Stop motion, dramatic narratives and home movies of the college experience were among the types of films showcased Monday night as a part of Campus MovieFest.

Campus MovieFest celebrated some of the finest in student films in the HUB Auditorium for those in and outside the film community. The national student film festival, touring 62 universities, came to Penn State for the first time this year and awarded three students films, which will now move on to the next round in New York City on May 2.

In an event coordinated by the Student Programming Association (SPA), the festival screened 14 of the 35 films.

The 35 filmmaking teams consisted of a total of 325 students and the films are available to be watched on campusmoviefest.com.

Students in the audience recognized local settings such as Darkhorse Tavern, Warnock Commons and Hunan Wok.

Last week, the festival gave students seven days to write and direct a film and provided them an Apple laptop with iMovie and Final Cut Studio software and free tech support. The only two guidelines were that the film had to be five minutes and couldn't feature frontal nudity.

There were three awards -- Best Comedy, Best Drama and Best Picture -- and the winners now advance to the Northern Regional Grand Finale in New York City.

The awards went to filmmakers for A Film Life, Change and Technocolor, respectively. Change followed a student who, upon receiving a handout, sends a text message for "change." He then gradually transforms into different people and temporarily leads their lives.

Chris Luperi (freshman-communications), Change's director, said he had no idea what to expect when he signed up to shoot a film.

"I wasn't sure I wanted to get involved," Luperi said, "but my friends and family said to me, 'What do you have to lose?' "

Coordinators also gave out an iPod Shuffle and a 500GB hard drive to people in the crowd through a raffle.

Dan Costa, the festival's co-founder, said he sees the contest as a learning experience for students.

"They can use the technology for classes and projects," Costa said.

Before the films were screened, SPA assembled a panel of students and staff to judge which films would be shown. Costa said the festival is in talks with SPA to make an even bigger contest next year that would cater to a wider range of the student body.

Costa informed students about Campus MusicFest, another new national touring student festival at 26 schools, in which up to three original songs can be submitted.

Although it was difficult to reach out to all students, Costa said, Campus MovieFest has a bright future at Penn State.

"For the first year at any school, it's a little tricky," Costa said. "I've been really excited about this event to start a new tradition."