LEWISTON — When the camera and boom dropped off officer Tom Murphy, who’d just been filmed against the backdrop of the boarded-up Kennedy Park gazebo, a nearby man shouted out to filmmakers, “Don’t make him look too good!”

Two students from Maine Media Workshops’ Four-Week Documentary Film School spent Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in Kennedy Park getting hours of material for a five-minute documentary. On Thursday, they edit; Friday, they screen it for classmates.

Margaret Adams, who lives in Baltimore and teaches at Corcoran College of Art and Design, and Ariel Poster, who lives in Brooklyn and works as a movie production assistant, said they chose Lewiston for their class assignment specifically for its diversity.

Their vision is this city, as seen through the park.

“We thought this was a very visually and culturally interesting place,” Poster said.

In the first two weeks of the workshop, taught in Rockport by Bruno Tore, they learned camera work, sound, color, exposure and how to interview, she said.

“The people of Lewiston have been amazing,” Poster said. “Everyone’s been really friendly and generous with their time.”

Adams said they could have up to eight hours of material to edit after Wednesday. She said they hadn’t been shy, interviewing as many people as they could. Officer Murphy said he talked about how the growing immigrant population has changed the city, persistent rumors he’s heard and problems with kids emulating gangs.

“Tom’s the best,” Adams said.

Any surprises in their filming?

“Snake handlers, that was a surprise,” she said. “I didn’t expect to see that.”

The short documentary is being shown only in class.

kskelton@sunjournal.com