Joshua McDevitt, center, displays his third-place certificate with Doug Beals, left, paraeducator and Jeff Leone, video production and broadcasting instruction.

NASHUA – When the trailer for the film “Captain Dab: Conquest of the Hooligans” first aired at Chunky’s Cinema and Pub, moviegoers were amused, but also confused.

With such an absurd premise (a superhero who releases a “force-like” power when he does a “dab” dance move), how could this be a real movie?

According to filmmaker, Nashua High School South senior Joshua McDevitt, it isn’t. For his Video Production and Broadcasting class, McDevitt was instructed to make a trailer for a fake movie.

The idea was “just stupid enough,” he said, that it ended up winning Chunky’s “Best Comedy trailer of a non-existent movie” and was displayed on the big screen. Not everyone realized it was a fake student-made trailer, he said.

After a positive reception from friends and family, McDevitt and his partners, Tyler McCallum and Kellen Sheehan (Captain Dab himself), decided to make the a short film based on the trailer for their senior project for the class.

As part of the class, instructor Jeff Leone said students submit a project to the New Hampshire High School Short Film Festival. Students from all over the state participate, and of the 27 films selected to air, nine of the entries went to Nashua South students.

“Captain Dab” finished in third place.

“The students work really hard and take this very seriously,” Leone said. “They’re great kids and they really care about video production. It’s great to see and we always look forward to (the film festival).”

For McDevitt, who will attend Husson University as a video production major in the fall, the experience has been both encouraging and gratifying.

Scheduling was a challenge, as was filming outside at night in sub-zero temperatures, but the fun of creating the story, editing and seeing the final product come together made it all worth it, he said.

Plus, McDevitt got to use the “super sonic rider,” Captain Dab’s vehicle made from a mechanic’s bed, an idea which he and Sheehan came up with in eighth grade and always swore they would put in a film.

“It was a stressful but calculated process,” McDevitt said of the filming, “but it was a really fun experience.”

To watch the video, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4pSE_XUubU.

Hannah LaClaire can be reached at 594-1243 or hlaclaire@nashuatelegraph.com.