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Festival aids young filmmakers
by Lenny Roberts
All future Spielbergs and Coppolas will be given the chance to
show their stuff next month when the Ojai-based, nonprofit Vids
4 Kids hosts the Spring 2000 Digital Video Festival.
The competition is open to any student currently enrolled in
Ojai Valley schools in grades three through 12, said cinematographer
and Vids 4 Kids guidance team member Geoff Zimmerman.
"The reason we're doing this is not necessarily to appeal
to Hollywood filmmakers, but as a means for more kids to use
digital video to communicate and express their feelings and emotions
about things that are important in their lives. We're just providing
the forum," Zimmerman said.
Many public and private schools in the valley have iMac computers
available for their students, equipped with the latest Apple
iMovie2 software, which, when coupled with a digital multimedia
camera, provide an excellent vehicle to shoot, edit and finalize
homemade productions.
"We want to help maximize the usage of those resources,"
Zimmerman said.
"We believe making films is another way to help students
see and understand the changing world they are growing up in.
With this program, they can participate in the Vids4Kids Festival,
have a learning experience and have some fun in the process."
A thumbnail of each child's effort will be viewable online at
ojaiDVcamp.com/kids4vids, where votes for the best in three grade
categories will be counted. Following the May 28 voting deadline,
awards will be presented for the most popular video created by
students in grades three through six, seven and eight, and nine
through 12.
The festival showcases work from genres including animation,
narrative, documentary, experimental/design oriented and music
video. Entries must be no higher than PG-rated, created in the
digital video format, and should have been produced during the
2002 school year. Entries can be shorter than but no longer than
10 minutes in total running time. A copy of the production, not
the original, must be submitted on Mini-DV tape in the NTSC format
recorded at standard speed only. The nonrefundable entry fee
for each submission is $20.
Kids 4 Vids has secured the services of local film professionals
who will host a question-and-answer session during screenings
of the produced films at the Ojai Playhouse on four successive
Saturdays beginning May 4. Those invited to participate in the
sessions include Simon Balderas, Ray and Eugenia Singer, writers
of the animated film "Mulan," celebrated documentary
filmmakers Bobby Houston and Robert Hudson; Robert Grasmere,
visual effect supervisor of "The Saint," Bone Collector,"
and the recently released "Mothman Prophecies," and
Wayne Isham, music video producer whose credits include 'N' Sync,
The Backstreet Boys and Brittany Spears.
Awards, including scholarships to the Ojai Digital Video Camp,
have been contributed by local merchants, and all contestants
will receive a commemorative T-shirt.
Sponsors for the event include Ojai Creates!, SOHO Design, Kinko's,
Ojai Stitchworks, Sammy's Cameras and Apple Computer, Inc.
For more information or an entry application, call 640-7122.
© 2002 The Ojai Valley News
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