Winners of iLife competition announced

Team iNasty raps their way to victory.

By John Henry

Published Nov. 10, 2008

Team iNasty took the gold at this year's Freshman iLife competition.

The team, made up of freshmen Matt Kamp, Sara Heins, Claire Standridge, Dave Oster and Joe Rozier won the competition with their video, "Mizzou Rap."

The video, which showcased students rapping about what MU has to offer, was applauded by judges for its creativity. For winning the competition, Team iNasty won a semester long pass to the Ragtag Cinema, a pass to the True/False Film Fest and $500 textbook scholarships.

Oster said Team iNasty had a lot of fun putting together their video. He said they encountered little trouble while shooting it.

"We have been doing videos for some time," Oster said.

Everyone in Team iNasty, besides Standridge, went to Mehlville High School in St. Louis. Oster said the team got the idea to make a rap video for the competition after making various rap videos in high school.

"We heard about this competition in the summer and we were anticipating it ever since," Oster said.

This was the fifth year the iLife Competition had taken place at MU.

Keith Politte, RJI Technology Testing Center Manager, was one of five judges for the iLife competition. He said the judges were blown away with the material students submitted, however, sound quality was a big factor in deciding who would be chosen.

"Sound quality is so important and the winning videos showed that," Politte said. "We had some really great other videos but the audio recording held them back."

He said the iLife competition was first established to introduce freshmen into their curriculum at MU.

"What we wanted to do was get students' hands on converged media tools right off the bat and to start learning in teams," Politte said.

Ted Tarkow, associate dean of the College of Arts and Science, got involved with iLife as the co-coordinator of the FIGs program. He said students' experiences in the competition can be useful.

"This is an opportunity for those of you who are participating to learn about the workplace," Tarkow said.

Besides naming the competition's overall winner, honorable mentions in the categories of sound, storytelling, cinematography and creativity were also made.

Freshman Gerard Carleton's group won an honorable mention for cinematography with their movie, "Passerby." He said he enjoyed working with his team.

"Our group was fun to work with and it was fun just coming up with an idea that dealt with something you go through everyday," Carleton said.

One of Carleton's partners, freshman Tommy Piatchek also said he enjoyed the competition. He said iLife would benefit him when he takes upper-division journalism classes.

"I'm at Mizzou right now to be in front of the camera, to be a broadcaster," Piatchek said. "It was cool to be behind the camera to see what the other people do."

As for future iLife competitions, Politte said competition organizers are always looking for suggestions as to how to improve it. But he said so far, he is content with the competition's success.

"I share these videos when I am out on the road and this iLife competition is pretty famous around the country," Politte said. "People really look at MU as doing something really, really special."

To watch the winning video, click here.