Chicago IN:60 Seconds names first student winner

University of Chicago students love a challenge—especially the challenge of time.

When teams of undergraduates embark on the hunt for more than 200 oddities on the annual spring Scavenger Hunt, the pressure is on for four days. When students test their filmmaking mettle in the 48 Hour Film Festival, time drives their directorial decisions from conception to the final cut.

So when the Chicago Media Initiatives Group, along with Fire Escape Films, the Office of the Vice President for Communications, and the Chicago Studies Program, designed their first student video contest, "Chicago IN:60 Seconds," they put participants at the mercy of a minute.

The contest, held in the Fall Quarter, required participants to capture the essence of the relationship between the University and the city, and interpret that concept through a one-minute video.

Six students took on the challenge, with entries that ran the gamut from the philosophical to the silly, some incorporating animation, narration, and original soundtracks.

Justin Staple, a second-year in the College who has a double concentration in Economics and Cinema & Media Studies, took home the $500 first prize as well as the audience favorite prize for his video Great, Wonderful Things. Staple's video combines shots of Lake Michigan, line drawings of the Chicago skyline, and images of a boy huddled over in the Quandrangles. Meanwhile, a narrator lends a poetic aesthetic to the piece.

"I had the idea of connecting the University to the city through the theme of architecture," says Staple. "My girlfriend did the voice-over. There is also a crackling in the background, as if from a vinyl player. I tried to give the whole thing an analog vibe."

For Gene Fojtik, a PhD student in the Divinity School, film is more of an avocation, albeit a serious one.

Fojtik presented the most striking vision of the six videos with Untitled (hammer, flames), which took second prize. A man strikes an anvil with a heavy hammer, creating a grating refrain through the film's 60 seconds. Interspersed are desolate scenes of broken glass, emergency help stations, and razor wire, all shot at night in Hyde Park.

"Some people think the film is dark, but I was having fun with it," he said. "I did want to convey the hardcore nature of being a student here—the daily grind." Fojtik has extensive background in film, having appeared as an actor in the drama series, "The Beast," and as an extra on various projects in Chicago.

In "Chicago in Sixty Socks," which received third prize, Mitra Sticklen, a graduate student in cultural anthropology, uses the Regenstein as a set location. In the opening shot, her sock-puppet protagonist is reading Marx in increasing frustration, leading her to head downtown for some sight-seeing and romance.

Although the film is clearly comical, Sticklen wanted to convey how the city beckons students to take a break from their studies on campus and travel into the heart of Chicago. "And I just love sock puppets," she added.

All three of the prize-winners cite Fire Escape Films, the student run organization, as a valuable resource, both on this specific project and in their general college experiences. The group lends out equipment and gives tutorials on the latest technology, in addition to all of the films it creates in house.

Meanwhile, plans are in the works for next year's competition. "We might hold it in the spring next year [instead of before fall exams] to increase participation," said Renee Basick, Director of the Chicago Media Initiatives Group, which organized the event. "Now that we've got the process figured out and word has spread, we think it will become a popular event."

All six entries, which were judged by a panel of faculty and administrators, can viewed at http://chicagostudies.uchicago.edu/chicagoin60seconds.html [1].