U of T Students Tell Their Stories Through Video
Throughout the fall the Office of the Vice-Provost, Students held a video contest, asking students to submit their stories about life at the University of Toronto. Students were encouraged to be quirky, honest, ingenious, authentic – even sarcastic if they wished – in relating what life at the University of Toronto means to them. “This contest really brought out the creative best in people,” said Vice-Provost Students, Jill Matus. “It was a chance to see U of T through the eyes of our students; from the campus buildings, to college life, to finding and developing a community of friends. Our students can be wonderfully inventive when it comes to celebrating their university.”
Dozens of submissions were received from students across the three campuses, and although a number of submissions were from students in Cinema Studies or other visual arts programs, more than half of the submissions were from those enrolled in science or social science programs. The videos were judged by a five-member panel consisting of President Naylor, Vice-Provost Matus, an alumnus, a prominent member of Toronto’s film community, and a current student. The judging panel was more concerned with the concept or idea behind the video, rather than slick production values. After much deliberation, the following three winners were selected:
1st place: Never Alone, by Alice Hsueh, in Life Sciences
2nd place: 2.16 Years at U of T, by Taraneh Zarin, in Neuroscience, Cell and Molecular Biology
3rd place: My UTSC, by Alan Wang and Matt Panday, UTSC students in Psychology and English
Part of the challenge of the contest was the requirement that students utilize only creator-owned media. In many cases this involved students composing and performing their own music and creating their own artwork to supplement their videos. The videos themselves had to be engaging and creative, while conforming to a four minute maximum time limit.
Prizes of $1000, $750 and $500 were awarded to the students, and the winning entries can be seen below.
1st Place - Alice Hsueh
2nd Place - Taraneh Zarin
3rd Place - Alan Wang & Matt Panday
