Spring Break
'Real World' depiction wins at Student Film Festival
Heather Holm / Activities Editor
Issue date: 4/20/09 Section: News
The film "My Show," a throwback to reality shows like "The Real World" or "Laguna Beach," won first place Saturday in the second annual Student Film Festival.
Brian Andries, a senior communications major, directed the movie about a fictional college student named Shawn and the occurrences in his everyday life.
Other characters featured in the film were two cameramen and Shawn's roommate, Eric.
"It's been an idea floating in my head," Andries said.
Andries played one of the cameramen. A.J. Schubert, a senior communications major, played Shawn.
"Me and (Schubert) wanted to do a film and his film 'No Beer In Here' won first prize last year," Andries said. "Also, I'm a big fan of the show 'The Office.'"
The story centered on Shawn meeting a woman named Kelly. He added her on Facebook, met her for coffee and then found out she has a boyfriend. The moral of the story was not to go looking for love on Facebook.
Andries said the film's concept came from Facebook's popularity. At the end of the movie, Eric tells Shawn the woman is listed as single again on Facebook. The movie ends with Shawn and a huge grin on his face.
Thomas Nierman won second place for his music video titled "Horny" to the song "Heartless" by Kanye West.
Third place went to "In Understanding Women," directed by and starring Levi Bulgar.
In it, Bulgar tried to find a book in the library, only to find it sitting in front of him at the end. When Bulgar finally walked out with the book, he mimicked the end scene of "The Breakfast Club" where the Bender puts his hand up in victory.
The audience voted on paper and named "My Show" first place and "Wrath of God" second place. This was a separate contest from the judges' scores, and no prizes were given to these winners.
"Wrath of God" was a silent movie about Legos with chain saws that murdered each other and had sex.
Ryan Kerch, event coordinator and University Board movies chair, directed "Wrath of God."
"I made that one over the summer," he said. "As you get older, the way you play with Legos also gets older, and I thought I would give making movies a try."
Courtney Krokson, a junior elementary education major, voted for "Wrath of God."
"It was cool," she said. "It was done with stop motion."
Kerch also directed "Ryan and Matt" with Matthew Hagaman, UB movies committee member. In this film, a man asked his friend for printer paper using AOL Instant Messenger.
In the end, the viewers found out the two were roommates and in the same room the whole time.
"It was a project we started two years ago and finished this year," Kerch said. "Matt and I were roommates at the time."
Another film, titled "Bier Horror," played out like an old horror film with words across the screen depicting the character's thoughts.
The movies were judged on a four-star scale, like a movie critic. Four UB members, two members from the UB movies committee and faculty member Robin Murray served as judges.
Kerch took himself out of the judging process this year since he entered two films. He said he hopes the tradition of the festival continues.
"I'm not going to be around next year," he said. "This is cost-effective, has a good turnout and is cheap, though, and it is a good way for aspiring artists to showcase their talents."
The prizes were $150 for first place, $100 for second place and $50 for third place in the winner's choice of a Best Buy, Amazon or Wal-Mart gift cards.
Heather Holm can be reached at 581-7942 or at haholm@eiu.edu.
Brian Andries, a senior communications major, directed the movie about a fictional college student named Shawn and the occurrences in his everyday life.
Other characters featured in the film were two cameramen and Shawn's roommate, Eric.
"It's been an idea floating in my head," Andries said.
Andries played one of the cameramen. A.J. Schubert, a senior communications major, played Shawn.
"Me and (Schubert) wanted to do a film and his film 'No Beer In Here' won first prize last year," Andries said. "Also, I'm a big fan of the show 'The Office.'"
The story centered on Shawn meeting a woman named Kelly. He added her on Facebook, met her for coffee and then found out she has a boyfriend. The moral of the story was not to go looking for love on Facebook.
Andries said the film's concept came from Facebook's popularity. At the end of the movie, Eric tells Shawn the woman is listed as single again on Facebook. The movie ends with Shawn and a huge grin on his face.
Thomas Nierman won second place for his music video titled "Horny" to the song "Heartless" by Kanye West.
Third place went to "In Understanding Women," directed by and starring Levi Bulgar.
In it, Bulgar tried to find a book in the library, only to find it sitting in front of him at the end. When Bulgar finally walked out with the book, he mimicked the end scene of "The Breakfast Club" where the Bender puts his hand up in victory.
The audience voted on paper and named "My Show" first place and "Wrath of God" second place. This was a separate contest from the judges' scores, and no prizes were given to these winners.
"Wrath of God" was a silent movie about Legos with chain saws that murdered each other and had sex.
Ryan Kerch, event coordinator and University Board movies chair, directed "Wrath of God."
"I made that one over the summer," he said. "As you get older, the way you play with Legos also gets older, and I thought I would give making movies a try."
Courtney Krokson, a junior elementary education major, voted for "Wrath of God."
"It was cool," she said. "It was done with stop motion."
Kerch also directed "Ryan and Matt" with Matthew Hagaman, UB movies committee member. In this film, a man asked his friend for printer paper using AOL Instant Messenger.
In the end, the viewers found out the two were roommates and in the same room the whole time.
"It was a project we started two years ago and finished this year," Kerch said. "Matt and I were roommates at the time."
Another film, titled "Bier Horror," played out like an old horror film with words across the screen depicting the character's thoughts.
The movies were judged on a four-star scale, like a movie critic. Four UB members, two members from the UB movies committee and faculty member Robin Murray served as judges.
Kerch took himself out of the judging process this year since he entered two films. He said he hopes the tradition of the festival continues.
"I'm not going to be around next year," he said. "This is cost-effective, has a good turnout and is cheap, though, and it is a good way for aspiring artists to showcase their talents."
The prizes were $150 for first place, $100 for second place and $50 for third place in the winner's choice of a Best Buy, Amazon or Wal-Mart gift cards.
Heather Holm can be reached at 581-7942 or at haholm@eiu.edu.
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