No more than full speed ahead for filmmakers

Even though Amanda Jonker spent days crafting a video encouraging Manitobans to ease up on the gas pedal, she admits she’s no angel behind the wheel.

“I speed a lot,” sighs the 17-year-old Sisler High School student. “Sometimes, I don’t even notice it. But my mom is the worst for speeding. Just a couple of days ago, she opened up the mail was like, ‘Crap, I got another (speeding ticket)!’ I was like, why don’t you just slow down?”

Now, Jonker and three other Winnipeg teens are helping to spread that message. On June 19, the Winnipeg Police Service announced the winners of its Just Slow Down anti-speeding youth video contest.

Of the 30 short flicks entered at JustSlowDown.Ca, four rose to the top of the online vote, with Jonker’s being named first runner-up.

Her video a dramatic short featuring speeding trivia taken from Carl Honore’s book In Praise of Slow, was filmed with her friend Kaitlyn West. “I like making directed to teenagers, because I know what interests them and captures their attention, “ says Jonker, who recently won three other video contests and hopes to attend Red River College’s digital multimedia program next year.

Plus, it served as a reminder to the teen to mend her own ways.

“When I first heard about the contest, I felt like I could really relate to the (message). There’s no point in speeding. It won’t get you there any faster. And if everybody in the world just slowed down, there would be less aggressive driving.”

That kind of talk is music to the ears of members of the Winnipeg Police Service.

“We were very pleased,” says police spokesperson Const. Jason Michalyshen. “The contest generated a lot of interest, and the message is simple. By getting this out to younger people, it’s a great place to start.”

The contest’s grand prize of a Toshiba laptop and bragging rights went to River East student James Plamondon, 16, who made his 27-second video in just a few hours as part of a software course.

Ever the artist, Plamondon wasn’t thrilled with his creation, despite the fact it received almost 2,000 views, according to Michalyshen.

“Everyone says it’s good, but the quality, some of the shots could have been better,” the North Kildonan resident says.

Plamondon, who used Facebook to drum up votes, filmed his video with the help of his brother Ben, 20.

“He doesn’t have a license, so someone needed to drive him around,” Ben laughs.

But though the video shows the elder Plamondon’s speedometer hitting 90 kilometres per hour on a residential road — with tragic results — there’s no need to haul either brother off to traffic court yet. They actually filmed the speedometer on the Perimeter Highway, and edited it into scenes of driving on a more bucolic residential road to create a little movie magic.

The other Just Slow Down video contest runner-ups included two Fort Richmond Collegiate students, Bradley Mutchmor and Robyn Miller.

Now that school’s out and children are out playing near city streets, Winnipeg police are hoping that the contest’s message gets heard.

“We’re just encouraging motorists to use extreme caution,” Michalyshen says. “Slowing down is going to prevent tragedies.”