Vol 21 | No 2 | Spring 15
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Student Video Contest Judges' Award Winner

ImageNezar Eltal's fast-paced and charmingly comedic video, "1950s UCI Libraries Ad," won the Judges Prize this year in the UCI Libraries' annual Student Video Contest. In two minutes, his video showcases a number of library services and spaces and captures the breadth of our collections. He created a high-quality video, with fun special effects and excellent editing, that displays enthusiasm for the variety of ways the UCI Libraries help UCI students Zot Smarter.

Nezar's video opens with jazz music evoking film noir as a computer search finds a link to a trailer for the Langson Library. The link is clicked, and we are introduced to a fast-talking salesman with a New Jersey-like accent asking "Want a quiet place to study? Then have we got the place for you." The salesman spins and transports himself magically from location to location: library study areas, the Check Out and Reference Desks, the Multimedia Resources Center and more. Throughout, with high energy and humor, we see and hear how the Libraries' services, collections, and spaces are used by UCI students.

Nezar is a sophomore majoring in Computer Science and Engineering. He told us he decided to enter the Libraries' Student Video Contest for two reasons. First, it gave him a chance to explore the giant buildings and discover what they offered besides the obvious books. Even more importantly, he said, it was a chance to make a video with his friends. He was inspired by the animated television series "Legend of Korra," plus a blending of an auctioneer's fast-paced delivery and the direct, talking-head style of 1950's television commercials. He shot the footage in a single day from around 3 p.m. until 12 midnight, while editing took approximately five hours.

What did he discover about the Libraries while making the video? That the Multimedia Resources Center offers musical keyboards, cameras, and even video games, which he thought were strange things to have available for checkout at a library! While a little mystery is often a good thing, in our case, we hope awareness of our resources and services will be "trending" with talented students like Nezar sharing how the Libraries help you Zot Smarter!

Checkout Nezar's winning video here.

View past videos from the Library Student Video Contests here.

For more information, please contact Cynthia Johnson, Head, Reference and the Grunigen Medical Library at 949-824-0081 or cynthiaj@uci.edu or Jeff Schneidewind, Emerging Technologies Research Specialist at 949-824-7099 or jhschnei@uci.edu.