Winners named in the World's Shortest Ever Tsunami Movie Competition

Ohaeawai School's Team Maunga were from left, Arbey Boyce, Jake Thomas, Mason Dalton and Cruz Rihari. Absent is Sydney-Rose Hohepa, who edited the movie with Jake.

Fake blood and black eyes, special effects and a tin of cat food featured alongside some of Northland's future film stars in the winning entries in the World's Shortest Ever Tsunami Movie Competition.

The contest was organised by Far North Civil Defence to help kids learn the natural warning signs of a tsunami and what to do if one is on the way.

The joint winners were Ohaeawai and Oromahoe schools as judged by Paihia-born film director Florian Habicht, famous for movies such as Kaikohe Demolition and Love Story.

The prizes were awarded yesterday with Ohaeawai School's Team Maunga winning a barbecue for their creative efforts and Oromahoe School a GoPro camera. Each pupil also took home a Civil Defence emergency kit.

The movies had to be at most three minutes long and include the sound of a tsunami siren, one of the warning signs of an approaching tsunami, and a "grab 'n' go" kit.

At both schools students wrote the script and made the storyboards themselves, did the filming and editing, created special effects, and - in Oromahoe's case - made litres of fake blood using golden syrup and food colouring.

Mr Habicht, who is currently in the UK, said the Ohaeawai kids' performance was the most artistic he had seen, and he would never again forget to include cat food and tinned spaghetti in his emergency kit. He liked Oromahoe's entry because it told a real story, centring on a missing child and students fleeing to higher ground.

The contest was part of a tsunami awareness programme delivered to 1400 schoolchildren across the Far North. Civil Defence officer Ann-Marie Houng Lee said she was confident the children who had taken part now knew exactly what to do if they heard or saw one of the warning signs of a tsunami.

The movies have already attracted more than 3000 views on the Civil Defence Northland and Far North District Council Facebook pages. The winning movies will also be posted on the Advocate's website, www.northernadvocate.co.nz.

* The natural warning signs of a tsunami are an earthquake longer than a minute or strong enough to knock you off your feet; a rumbling noise like a jet plane; and unusual sea behaviour such as water receding suddenly.