'They're Very Excited': High School Robotics Team Builds Device For New Morgan Freeman Movie

A robotics team at a high school in Gulfport, Mississippi, has created a device that's playing a key role in a new Morgan Freeman movie.

Team Fusion 364 at Gulfport High School built a lifting and rotating turret that can raise a television monitor inside an art piece and then follow Freeman around in a living room setting as he observes a woman pick up money for the mafia at various locations.

"What this is -- this is going to go inside of a piece of art and it's going to allow the TV to come up and then rotate 360 degrees to follow the person on screen," junior Luke Simpson told CBS affiliate WLOX.

Robotics instructor Clint Brawley said building a robot for a movie is a new experience for the students.

"Usually we're working on more everyday problems like making COVID masks or designing a robot for a competition," he said. "This one they're very excited about because they know the end goal is working with Morgan Freeman, which the team have a little bit of history of."

Freeman, a Mississippi native, autographed a piece of equipment the Gulfport team used at a 2011 competition. The students said they looked forward to getting another autograph on their new device.

The students had roughly ten days to complete the device for the for the drama film "The Longest Night," which also features actress Ruby Rose.

"For me, it's very much so I just have the end goal in sight and I want to work toward that end goal and once its complete it's complete. Anything past that is just bonus," said sophomore Hunter Allen.

Local artist Marty Wilson would add the finishing touches to an on-set sculpture that would encase the robot mechanism, giving the device a unique South Mississippi look. They planned to begin shooting on Aug. 29 for about two weeks.