An animated version of the MediaWorks logo earned top honors in the second annual MediaWorks Promo Contest sponsored by Northwestern University Information Technology (NUIT). School of Communication senior Quinn Stephens won a 20Gb Apple iPod digital music player for his 30-second promotional video, “The More Robust of the Two.”
Stephens’s winning entry, along with the second-place entry, “Get Your Freak On” by School of Communication senior Charles Cann, can be viewed at mediaworks.it.northwestern.edu/contest.
The Promo Contest, developed last year by NUIT Academic Technologies (AT), was intended to raise campus awareness of MediaWorks and the resources it makes available for student media production.
This year’s contest rules required entrants to incorporate the MediaWorks logo in their videos and to use the lab for some aspect of production or post–production. The logo, inspired by a decades–old Chinese propaganda poster and created by AT graphic designer Jon Fernandez, features a four–person film crew in a dramatic pose.
“Animation is something I’ve always loved,” said Stephens, a Radio/Television/Film major. “When I found out this contest required use of the MediaWorks logo, I realized I could have a lot of fun animating it. I did all the animation and voiceovers (three male characters, one female) in one night.” Not coincidentally, Stephens worked for over a year as an NUIT student consultant in MediaWorks. “That gave me some extra insight into what the place is all about,” he said.
The top two Promo Contest entries were screened May 6 at the tenth annual student Flicker Film Festival on the Evanston campus. In addition to the Promo Contest prize, two iPods were awarded for Festival entries: one for Best Animation, and another for the newly created “Academic Technologies Outstanding Achievement in Sound Award.’