Senior Project: Effects of War

Aidan McCormick spent dozens, if not hundreds, of hours on his Senior Project.

by Lin McNulty

Orcas Island High School Senior Aidan McCormick admits he is a history buff, with perhaps a bit of curiosity about war.

Working as a technician on the recent Actors Theater production of Tracers at The Grange, which depicted the experience of eight young American soldiers in Vietnam, McCormick knew what his Senior Project would be.

He interviewed a couple of local Vietnam veterans, a WWII veteran, and a veteran advocate/activist, researched and collected stock footage, and poured over the internet for facts and dates. From nearly 2.5 hours of interview footage, he created a 26-minute film entitled: Vietnam and Personal Reports of War.

After devoting a little under 120 hours to the project—half of which was spent editing—the film debuted in front of his classmates on Friday morning to a warm reception. Two of the interviewees were able to attend and share in the finished product and answer questions from McCormick’s fellow students.

The take-away lessons he learned included the realization that veterans are not usually recognized solely in terms of their service. Two of the veterans interviewed believe that people’s perception of them never changed upon learning they were war veterans.

“I learned that making a movie is hard,” he adds. “It took a long time, and this was the first time I had done something like this. Editing was probably the most daunting part of the experience since it was so new to me.”

Possible further distribution of the film is under consideration, to include family, friends, YouTube, and perhaps the Library of Congress Veterans Project.