By Patrick Greenwell
The Miller Information Technology Center is not often seen as a community-oriented location on campus. However, IT hopes to change this view with its annual weRock iMovie Fest, a celebration and competition of student films.
The iMovie Fest began last year; nine films were submitted, with the theme of life at U of L. The winning film, “U of L in Motion,” was put together by Kat Alcorn, Andrew Hoehler, Nana Kumi, Matthew Warren and Amanda Wilson, who went on to sell some of the rights to the film to the University of Louisville to be used as promotional material.
No theme was required of the films this year.
“We just wanted to give students a chance to be creative—to do whatever,” said Dr. Priscilla Hancock, vice president of IT and chief information officer.
This year, by coincidence, another nine videos were submitted, produced either by solo artists or teams of up to five students. Videos were required to be no longer than five minutes in length, created with iMovie or Final Cut software. The software was available on Apple laptops, which could be checked out from the iTech Xpress store in Miller IT, along with camcorders.
Films were submitted no later than Oct. 26, and the judging process began on Oct. 27. All of the judges had some background in video editing and production, and scored the films based on scripting, cinematography, editing and creativity.
“The videos were fantastic,” said Janet Valentine, a judge for weRock. “These students’ videos are as good as any professionals out in the market. For not having any experience in the field, these are very, very good.”
Of the nine submissions, three winners were selected. Each member of winning teams received a lava lamp trophy, dog tag and certificate. Second and third place received iTunes gift cards, while first place won a 32 GB iPod touch. First prize went to Adam Boone and Jason Porter, for their dark comedy, “Ground Chuck.”
Most contestants, however, were simply glad to have had the opportunity to create something. Graduate student Jessica Denzik, co-creator of the third place entry, “Find Fix Fly,” had never made a film before, but wanted to create something artistic and dramatic.
“Creativity is underrated,” said Denzik. “This gave me a chance to flex my creative muscle.”
Denzik’s partner in creating the film, William Adam Greene, is a graduate student pursuing an entrepreneurial MBA. Greene has some experience in filmmaking, but it had been some time since his last attempt. He hoped that the project might help him with his degree.
“Mainly, this is important because we are free,” said Greene. “We are creatively stifled in most other classes, but this promotes creativity. Giving us this amount of flexibility with a project really gets the creative juices flowing. That helps in a field like entrepreneurship.”
IT plans to continue the festival annually.
“Video is part of the new generation,” said Valentine. “It’s what people are into. We want to promote that.”
Hancock hopes that this will help draw more people into Miller IT.
“I really want IT to be a community place,” said Hancock. “This is your home; I want you to enjoy it. It’s not even bound to one campus—there are iMovie festivals across the country. It’s all part of the ‘new.'”
