Sticky situation
McNair students build multimedia haunted houses
Interactive haunted houses inspired by famous horror movies were on display Tuesday afternoon at McNair High School.
A collaborative project that combined technology and sculpture allowed students to turn popsicle sticks into multimedia art projects that were directed by code.
Clare Bhakta — who teaches Intro to Code and Computer Science: Inventing Smart Objects, a class that teaches students how to create smart technology — and art and sculpture teacher Jannet Ortega guided the students in creating their projects.
The 120 students from Bhakta and Ortega’s classes teamed up to make 50 haunted houses, with doors wired to open and close on a timer and lights that flashed when onlookers passed by.
“The sculpture students picked a scary house from a movie to recreate with popsicle sticks, and the Inventing Objects students added lights, sound and motion using code and microprocessors,” Bhakta said.
Administrators throughout the Lodi Unified School District visited the McNair campus to view the student projects and learn about the Inventing Smart Objects class.
According to Bhakta, she was brought on by the district to introduce creative and comprehensive computer science classes to students.
She is now working to bring college-level curriculum to her students in kindergarten through 12th grade, and is teaching students about technology processes that she learned during her undergraduate years.
“These students are doing things in high school that I didn’t do until my second or third year in college,” she said.
When Ortega and Bhakta met during a professional development workshop, they began brainstorming ways to integrate technology and art.
“I did this haunted house sculpture project last year with my students, but it was not as technical. But after meeting Mrs. Bhakta and going back and forth, we knew it would be such an amazing opportunity to bring both mediums together,” Ortega said.
Ortega was surprised by how sizable the students’ projects were, and how involved they became in the project.
“The students used 35,000 popsicle sticks for these projects. I initially ordered 20,000, thinking that would be more than enough, but after students told me they were running out and I saw their drawings I had to order an additional 15,000,” Ortega said.
Bhakta said students used Python — an interpreted, high-level, general-purpose programming language — to code the lights in the houses to flicker and doors to open and close.
“Taking something like a haunted house and turning it into a smart house allows students to think critically and creatively,” Bhakta said. “Students were even able to determine the colors of light based on a line of code they wrote.”
Giovanny Sierra, a junior enrolled in Ortega’s sculpture class, teamed up with seniors Si Watson and Michael Simpson in Bhakta’s smart technology class. The trio spent a month making a 3-D replica of the Overlook Hotel, from the film adaption of “The Shinning” by Stephen King. The movie hotel was based on the Stanley Hotel in Colorado.
Sierra studied the Colonial Revival architecture of the Stanley Hotel when he began sketching and sculpting the 2-foot model.
“I really like how the likeness of the outside columns and bell tower came out,” he said.
Watson and Simpson were pleased with how the technical elements invoked the eerie feeling King conveyed in his work.
“We want to add smoke and sound effects to the house. We are not finished with it yet,” Watson said.
“We are trying to figure out how to get the sound of Jack Nicholson’s voice saying ‘Where’s Johnny?’ to play when the hotel door opens,” Simpson added.
Students around campus can vote for their favorite haunted houses. The student group that receives the most votes will win a movie-themed prize, Ortega said.
“I am just so proud of all the students. They did such an amazing job,” Bhakta said.
Bhakta is eager to see more interactive technology classes added to the district curriculum, and to be involved in the process, she said.