iLife, Camera, Action!

By D’Arcy Rapp

Columbia, Mo. (December 15, 2005) Armed with laptops and video cameras, hundreds of journalism students displayed their movie-making talents at the 2005 Freshman iLife Challenge awards ceremony. Comedy Wars emceed the event, which was co-sponsored by the Missouri School of Journalism, Apple Computer and TigerTech, the campus computer store.

The evening was full of entertainment and prizes as each team presented its iLife movie. Winning teams were awarded prizes, and audience members were eligible to win door prizes including iTunes gift cards, wireless mice, a PSP and a digital camera.

The Challenge charged groups of students to present a story of five minutes or fewer in the categories of Advertising, Arts and Culture, MU Life, News and Sports using Apple’s iLife suite of software tools. Prizes for the winners of the various categories were related to the categories’ themes, such as footballs autographed by Missouri Tigers Head Coach Gary Pinkel for Sports and passes to the Ragtag Theater for Arts and Culture.

Life Winners
The 2005 Freshman iLife Challenge Grand Prize winners. Back row, left to right: Kiernan Maletsky, Adam Rux. Front row, left to right: Zach Noland, Michael Ziman.

Mark Johnson, project manager for the Freshmen iLife Challenge, says that program developed as technology in the Journalism School has become more important.The School of Journalism designed the competition, now in its second year, to introduce freshmen to the new digital technologies they can expect to use in their journalism careers.

“Since the basic news course has begun incorporating multimedia convergence projects, the iLife Challenge will give students a big leg up on those projects,” says Johnson. “Plus, working with multimedia is a valuable skill for anyone to have. Even if the students aren’t going to use it in class, they now know and have experience making videos which can be applied to professional and personal events.”

Mike Alden, University of Missouri athletic director, brought the ceremony attendees updates on the ongoing Mizzou v. UMKC basketball game live from Mizzou Arena. The same live chat allowed the ESPN Dream Job winner, ESPNU anchor and Missouri J-School graduate Mike Hall, to announce the Grand Prize winners at the conclusion of the evening.

A team of Walter Williams Scholars, Adam Rux, Kiernan Maletsky, Zach Noland and Michael Ziman, won the Grand Prize, each receiving 30GB video iPods. Team Surge, as the group was called, submitted its movie to the Sports category. The iLife piece was a comedic feature about “Xtreme Freestyle Walking.”

Aside from some great prizes, participants of the iLife Challenge recognized the valuable skills that they were taking away from the event.

“I learned a lot about what constitutes a good video, what makes something entertaining to watch. I learned a lot about the capabilities of the iLife suite that I anticipate using again,” Maletsky says.

“The iLife Challenge helps students learn digital editing skills while having fun,” said Brian S. Brooks, associate dean for undergraduate studies. “Our students will need to understand how to use these technologies as they enter the field of journalism.”

iLife Challenge Winners

First-, second- and third-place winners were selected in each category by Journalism faculty members.

Grand Prize
Team Surge: “Xtreme Freestyle Walking”

  • Adam Rux
  • Kiernan Maletsky
  • Zach Noland
  • Michael Ziman

Category Winners

Advertising
Judges: Steve Kopcha and Marty Steffens

  1. 1st Place: The Pearls: “McDavid”
    • Lanie Overton
    • Katie Baran
    • Sam Harmon
    • Crystal Schlichting
  2. 2nd Place: The Beedogs: “One Ply”
    • Philip Rapisardo
    • Zachary Swyers
    • Chelcey Smith
  3. 3rd Place: Snake: “The Rec”
    • Ryan Meyer
    • Dan Buaniconti
    • Sean Doyle
    • Dan Oshinsky

Arts & Culture
Judges: Byron Scott and Rob Weir

  1. 1st Place: The Bam Bams: “Footage”
    • Amy Rocchio
    • Bridgette Jefferson
    • Mallory O’Donnell
  2. 2nd Place: Fry, Ney, Schamburg & Tucker: “The Happy Photographer”
    • Eric Fry
    • Gideon Ney
    • Alicia Schamburg
    • Graham Tucker
  3. 3rd Place: The BATs: “Abbey and the Terrible, Horrible, Not So Good, Very Bad Day”
    • Breann Muich
    • Tori Reneker
    • Abbey Trescott

MU Life
Judges: Laura Johnston and Lee Wilkins

  1. 1st Place: Defoesters: “The Real Defoe”
    •  Kolleen Kawa
    • Emily Roxberg
    • Bryce Workman
  2. 2nd Place: The Fantastic Four: “Walking to a Different Beat”
    • Tyler Davis
    • Eric Cover
    • Logan Elliot
    • Brian Colbert
  3. 3rd Place: Two Guys and a Girl: “Letter to Mom”
    • Lauren Denigan
    • Matt Tarnawa
    • Jake Stokes
    • Ryan Winger

News
Judges: Brian Steffens and Margaret Walter

  1. 1st Place: Awesome: “Katrina”
    • Rachel Augustine
    • Jamie Lemon
    • Julia Frasco
    • Max Hyman
  2. 2nd Place: News Team 4: “Fire Alarms”
    • Lauren Blease
    • Erica Beinlich
    • Ryan Luby
    • Kyle Barker
  3. 3rd Place: Smarter than the Average Bear: “Good News Network”
    • Ashley Smith
    • Ryan Spencer
    • Alison Bernero
    • Karen Ostergren

Sports
Judges: Rania Adwan and Mary Lawrence

  1. 1st Place: Surge: “Xtreme Freestyle Walking”
    • Adam Rux
    • Kiernan Maletsky
    • Zach Noland
    • Michael Ziman
  2. 2nd Place: Greatest of All Time: “Flip-Flop Golf”
    • Luke McCormick
    • Alex Tribou
    • Michael Rosenhaus
  3. 3rd Place: Rookies of the Year: “Why Can’t We Be Friends?”
    • Stephanie Call
    • Catherine Crane
    • Laurel Cummings
    • Rebekah Sasse

D’Arcy Rapp, a senior from Peoria, Ill., is majoring in Radio-TV Journalism. She has interned with two NPR affiliates and with Fleishman-Hillard public relations and has created television promotions for a KOMU-TV. Rapp has served as a University Tour Guide, Journalism Ambassador, Summer Welcome leader and Peer Advisor in the residence halls. An active member of the Alumni Association Student Board and Newman Center, Rapp was recognized as one of the campus’ top students when tapped into Omicron Delta Kappa, a national leadership honorary society.

Updated: April 8, 2020

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