage critical thinking and analysis of our duties as members of communities and as students of Penn State. Some major themes include: Ethics in Climate Change, Bioethics, Ethics Education, Ethical Leadership, and Critical Philosophy of Race. 

Selection of winners is judged on film quality, originality and creativity, as well as the clear expression of the ethical issue chosen for the film. Winning entries from 2010 and 2011 can be found on the Rock Ethics Institute’s YouTube page.      

“I feel satisfied that the students have learned a great deal about the filmmaking process,” Steensland said.