Reduce, reuse and show off your artistic skills by participating in the University Library Studio’s Recycled Video Contest and Festival. Contestants will use footage from public domain films to create their own movies.
“This is essentially an editing contest,” Troy Davis, Media Services Librarian, said. Contestants can choose footage from over 40 short films that are in the public domain, and then can add titles and sound, rearrange the order of clips, and “recycle” the images to produce their own creative work.
There are few rules and guidelines for the contest. “We hope this will allow for maximum creativity and flexibility in making the videos,” Davis explained. The movie can be no longer than five minutes, and must feature the public domain footage that is provided. “The footage we have selected is generally environmental in its focus,” Davis said. “The works should push the boundaries about the accepted notions of what constitutes the environment,” he continued.
All the materials needed to create the films are available in the Studio at Hodges Library. Once contestants register using at the Recycled Video Contest web site, they will receive an NTSC miniDV tape with the video footage, which can be picked up at the Studio or mailed. Ready-to-edit footage will also be available in the Studio as an iMovie and Final Cut Pro project.
Interested contestants shouldn’t be put off by not knowing how to use the technology, however, because the Library is already prepared to help. “Not knowing much is not a bad thing,” Davis said. “Register and come by the Studio. We can show you how to use the software … it’s up to you to make it artful.”
Students, faculty, and staff are eligible to enter the contest, and prizes will be provided by Apple and the UT Computer Store. Registration began November 15 and will continue until March 4, 2005. Films must be submitted by March 28, 2005. A festival gala will be held during the Environmental Semester to show the top entries and award prizes.