February 17, 2005
Save the public domain and make a statement
Hurry! Register for the Recycled Video Contest
Time is running out! Don't lose your chance to flaunt your creative side and make an environmental statement in the same stroke. The deadline for registering for the University Libraries Studio’s Recycled Video Contest is March 4.
The contest directly correlates to this semester's overall environmentally friendly theme, albeit in a more figurative way. The original idea for this contest stemmed from congressional extension on copyrighted material, which essentially makes the public domain obsolete.
"That's where the irony is," Troy Davis, Media Services Librarian, said. "Without the public domain, this contest wouldn't exist."
While the focus of the contest is on the environment, rhetorically, the contest promotes the same idea both in the content of the films used and in the method of filmmaking.
"You don't have to be a filmmaker; it's already all there," Davis said. "This is essentially an editing contest. Everybody gets the same footage, and the challenge is to create a film from this disparate footage that coherently touches on the environmental theme."
Both the environment and the public domain have limits, but infinite variety can exist within those limits, Davis added. The challenge of the contest is to reuse and recycle parts of the public domain to create a totally new creative work.
The contest is limited as well, when it comes to rules. The lack of guidelines should spark the fires of creativity and allow for more flexibility. The only rules are a time limit of 5 minutes and the work must contain the footage pre-selected from the public domain.
Once registered, participants will receive an NTSC miniDV tape with the permissible footage. The independent films can be edited in the Studio, and anyone who feels queasy at the sight of technology should not forgo the contest.
"All you really need is a plot," Davis said. "The Studio can show you how to use the software."
The deadline for submissions is March 28, and the film festival showcasing the winners and selected entries will be the final showing of Documentaries in the Library on April 27. Anyone interested in seeing films using domain footage should see two Documentaries in the Library screenings: The Corporation on March 16 and Fed Up! Genetic Engineering, Industrial Agriculture and Sustainable Alternatives on April 6.
This inaugural contest is set to continue in upcoming years in order to build awareness about the public domain as well as the resources available at University Libraries. For more information or to register, please visit the Recycled Video Web site or contact Davis via email or at 865-974-4726.
Posted by at 04:48 PM in Press Releases