News and Events
WC Talent on Display in Second Annual Music Video Challenge
Chestertown, MD, April 23, 2007 — A fun time was had by all at the Washington College 2007 Music Video Challenge, hosted by the Multimedia Production Center (MPC) on April 19. With entries from nine teams consisting of dozens of actors, production crews and editors, this year's entries definitely raised the bar to a higher level.
In addition to encouraging a traditional approach, this year the MPC encouraged students to experiment and to consider using less traditional methods to gather their source video. Some students gathered public-domain footage from sources such as Archive.org, or even carefully selected clips from favorite movies.
Another team used a sequence of hundreds of photos they shot with a digital camera, and then carefully synchronized the images to the music to create a stop-motion animated video, with touches of traditional video. This approach allowed them to bring a sock to life, which left its owner's dorm room to explore the surrounding areas.
Judging was performed remotely earlier in the week by an international team of judges who are professionals in the video and film industry. Each judge scored the videos in four categories, giving a 1 through 5 score in each of the following categories:
- Originality - Is the concept either original or an original approach to a traditional concept?
- Videography - Is camera work smooth, well framed, focused, and well lit? If the person is using "found footage," they cannot get credit for the quality of the video, but they can get credit for locating and choosing appropriate footage.
- Editing - Is the editing done well? Were appropriate clips selected to convey the message, and excess trimmed? Was timing accurate?
- Effects - Does the use of any effects (created during production or post-production) add to the overall piece? Do titles appear readable and placed logically?
Award winning videos
First Place
Christina Izzo and Piper Owens, with their video titled "One Of These Mornings," took first place with a score of 18.83 out of 20. With three judges giving a perfect 20 out of 20 score, Izzo & Owens received glowing comments from judges: "Clever and creative, and funny too!" "I swear that sock had personality." "Charming and clearly a labor of love." "Wow! The planning that went into this!" and "Very witty, well paced, synced and edited." First prize was a Canon ZR500 MiniDV camcorder kit, which will help this team to participate in future video projects.
Second Place
Jesse Wolcott, with his video titled "Make Mine Freedom," took a close second place, just one point behind the lead team, with a score of 17.83 out of 20. His video was the only other to score a perfect 20 from one of the judges, and received such comments as, "Blown away! Impeccable production!" "BRILLIANT use of video segments—creative and clever," and "If I saw this on TV, I would be impressed, let alone in a student contest like this." Wolcott won a $50 gift card to B&H Photo Video.
Third Place
Corey Holland, with his video titled "I'll Bet My Girlfriend," took third place with a score of 15.83. Judges' comments included "Effectively captured a cool and goofy mood with this video," "The video paired with the music provided moments of great dramatic tension. Nicely done," and "Looking forward to WAC Zombies 2!" Holland won a $25 gift card to B&H Photo Video.
Rookie Award
The Rookie Award, going to the highest scoring entry from a student who has not previously entered one of the MPC Challenges, was awarded to Karen Ferguson, with her video titled "Sacrifice of War." Judges' comments included "Powerful!" "The music moved very well with the film," and "Solid. Clear message underscored by dramatic and sometimes gory video footage." Graciously donated by Apple, the Rookie Award prize was a $50 iTunes card.
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