In the chaotic world of robotics at our school, the movie is one of the first things we begin to plan.  This long process starts with storyboarding.  Artists began to draw each team member as animated superhero character as we sketched out the main plot and timeline of the film.

Our movie juxtaposes the bright, learning spaces of ECS, our all-girls school with the darker design maze in which we create by night.  Light and dark, high-contrast and the battle of wits and deadlines, all take place in the Vex City lair of our Robotics superheroes.  In Vex city, each girl and her superpower are introduced.  Each component of Vex City is unveiled: our kiosk, our journal, our website., the game, our robot blueprint... and as we combine forces, we -- a small force of mutant girls manifest our robot.  Operation Vexoic is in full force.

Filming happens all year long.  Heroes-in-training bring cameras around to document each of the older heroes’ tasks.  This comes in handy for editing because we have many available clips to choose from.  Though we are busy building and dreaming ways to combat the evils of the game, you will never find us without a camera in our hands.  From the kickoff to the day before the media deadline – we’re always wired up. 

Next came the task of picking the location for our main film shoot.  What could be better than a huge warehouse?  Lots of usable space, tons of mysterious and slightly creepy shadows were all found at one of our parents’, Mr. Pessina’s warehouse.  Conveyor belts, trucks, miscellaneous machines and loading zones were the perfect canvas for us to paint the perfect superhero hideout upon. 

We then began to work on our original soundtrack score, inspired by Aretha Franklin’s R.E.S.P.E.C.T but re-recorded by our talented musicians and vocalists in grades 8 through 11, featuring a saxophone solo by our very own engineering head, Jenna Ditto.    We wrote our own lyrics and then selected girls to sing back up and lead vocals.  This tedious process required many long nights recording and mixing but the results were well worth it. 

As if that weren’t enough work, we combined both audio and video to create a movie that would outdo all others before it. 

Lyrics

(oo) Who we are
(oo)ECS(oo)
What we do
We're here Vex
All we're needin'
Is some HEROECS when you get down (to the gameboard)
Hey robots(in the skills test) when you get down (yeah team)
Shootin', spinnin' 4 wheel drivin'
hydrolic loadin', (oo) garages open (oo)
all we're askin (oo)
is for a lot "high scores" (just a little bit)
winnin .. (just a lot of it) ... owning our heats (and the skill tests)
we'll vex .. (just a little bit)

H E R O E C S
flying foward to success
H E R O E C S
why not ..check our specs

(journal, movie, engineering)
(kiosk, website, constant filming)
deadlines (watch 'em fly in)
heros ( watch 'em cryin')
batteries (sometimes dying)
but we ( keep on trying)

From vex city - in vest and capes
from our powers, our robot shapes
our kiosk - is a proper heros home

(journal, movie, engineering)
(kiosk, website, constant filming)
costumes (even when it's snowin')
heros ( just keep on sewin')

sketching, planning, all night long
even re-build it, (oo) cause sometimes we're wrong (oo)
but all we're askin (oo)
is for a lot "high scores" (just a little bit)
winnin .. (just a lot of it) ... owning our heats (and the skill tests)
we'll vex .. (just a little bit)

H E R O E C S
put your robots to the test
H E R O E C S
we are ..here to vex`
(mentors, minions, sound designers)
(singers, writers, fabric finders)
movie (watch 'it rollin)
website (watch it scrollin....)
journal (watch it flowin')
kiosk (watch it growing)
our team (watch us goin')
heroecs (never knowing)
heroecs (always growin')
heroecs (just keeps on going)