MJC Student Places Top 10 in Swine Flu Contest

A Modesto Junior College student, Daniel Natzke, 18, is a finalist in the California H1N1 video competition issued by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
     The competition had asked for students to create a 15, 30 or 60 second clip that promotes methods to prevent the spread of the H1N1 Virus. Submissions were asked to illustrate one of the following messages: wash your hands often especially after coughing or sneezing, cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue or sleeve, stay home if you are not feeling well and get vaccinated.
     According to Natzke, he had not heard about the contest until his film professor, Carol Lancaster-Mingus, mentioned the competition to her classes. "She came into class one day and encouraged the students to get involved," said Natzke. "We were told there would be a $500 reward."
     Daniel chose to film his commercial using stop motion animation, an animation technique used to make an object appear to move on its own. The objects moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the frames are put together.
     "I came up with the idea while walking in my backyard. I had three ideas, but decided that (stop motion) was the most creative idea." said Natzke.  "I have been attracted to stop motion animation since I was 12 years old mainly because it looked real but it wasn't real."
     "I presented the idea to Mingus, who said it would make for a good PSA." said Natzke.
     Natzke, who filmed, created and did the voice for the project, said he "filmed the entire thing in two days." Once the footage was on the computer, it only took him a few hours to edit it all together. "The text bar on the bottom of the video took the longest to put together."
     Right now, the 10 best videos are up on this website, http://www.cdphfilmfest.org/index.html. You can help Daniel win top honors by voting for this PSA! You can't vote using an on-campus computer, however.  Tell all of your friends and spread the word. If his video is chosen, it may run on television and radio. "If I win," Natzke says, "the money I get will go to college and a better editing system for my computer."