Video Festival brings out best in RTF students

North Lake’s eighth annual Video Festival opens at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Performance Hall. It includes works by students who hope to become music video producers, join television news teams, direct comedies and dramas – even create 3-D animations and special effects.

“This group of students was very aggressive, and they made it happen,” Andy Chiles, instructor and coordinator of the Video Technology Department, said of the free event.

Some of the entrants won statewide awards from the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association earlier this year. But they will have plenty of competition from within North Lake’s video program, the only one of its kind in the Dallas County Community College District.

The Video Festival was inaugurated in 2000 and remains a North Lake favorite today, Chiles said.

The purpose of the Video Festival extends beyond campus boundaries, he added. He said it is intended to expose videotechnology projects to an areawide audience and gain attention for hard-working students who hope to launch careers from their North Lake experiences.

Second-year North Lake student Hugo Perez is a participant in this year’s festival. He also will be a volunteer worker at the show.

“I believe this event is great because it gives us the opportunity to bring out the best in us and let us compete against other students,” Perez said.

Not all student projects are showcased at the Festival. A committee formed by Chiles, threedimensional animation teacher Dane Sigua and Video Club offi cers chose the projects that will be featured.

Those entries will be judged by industry professionals and an advisory board.

But the audience will decide who claims one important honor – the Viewer’s Choice award.

The popularity of the Video Festival increases each year. “It has grown so much that we had to move the event from our studio to the performance hall, because we could not fit everybody in the room.” Chiles said.