What inspired you to take on this particular topic and make this film?

Harneet – Basically, we were trying to look for a universal topic which people would relate to, and the one commonality we found was that none of us slept (enough).

Whitney –We had made a documentary before and it was more specific to our school, so we decided right away that we wanted to make (this one) a universal topic so that everybody watching it could actually relate to it.

What was the most important thing each of you learned from this process?

Harneet – The most important thing I learned was the value of group work. We all had our own different inputs, and it was interesting to see how everything meshed together, how we were able to combine all of our ideas into one big final project we could all be proud of.

Whitney – I learned group work as well, and getting to know everyone who’s working with you, but also working specifically in documentaries, setting up interviews, actually learning how to get good audio, get a good shot.

Thomas - What I got out of it was mostly the technical aspects in terms of making the documentary. I have seen plenty of boring documentaries in my time and I think what we wanted to do was be informative and yet we wanted to push the boundaries of what we could do artistically so we could continue to entertain. I think that really was a learning process in how we can make this documentary both entertaining and visually appealing so we don’t lose the audience’s interest.

Mathew - I think one of the main things I took out of it was learning how to have the proper work ethic. There were some pretty late nights working on the transcriptions and stuff, and not being afraid to do the grunt work. I can remember, at least for me, that this was the first project where I really put in that level of commitment and effort, and to an extent that’s true for all of us. Your sense of ownership and pride in the project really does show.

Was there anything that surprised you about studying sleep that you’ll take away with you?

Thomas – One thing I learned that was really cool was that I always learned that if you don’t get enough sleep or if you don’t sleep at all for an extended period of time, your body will shut down and you’ll die. We actually learned in the process that that’s not true – no one has ever actually died from not sleeping, you just slowly sort of slip into insanity. I think it does show you how important the proper amount of sleep can actually be.

Harneet -  And I learned that if you go one night  without sleep and you drive the next day, that’s the equivalent of driving with a blood alcohol level of .08.

As young people who have a lot on your plates in high school, why do you think it’s important to make others, especially your peers, aware of the issues surrounding sleep?

Whitney – I guess at a school like ours that’s really intellectual and academics-based, a lot of kids will get into a study session and then just go for hours and forget to sleep. We wanted to remind everybody that it’s really important to sleep and take care of your body because you really need to know what’s going on and what could happen. No matter how important the project may be, even though we stayed up late for this project, it can’t be as important as taking care of yourself and actually getting the proper sleep so you don’t go crazy.

Thomas  – People in general don’t seem to consider the extra side effects that may happen because, especially the way the universe is going now, it’s not unusual for people to miss one or two nights of sleep, depending on their job, so you don’t really consider what exactly could happen.

Whitney – I thought it was really interesting when we talked with Dr. Ingmundson (in the film), he touched on a really great point about the value of sleep in our society and how we’re depreciating it.

Harneet, you were the one who didn’t sleep for three days and included your experience in the film. How did that go for you?

Harneet - I started on a Friday morning, I went through my normal school day without any effects, and I stayed up for Sunday and Saturday also so it didn’t really affect my schoolwork. That weekend I really didn’t have that much to do. I kind of went about my usual schedule and did what I do every day. It was an odd experience, to say the least, and I called each one of (my teammates) and I don’t know what I said. I tried to be as normal as I could but it was quite difficult.

What advice do you have for other young people who may be inspired by what you did and want to make a documentary?

Mathew - I think one of the most important things is the topic selection in that you want to choose a topic that people will find interesting and that will tend to be a topic they’ve never really seen before. You can watch a documentary on history and it will be informative but there’s only so many times you can repeat that same information. For instance, The Cove, which won the Oscar this year for Best Documentary, it was so good because they actually put their lives on the line to make the film and it was something people hadn’t experienced before and I think that’s why it was so eye-opening. So I think the topic selection is definitely one of the most important aspects of the film.

Whitney - I would say don’t be afraid to go for it and do something crazy and unusual because you never know what might come out of it.

Anything else you’d like to add?

All: Get a good night’s sleep!