Crunching creativity in 30 seconds

HYDERABAD: Any inter-college event is usually fun. And so it was on Wednesday as the students of St Francis, College for Women used their creativity to make ad films, quirky news and movie making. Their enthusiasm went up a notch when Telugu movie director Anish Kuruvilla arrived and appreciated their effort.
For an event called AdZap, the students had to step on the stage and create an impromptu ad with the props on the stage.They had the audience in splits with quirky on-the-spot ideas for ads like `Chipku super glue', `Grace ball pens'and even `Dodo chocolates'. Students from Loyola College, Bhavan's and Wesley College also joined the students of St Francis for their share of glory. Another event saw students doing quirky news re porting. But some students chose to stick to a bit serious issues when it came to `30 seconds of fame' a movie making competition among stu dents of St Francis.
The students showcased their micro movies in the college auditorium. The brief for the competition was very simple, the students had to shoot short (30-seconds 2-minute duration) movies focused on social issues. Some of the movie makers lent an autobiographical touch to the shorts as they reflected on the topics they chose.
Leela Akaldev showcased her movie `Cease' based on teen suicide. She said, "I want ed to pass on the message that life is above everything.
Nothing is more important than your life. I have seen a few people around me going through suicidal phases and I decided to work on this." While her movie focused on teens facing extreme pressure due to exams, another group of students Karishma, Manisha, Rakshita and Sangita chose mental trauma of young women in their one-minute movie `Fearless'. Other students Chandralekha and Tanvi focused on drunken driving and abusive relationship in their movies titled `Itlu Kartjik' and `Poupee' respectively. All the movie makers shot the movies for the first time. On being asked about the choice of their subject, they said, "We want to send out a strong message through our movies."