CAS News  Back to CAS News

Dancing into the spotlight
[06.14.2014]

TAMPA, Fla. - University of South Florida senior Brooks Oglesby leaves audiences in peals of laughter as he dances about his apartment to catchy tunes.

Oglesby, a senior majoring in communication, never imagined that he’d be a semi-finalist in Campus MovieFest’s Wildcard division. His film “Watch Your Step” was selected to represent USF against the most viewed videos from other universities around the world.

“I went to the USF award show, absolutely, 100 percent not expecting to have my film shown as one of the top 16,” Oglesby said. “All the other films shown could have passed as actual Hollywood film trailers, so a video I recorded on my iPhone camera seemed very out of place.”

Campus MovieFest boasts itself as the world’s largest movie and music festival for students. The organization was created in 2001 by four Emory University students and has since grown to include students from around the globe.

The contest is judged by the number of YouTube views. Oglesby’s video currently has more than 62,000 views on the site as of May 29.

When a participant has moved beyond the university level they advance to a separate round. Here they compete against videos in their categories for a spot at a screening in Hollywood, Calif.

Unfortunately, Oglesby did not make it to the final round. He was beat out in the last minute by a rival video. Though his video received more than 3,000 views more than his competitor, they came in after the cut off time.

“It would've been great to make it past the semi-finals, but I never expected my film to even make it to the USF screening, let alone national competition, so anything beyond that has been a pleasant surprise,“ Oglesby said. “It's still something to be proud of, I think.”

“Watch Your Step” is only the second video that he has ever submitted for competition, but it won’t be his last.

Oglesby has plans to enter the competition again next year, this time with a script and a bit more planning.

“I can't really feel let down,” Oglesby said. “People have reached out to me to tell me about how it made their day or something like that, and that's more important to me than having a video of me in my underwear on the silver screen.”

-USF-

Filed under:Arts and Sciences Communication Student Success   
Credits
Author: Victoria Babcock
Contact: