0 -1 1 0 mB Weneda, anar 3003//TeSttmn Behind the scenes with Filmic by Austen Hufford outtakes photo by nick williams/daily At the end of December, Tabassum Mohibi opened her acceptance e-mail to the University. She imme- diately hugged and cried with her best friend, who also got in. The next day, Mohibi opened up the acceptance e-mail once- again and watched the embedded YouTube video. "It made me want to come here even more," Mohibi said. "When I saw the video, it made me feel maybe I belong there." In 92 short seconds, the video - entitled "The Letter M" - attempts to emulate what it means to be a Michigan Wolverine. Dining Hall Block 'M' Belgium waffles, blue books, the Fishbewl and the ubiquitous M-card all make an appearance. The video has been watched almost 70,000 times and the com- ment section is filled by admitted students and alumni alike. The video, however, wasn't created by a professional film crew or the University's marketing department: It was envisioned and produced by Filmic Productions, a Uni- versity-student-run film studio. Founded in January 2011, Filmic has been responsible for some of the most memorable marketing materials for University students, including "The Michigan Transportation Musical" and Desmond Howard's "Stay in the Blue" video campaign, which aired in the Big House on game days throughout the football season. "The last two years have been a whirl- wind, because we haven't really stopped making videos," said Stephanie Hamel, Filmic producer and LSA senior. Composed of 21 University students, Filmic contracts projects from the Univer- sity and other companies - as they see fit. Smaller teams play the primary role on spe- cific projects, but in most productions all Filmic members play a part. . Filmic has become known by University administrators and staff for their unique take on marketing. Mary Jo Desprez, the University's alcohol and other drug policy and prevention administrator, said their perspective as students helps them create a high-quality product that the campus can relate to. "Here's this incredible group of creative students who all work together very well, but they also work really professionally," Desprez said. "What sets them apart is the ability to navigate those things as well as keeping their finger on the pulse of what's interesting and relevant to students." Three years ago, some of the founding members of the group were taking their first ever film class. In the winter semester of 2010, three of the eventual Filmic founders become part- ners for their Introduction to Media Pro- duction group projects. LSA seniors Roddy Hyduk, Steve Coffey and Josh Buoy enjoyed collaborating in 2010, and continued to work together in their next production class the following semester. The team, however, wanted to get more production experience than just through the Department of Screen Arts and Cultures alone, which they felt is not solely produc- tion-focused and includes theory and cul- tural components. "Our goal from the beginning was to do more work than the production courses offered through Screen Arts and Cultures allowed us to," Hyduk said. And so Filmic was formed early 2011 and quickly found their first project: an online contest ran by a Canadian design and man- ufacturing firm where participants had to make a 30-second video about how to fry an egg. The deadline was in three weeks. The project was just interesting enough to get Filmic out of their notepads and behind the camera. Production began in earnest and soon they had completed two whole days of film- ing for their 30-second clip. They ended up fifth out of about 200 entries. In a series of coincidences, Filmic quickly progressed from entering free-for-all online contests to producing professional videos for the University. Business Prof. Thomas Lyon is the father of one of Filmic's founding members and owned the house where they filmed their egg video. After viewing the final product, Lyon asked the group to produce a promo- tional video for the Erb Institute - a group which promotes using business to create an environmentally sustainable society. Filmic spent most of winter 2011 semester produc- ing that video. "We didn't necessarily have a specific type of work we wanted to get to. We just wanted to create content and do it well;" Hyduk said. "The Erb Institute was the first opportunity to create content for the University and that kind of just kept leading to more and more opportunities." Upon completion, two Filmic members showed the video to Dean of Students Laura Blake Jones. A few weeks later - now the summer of 2011 - Jones offered Filmic the chance to produce four short public service announcements for the Sexual Assault Pre- vention and Awareness Center, the Spectrum Center, Expect Respect and Stay in the Blue. Filmic accepted the project and began working. They had one month to come up with the ideas and another month to produce the films. "It was when we learned to best work with one another as a team because we had .to finish four PSAs in two months," said LSA senior Chris Duncin, one of Filmic's original members. Group members-said they learned to work on tight deadlines through trial, error and many sleep deprived nights - skills which continue to affect how Filmic works. They spent long hours during summer 2011 work- ing together as a team. According to Filmic, each 30-second PSA required about 300 hours of work. The PSAs were shown at home foot- ball games throughout the 2011 season, and Filmic hasn't looked back since. Cur- rently, the group is working on five projects including videos explaining the University's budget and a film encouraging students to explore Ann Arbor. Buoy noted with pride how Filmic videos are now shown to students throughout their collegiate career: when they are admitted, on Campus Day, at orientation and during football games. "It has been the coolest experience to kind of have a little bit of influence on every step of those first important moments of the college career," Buoy said. "For me, it's the coolest legacy I think we ever could have left, and we're so thankful to have been able to do that." on the record "Last meeting they asked us what we wanted to learn about. Topics varied from BDSM to asexuality to sexual fetishes, and it all sounds so interesting to me," - KATHERINE IRANI, LSA freshman, about the discussions in the Residential College SexForum. "I can't speak for the team, but I feel (they) vaguely feel the same way I do. Being No. 1 in the nation means noth- ing - it's all about who's number one in the end." - JON HORFORD, sophomore Michigan basketball forward, on the team's new No.1spot. "That's precisely what '43' is: something that has all the makings to satisfy a blue whale. Unfortunately for the creators, humans aren't blue whales, and most prefer a more modest codpiece." - ANDREW MCCLURE, Daily Arts Writer, in his review ofthe comedy "Movie 43." "United Students for Sustainable Toilet Paper Pratices (USSTPPY' -Max Salvatore, LSA junior Submit your own photo caption on The Michigan Daily's Facebook page for next week's outtake. On SNL, Andy Samberg and his Lonely Island crew released the music video for their new single "YOLO," featuring a toothless Adam Levine and investment banker Kendrick Lamar. Shrieks of YOLO in Charley's will now forever stand for "You Oughta Look Out." continues to sweep awards season with a win for best female lead actress for "Silver Linings Playbook." We're just happy she thanked MTV's "My Super Sweeti16." 1 1 Rappers Chris Brown and Frank Ocean rum-. bled over a parking spot outside of a recording studio. Ocean tweeted he cut his finger and now "can't play w two hands at the grammys." In other news, Rick Ross was shot and lives. --o - F "A Pep Talk from Kid President to You" has gone viral, with a little boy encouraging us all to make the world awesome and dance. Don't be boring, don't stop believing and remember: what will be your Space Jam?