August 28, 2000
UCSC student wins $40,000 in national film competition
Fellow student snags runner-up title--and $15k
By Barbara McKenna
Last spring, sophomore Alex Weed was in a typical end-of-quarter frenzy--preparing
for a final in film class, rehearsing daily until midnight for a Chautauqua play--when
he found out about a national film competition that offered a $40,000 prize and good
exposure for the winner.
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| Alex Weed Photo courtesy of Alex Weed |
The insanity paid off: Weed's film, Perfect Accident, landed him the grand prize in iCAST's "Show us your Shorts" contest. Weed's longtime friend and fellow UCSC student Kenny Meehan, who told Weed about the contest and helped him film Perfect Accident, also entered the contest and came in as a runner up, winning $15,000 for his film, Incognito Superhero.
"I did all the filming in a day and edited through the night. Then I ate breakfast and continued to edit until I passed out," Weed recalled. He woke himself up and continued editing until 3 p.m. that day when he rushed the finished copy to the post office (he needed to send it by overnight mail to meet the contest deadline). "It was the most fun, stressful, insane 48 hours of my life," he said.
Weed filmed his three-minute piece on his Hi8 camera and edited it on a friend's computer, using the Avid film-editing program.
This is not Weed's first film, which may partially explain why he was able to put it together so quickly (that and his superhuman powers). Weed has been involved in filmmaking for years, and works frequently with Meehan, with whom he grew up in Menlo Park.
"My friends and I have been making little movies since seventh grade. We
call ourselves Purgatory Production," he said. "I have a billion movie
ideas. This contest was great because it gave me a focus for an idea."
Perfect Accident is a story about a lovelorn man who decides to commit
suicide. As he perches on a balcony, memories of failed romances flash through his
mind--women lobbing painfully familiar quips: "You're smothering me," "You're
intellectually inferior," "I could say I just want to be friends, but I
don't even want that," "I always faked it," and, even a guy, who tells
the hero, "You made me realize I'm not gay." When the character jumps he
falls into an interesting situation that leads to an odd but happy ending.
Punctuated by playful camera angles and clever close-ups, the piece also features
an expressive score, which Weed composed and then played on a synthesizer. Weed says
it was a challenge to synchronize the score with his footage, which required playing
the music over and over again to get the timing right. Weed had another challenge
on the sound track--trying to find a perfect sound to accompany the character's plummet.
In an inspired (or perhaps desperate) moment, he discovered that whistling into the
computer microphone, which also made a wind sound, worked perfectly.
The film gives Weed exceptional exposure through iCAST--an online entertainment company.
The panel of judges who chose the winning films included director Michael Lehmann
(Heathers, Hudson Hawk, Airheads, The Truth About Cats and Dogs); filmmaker
Mitchell Robbins (Squeeze, Next Stop Wonderland); director/producer/writer
Cauleen Smith (Drylongso, Daily Rains, Chronicles of a Lying Spirit); music
video director Nigel Dick (who works with the Backstreet Boys, Ricky Martin, and
Britney Spears); and actress Sara Gilbert (Roseanne, Poison Ivy, The Big Tease,
and High Fidelity).
Weed intends to donate a portion of his prize money to the Reikes
Center, a nonprofit educational center for kids based in Menlo Park. "I
wouldn't be anywhere without Reikes Center," he said.
"It's an amazing place, with athletic facilities and recording and editing
studios. Kids can come in with an idea and they'll help them fulfill their goals.
When we went in the eighth grade, they hooked us up with an editing suite and we've
been making movies ever since."
Weed is taking this academic year off and plans to return to UCSC the following year
to pursue a degree in film and digital media. He had thought he might have to spend
a good portion of the year working but, thanks to the prize money, he can travel
instead. Among the places he plans to travel to is Australia; and, the way Weed willingly
takes on new challenges, maybe he'll go for Olympic gold while he's there.
Read more about Weed or download a copy of his film at iCAST's showcase web site. You'll need Windows Media Player to view the film.
Read about Kenny Meehan or download his film at ICAST's showcase.
