Junior telecommunications major Rich Overfield showed U.S. News Weekly why Ball State University rocks as part of a video contest.
"Our school rocks because of immersive learning," Overfield said. "It's the cornerstone of our education. It defines us as a university and will make us better in the real world."
The inspiration for the video came from the production of the film "My Name is Jerry," which was shot with the help of students this summer at Ball State.
Michael Chandler, who was the narrator for Overfield's contest entry, said the video celebrates why Ball State is such a great school to learn outside of the classroom.
"I want people to know there are exciting ways to get a college education," Chandler said.
Institute for Digital Entertainment and Education multimedia specialist Jessica Seaton wrote the script for Overfield's video project. She said the contest was a good fit for Ball State because of its talented media students.
"This was a great way for us to excel in video production," she said.
The U.S. News Weekly contest began in August and will end Friday. To enter, participants must post a video that is less than 10 minutes long and fits the theme of "Why My School Rocks."
The national contest entries are posted on YouTube's Web site. The videos will be narrowed down to 10 finalists based on the number of views each video receives. The winner, which will be announced on Nov. 12, will receive an all-expenses-paid Spring Break trip for two to his or her choice of Jamaica, Acapulco, Cancun or the Bahamas.
Overfield said the video contest was his first production on such a large scale and to such a large audience.
"The best thing I got out of doing it was the experience," he said. "I learned things you wouldn't learn until the job field. The most important was probably learning a planning process and how to use my time to get everything done."
Although Overfield could win a vacation, he said the more important reason for producing the video was to showcase "My Name is Jerry" and Ball State's immersive learning program.
"The TCOM department is booming because of the 'My Name is Jerry' project," he said. "It's really rare to find a university that puts on a full-length feature film production and allows students to be a part of it."
Chandler is one of the students involved in immersive learning at Ball State. He worked on the set of "My Name is Jerry" as the first assistant director.
"Working on 'My Name is Jerry' at the age of 21 was an invaluable experience," Chandler said. "It was something you read about or see happening somewhere else and here it was happening at Ball State."
OnlineClick here to view Ball State's entry in the contest. "My Name is Jerry" is set to premiere in 2009.
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