There was an air of nervous anticipation as students packed into the Ackerman Grand Ballroom on Wednesday night.
When everyone had found a seat, the lights dimmed and a big screen projector at the front of the room lit up.
UCLA’s second annual Campus MovieFest Finale had begun.
Campus MovieFest is a student film festival that offers college students across the country a chance to create their own five-minute movies.
In this year’s competition, 129 student teams from UCLA participated. Only 16 films were chosen to be screened at the finale.
Teams were not told in advance if their movies had been selected, so the finale was both exciting and nerve-racking for many as they waited to see if their movie would be shown next.
“I’d never made a movie before, so (CMF) was a great experience for me,” said Stephanie Woropay, a first-year theater student. “My movie didn’t make the final 16, but I’ll definitely try again next year.”
Over 200 people came to the event, which kicked off with a small meet and greet half an hour before the screening.
Movies were shown consecutively with a few short breaks taken to recognize sponsors and raffle out audience prizes. Giveaways included two iPod shuffles, shirts and a backpack.
Awards were given out immediately after the show. “Nice Guys” won for Best Picture, “Police Business” for Best Comedy and “Gig” for Best Drama. A panel of UCLA students and staff members selected the three winning films as well as the 16 finalists.
Audience members also text messaged in their votes for a final Audience Award, which went to “Party Next Door.”
Ty Coughenour wrote and directed “Gig.” In “Gig,” an unnamed man must deliver a flash drive containing illegally downloaded movies to his client without being captured by the police.
“I had an awesome time filming for Campus MovieFest,” said Coughenour. “Filming was very intense because we had little time, but it was worthwhile.”
Coughenour said, “I’ve worked on a lot of smaller projects before, but nothing ever this big.”
The four winning films along with one wildcard will go on to compete against winning entries from 13 other colleges on Nov. 15 and 16 in San Francisco.
Winning teams were also awarded two iPod shuffles, a copy of Final Cut Studio and iTunes songs.
“The real prize is having people see your film and hopefully enjoy it,” said Coughenour.
The Campus Events Commission worked with Campus MovieFest to help plan and publicize the event.
“This is the second year that we’ve done Campus MovieFest, and I thought it went a lot better than last year,” said Alex Jeffries, film director for Campus Events. “More people knew about it, so it attracted a lot of new talent.”
Teams were given one week to film and edit their movies. Participation was completely free, and teams were able to borrow a camcorder and an Apple laptop with iMovie and Final Cut Studio software preinstalled.
Students at Emory University started Campus MovieFest eight years ago. It has since grown into the largest student film festival in the world.