Student Grant Round Three Winner
Vincenzo Cosentino, a first year student at SAE Byron Bay, Australia, is the winner of the third round of the Avid® Asia-Pacific Student Grant. Cosentino won for his film titled, “I Have Learned.”
Cosentino’s entry was among a strong field of 67 students from around the Asia-Pacific region including entrants from Australia, China, Korea and Japan. Cosentino won a mobile studio consisting of Avid Media Composer® on a HP Compaq Mobile Workstation and a Sony Digital Video Camera.
“I Have Learned” is Cosentino’s personal expression of disappointment. Fuelled out of his unhappiness at not qualifying for a film festival, he explains, “then I saw the Avid Asia-Pacific Student Grant and I said,..“this is my new challenge; expressing my pain, delusion and final hope in one minute.” On winning the award, Cosentino was ecstatic stating, “I just wanted to express myself and I won.” Cosentino’s plan is to make a feature film and he believes that winning the award will help him make his dreams come true.
The judging panel was impressed by Cosentino’s entry stating:"This is an extremely thought-provoking and inspiring piece that, in the course of one short minute, reminds the viewer that they are all a small part of a larger scheme of things. Our worries may appear to be overbearing, but they actually can be easily overcome. The effective use of time-lapse, photography, and editing highlights the wonder and everlasting nature of our surroundings. I particularly appreciated the juxtaposition of high-contrast, black and white imagery with stunning vibrant shots, once again symbolizing birth and rebirth."
The Avid Asia-Pacific Student Grant contest, which is run in conjunction with Sony and HP, continues for the next five months and is designed to encourage students’ creativity, enthusiasm and commitment to media studies. Grants are awarded every two months and the deadline for Round Four is the 31st March 2008.
Students are asked to upload a 60 second video clip to www.avid-asia.com/competitions. The clip can be new or old content created by the student either in the course of their studies or during their own time. The winning entries will be judged on originality and creativity.