University Housing and Apple Computer present THE
2007 MONUMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL WINNERS

John Thompson, Team Captain, pictured left
Greg Jenkins, Ben Andrews, Alex Brand, Julie Premo

John is a Computer Engineering major living in Babcock Hall.  He comments here on the making of Slink (The Movie):

"Making this movie was one of those experiences you just couldn't have anywhere else.  It was a great opportunity to do something that required little math (for once!).  We all had a blast; it was definitely worth all the long nights.  We actually spent an entire Saturday going around campus with a camera and trying out random stairwells, and the Noyes lab stairs were the only ones that really worked!  Producing this film really brought us all together-making movies is going to be our new free time.  Working with time restraints (5 minutes for the movie and a month for production) was the biggest challenge, and we had to leave a lot of good ideas behind. Maybe we'll make an extended version.  We were all ecstatic about winning-I couldn't believe that a random lunch conversation could turn into something so memorable.  Thanks to everyone who helped us along the way!"

Christopher Gregory, Team Captain, pictured left
Mia Conner, Carolyn Roloff, Adrian Mustain, Eric Dhom

Chris Gregory, an Industrial Design major living in Allen Hall, hails from Downers Grove, Illinois. 

"I've always been interested in movie making - everything from filming to editing. I love to watch behind-the-scenes segments on DVDs and pretend I'm actually directing and editing big name movies like Gladiator. Even though this project was small, I still really enjoyed working with my close friends and being behind the camera a few times. This idea started over winter break when I contacted Mia about competing in the festival. Mia is a huge film buff and I knew she'd have some great ideas. The unusual thing about our film was that we used a still camera to take all of our shots. We wanted to imitate that old style of stop-motion. I owe all success from this project to Carolyn and Mia who did a large portion of the editing in Final Cut since they knew tons more than I did. Carolyn did a superb job with the graphics. I also appreciate the time and effort put in by Adrian and Eric - they really embodied our characters! Thanks Guys - without your effort this would not have happened!"

Third Place Winner!

Skullblaster!   04:57
Quicktime or Windows Media Player


Christopher Greene, Team Captain, pictured left
Phil Maes, Ryan Tarazi, Abel Ortega, Jamie Guzman

Chris Greene, a Business and Marketing major, reports on facing the challenges in making Skullblaster.

"Like most good ideas, we came up with Skullblaster really late at night. The filming process was pretty painless, it came together in just a few short hours. Most of the time was spent doing the special effects, some of which were done frame by frame in Microsoft Paint, so I'm sure you can imagine how time consuming that was. All in all I'm very satisfied with the film, but it was a group effort, it took the time and dedication of a lot of people to make it happen."

Producer's Choice Winner!
announced post-festival

One Plant at a Time!   04:57
Quicktime or Windows Media Player

Steve Marovitch, Team Captain, pictured left
Miles Corcoran, Steve Flinn, Kevin Rourke, Michael Murphy

Steve Marovitch, a sophomore in Advertising, is a Chicagoland native currently residing in ISR.

"A while ago I came upon a PETA pamphlet extolling the virtues of a meat-free lifestyle.  Its pages were filled with pictures of grotesque animal slaughter and unappetizing tofu meat alternatives.  I thought it would be hilarious to see the exact opposite.  What if there was a group standing up for the right of plants instead of animals?  Thus, “One Plant at a Time” was born.  We had no budget, no time, and no acting skills, yet somehow the movie came together in the end.  Making this short was a lot of fun and a great learning experience for future projects.  The team was great and despite the short period of time we had to complete the project, everyone showed intense dedication to this surely Oscar-worthy film.  Hopefully this is just the beginning of many more movies to come."

Donna Price Pumphrey, April 26, 2007