From the leap into an imperfect life

Around the campus world in 120 seconds: the university's 2013/2014 "Campus Clip Contest" video competition came to an end with the award ceremony. All of the competition entries were shown: very different views of the university and its history by students. "There's no such thing as perfect, because something always goes wrong," says the student, shortly before she and her friends jump from the canal wall into the River Hunte. Everything is different when you start your studies, everything is new, and it's best to jump in at the deep end together: Computing Science students Jonas Schumacher and Yannick Rietz won the University of Oldenburg's 2013/2014 "Campus Clip Contest" video competition with prize money of 1,750 euros with their film "40 erste Semester". A film about new beginnings, hunger for life and the need for security, all in just 120 seconds. Because the works were not allowed to be longer in the competition organised by the Press and Communication Office for the second time. There was also a motto that had to take centre stage: "Your university turns 40". This was no easy task for the ten student teams. Schumacher and Rietz solved it with a visual pull that the viewer can hardly escape. The camera: always stylish. The actors: authentic and expressive. "The creativity of the entries inspired the jury and did not make the decision easy," said the Vice President for Studies and Teaching, Prof Dr Gunilla Budde, at the presentation of the competition films. Despite all the differences in structure and organisation, the quality of the short films was "remarkable, often absolutely professional", said Budde, who was Chair of the jury. The fact that the Campus Clip Contest is a competition for students should be particularly emphasised: "The student perspective is important and indispensable for those of us who work at the university as teachers or elsewhere: After all, it's the students who the university is really about." And the students' view of the campus and its 40-year history is very different. Integrated Media student Michael Rüger has animated a timeline and uses it to depict stages in the university's history, accompanied by ambient music by Lars Kaempf. The two Engineering Physics students Matt Podgorski and Mitch Mkrtchian send their peculiar Unifee across the campus, which distributes gifts - always exactly to the rhythm of rushing beats. Hosein Mirzazadeh, who is also an Engineering Physics student, tells the story of a book hunt that ends without a hitch - but not without introducing some of the key places in the university's history. Beatrice Bader and Dirk Lindes look even deeper into the historical foundations of the university. The Integrated Media students won second prize with their film "Es wird einmal die Stunde kommen". It is an animation that begins with the National Socialist terror and extends to the construction of the university - linked by the flapping of the dove's wings, which finally settles on the university's AVZ tower. The famous quote by Carl von Ossietzky forms the content bracket: "The hour will come when time itself will call us to account for what we have done all these years." There is not an image in this animation that is too much, not a sound - or its ghostly absence - that has not been deliberately placed. Here, without any interest in appearing "hip", the students deal with the history of the university and its namesake in a way that has never been seen before. The third prize was won by David Nolte and Fabian Duske (both studying economics) with their film "The Zeitgeist of the University of Oldenburg". It becomes clear: the student sitting at the laptop is the zeitgeist himself, who embarks on a journey through the past and across the campus. An elaborate production that playfully captures aspects of student life, culminating in a neon-lit birthday party at the click of a mouse. The winning film by Jonas Schumacher and Yannick Rietz has a different ending. After jumping into the cold waters of the Hunte, they look up into the evening sky together. First despondent, then determined searching movements of the hand until it finds the hand of the other. Even if only briefly, it seems to exist, the perfect state.

-------------------------------- INFORMATION ON THE VIDEO CONTEST
The Campus Clip Contest is the video competition for students at the University of Oldenburg. It was organised for the second time in 2013/2014. The first prize is endowed with 1,000 euros, the second prize with 500 euros and the third prize with 250 euros. JURY MEMBERS
Prof. Dr Gunilla Budde (Vice President and Jury Chair)
Prof. Dr Martin Butler (Institute of English and American Studies)
Matthias Echterhagen (Deputy Head of Press and Communication)
Axel Masemann (Head of Media Technology) THE PRIZE-WINNING VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE
The winning entries can be viewed on the university's YouTube channel - in the "Campus Clip Countdown" playlist, together with the winning films from the first video competition in 2011.

Here are the individual films: 1st prize: "40 erste Semester" by Jonas Schumacher and Yannick Rietz 2nd prize: "Es wird einmal die Stunde kommen" by Beatrice Bader and Dirk Lindes 3rd prize: "Der Zeitgeist der Uni Oldenburg" by David Nolte and Fabian Duske