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Students take on Campus MovieFest challenge

Each team working on projects for Campus MovieFest is provided with a video camera, sound equipment and a computer to make edits.

By Andrea Seikaly

Oct. 22, 2013 12:17 a.m.

The challenge is to create a five-minute film in just one week. For UCLA student filmmakers participating in Campus MovieFest, today marks the end of this exciting but difficult process as they turn in their final submissions.

UCLA students have participated in this international festival, hosted at UCLA by the Campus Events Commission since 2006, and each team of filmmakers is provided with a video camera, sound equipment and a computer with editing software. The film submissions must not exceed the five-minute time limit, and while there are no restrictions in terms of the theme, all entries must be equivalent to a TV-14 rating.

Claire Kim, a third-year sociology student and the Campus Events Commission director of festivals, said participation in this year’s competition has increased compared to last year’s numbers, with about 100 people registering online and 50 representatives picking up equipment for their films.

“What we’re noticing is that there are a lot more teams submitting videos this year,” Kim said. “We’re expecting the submissions this year to be higher quality because there are a lot more opinions involved, rather than the more intimate, individual vision.”

Kim said the winners will be announced at the finale event on Nov. 7 in Ackerman Grand Ballroom. The top 16 films – eight dramas and eight comedies – will be screened at this event, and awards are presented to the best drama, best comedy and best picture at the end of the evening. Awards are also given for the best actor, actress, score, story, cinematography and editing. Each of the winning films will then be part of the national competition in Hollywood.

UCLA film groups such as the Film and Photography Society and Video Production Committee have tended to form teams in past years, and this year the co-ed professional cinema fraternity Delta Kappa Alpha is also participating.

Ryan Elkins, a third-year film and television student and member of Delta Kappa Alpha, said he has written and directed films for the festival for the past two years. Elkins said Delta Kappa Alpha has produced two films for this year’s competition – a horror film called “Sweet Dreams” and a comedic drama entitled “Small Talk.” He and his two 20-person crews have spent the last week filming and editing both movies, with Elkins serving as both writer and director.

“The horror film is about a kid and his babysitter – a kid having a scary night with nightmares and his babysitter trying to comfort him,” Elkins said. “The other film is more of a ‘dramedy’ about an older man talking to a young boy on a bench about love and life.”

Elkins also said he and his team made use of local and easily accessible sites for each of the movies. “Small Talk” was filmed at Hotchkiss Park in Santa Monica and “Sweet Dreams” was filmed on Sunday in his apartment. Elkins said working on two projects at once was extremely challenging.

“This is the first time I’m doing two (films), which has been a lot more difficult and a little more stressful, but it’ll be fun and hopefully extra rewarding if both can make it,” Elkins said. “I’ve actually never done a horror either, so I’m excited to see how that turns out.”

Second-year political science student Mia Risberg said she worked on the casting for “Small Talk” and also acted in and helped out with another film that she found out about online.

“I met the two guys online on Facebook on the Campus MovieFest page and they were asking for help,” Risberg said. “They didn’t actually think that anyone would respond and I did, and we just kind of made a film from there.”

In addition to filmmakers with prior Campus MovieFest experience, some students, like first-year business economics student and Video Production Committee member Vikram Kumar, are stepping out of their comfort zones and getting to know other film-oriented students through the festival.

Kumar said he put his 20-person team together by asking other students on his floor if they would be interested in creating a Campus MovieFest film. He said his submission – a psychological thriller about a competition between two men over one woman – is the first large-scale film he has worked on.

“I’ve made videos for school projects and organizations in high school, but I’ve never done anything with a big camera crew,” Kumar said. “This is definitely something that I want to continue to do. Even though it’s stressful, it’s something that I have a passion for.”

Now that the filmmakers are waiting for the results of the competition to be revealed, Elkins said there is an air of suspense leading up to the finale, since the participants will not know which films have been chosen until that evening.

“You don’t know until you’re there, so you have to sit and wait and watch and hope that your film comes on screen as a finalist,” Elkins said. “Everyone cheers and it’s a fun event because you’re anxiously awaiting for your film to come on screen.”

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Andrea Seikaly
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