16-year-old Wheaton filmmaker a one-man show

Meet Jasper Lown, 16, of Wheaton. For three years, he's been writing, directing, editing, scoring and regularly starring in contest-winning Internet videos. He cranks out about one a month, and they've earned him thousands in cash and vacations. He reinvests his winnings into his art.

#8220;Ever since I can remember I've been interested in making videos,#8221; said Jasper, a sophomore at Wheaton Warrenville South High School. #8220;I enjoy the fact that it's an uncommon medium for someone my age to be so wrapped up in. It's one component of my personality that makes me unique.#8221;

Jasper got the bug in 2009 after seeking out his first online video contest and finding there were scores for the choosing.

Since then, he's produced about 40 commercials, cooking demonstrations, public-service announcements and topical pieces #8212; a third of which finished in first, second or third place. Last month, the teen was flown to Washington for winning top honors in the American Bar Association's 2nd Annual Law Day Video Contest. He placed second the year before.

Jasper's work takes on many shades. In his award-winning #8220;Free the Bowl#8221; contest series, he plays guitar and sings original songs about the Super Bowl being saturated with beer ads. In #8220;Mediation: Explanation Dramatization,#8221; he presents a short, experimental narrative sequence leading into a rundown of the legal concept and its facets. His #8220;Do The Ride Thing!#8221; PSA explains all-terrain vehicle safety through computer-assisted animation and features another original song.

Most of Jasper's work is done on a 2008 Apple Mac Pro. He shoots on personally scouted locations with a digital SLR camera and does his own editing, sound and production work at home. Occasionally, his parents or a friend of the family appear in his videos. The projects take varying amounts of time and often depend on how much schoolwork he has. #8220;That comes first,#8221; Jasper says.

Each project begins with a few ideas jotted into a notebook that rarely leaves his side. He often works under strict contest deadlines. At the end, any winnings go back into the pot for his next effort.

#8220;Once I have a solid concept constructed, I will sit down and start writing screenplays that state in more detail the specifics of the dialogue, the positioning of the camera, the layout of the set, etc. The video shoots usually last a few hours, many times longer than I originally anticipate,#8221; he says. #8220;It is not uncommon that I'll shoot 20 takes per shot. I'm not satisfied until the scene looks as perfect as it can using my available resources.

#8220;Then comes the long, sometimes monotonous task of editing. It'll usually take a weekend to put together footage, to add graphics, to add sound effects, and to compose a musical score for the background.#8221;

Jasper says one factor that's worked to his advantage is his strict adherence to copyright laws. He says he's careful so that his videos are #8220;created from scratch,#8221; whereas some contestants get the boot for borrowing a song or photo. His efforts are proving lucrative so far, winning him cash prizes of up to $1,000 and #8212; twice now #8212; all-expense-paid trips to the U.S. Capitol.

#8220;We wonder sometimes when he enters these contests if the judges think it's impossible somebody his age could have done this,#8221; his father, Brandon, says. #8220;I'll help hold up a reflector or the microphone, or focus (if he's on camera), but that's as far as I go. I'm just blown away. He taught himself all of this.#8221;

Laura Vazquez, an award-winning filmmaker and professor of media studies at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, viewed some of Jasper's work for the first time last week. It's obvious, she says, that he is #8220;extremely talented#8221; for his age and quickly maturing in his craft.

#8220;I've been teaching introductory media courses for the past dozen years, and I don't see many people with that talent and ability. I do see them, but it's a small number,#8221; says Vazquez, whose documentary #8220;On the Edge#8221; has been picked up by PBS. #8220;He has a very strong sense of rhythm and he's very talented at creating media. It's an amazing level of maturity that you can see in his work, and you can see it.#8221;

Jasper's father says the boy may get it naturally, having a grandfather and an uncle in advertising. Brandon Lown himself also recently enrolled in film classes at College of DuPage, after the benefit of #8220;living the experience#8221; through his son. He says he's long been interested in media, but never did much more than run lights and a video feed at a Chicago concert venue.

#8220;I'm a proud papa,#8221; he says.

For Jasper, the best payoff is having a creative outlet that happens to pay. He says he's proudest of his music videos and wants to build on that. He's not so enamored with the cooking demonstrations.

Whether this all turns into a career, Jasper says, is up in the air.

#8220;The economy is in a horrible state, and I don't see that many jobs being available,#8221; he says. #8220;So I'm not sure at the moment.#8221;

Then again, it's not his style to quit.

#8220;Typically, someone interested in video production won't go beyond the stage of making a few outrageous home movies with friends,#8221; he says. #8220;Throughout my life, I've taken on interests more passionately and for longer periods of time than the typical person. When I start to like something, I'll inevitably fall in love with it.#8221;