In the digital domain

THE debut effort by filmmakers Abdallah S. Omeish and Eric Olsen almost never happened at all. “A World Apart” was conceived as a three-minute short to be entered in the 2002 Canon Digital Creators Contest. The two men’s eyes were on the $20,000 grand prize, but they also looked at the exercise as a step toward careers in filmmaking.

Then last September, the contest’s deadline suddenly loomed, as did Omeish’s wedding plans. Most of the visuals were already done on “A World Apart,” which contrasts affluence in Los Angeles with poverty in Ethiopia. But on the final day that entries for the international competition could be postmarked, Omeish was on his honeymoon and Olsen hadn’t begun composing the soundtrack music.

“The day we had to have it postmarked is the day I did the music for it,” Olsen says with a laugh. “I really wish I could have had more time.”

As it turned out, the digital production was mailed on time, and judges awarded Omeish and Olsen an honorable mention for their efforts, one of 10 such mentions for works in each of four categories out of more than 5,000 entries worldwide. The pair are the only Los Angeles-based artists recognized in the 2002 competition, from which winning entries are on exhibit today through May 17 at UCLA.

Two of the top awards went to Japanese artists: Takeshi Yikayama for lush black-and-white abstract photographs; and Web division gold prize winner Shinya Yamamoto, for his silent animation work, “Sinplex Show,” which mingles such diverse monochromatic images as water droplets, children playing and military tanks.

At the UCLA exhibition, the works are displayed in various media: digital photos, illustrations, prints on the walls, Web designs displayed on computers and digital films looping on TV monitors.

Now in its fourth year, the Canon Digital Creators Contest was designed to promote imaginative use of digital technology, focused on photography, digital filmmaking, Web design and graphics.

“Early on, most of those entering the contest were professionals,” says Canon’s Mike Virgintino. “But over the last couple of years, more and more average consumers have been sending in entries.”

Entrants now range from high-school and college students to hobbyists in their 70s, he says. “We want to get people involved in digital technology and show us what they can do.”

Judges for the competition included composer Ryuichi Sakamoto; photographer Jeff Schewe; the British design firm tomato; and Scott Ross, co-founder of Digital Domain, the movie-effects company. “We are always looking for the new heroes in those industries,” says Virgintino.

For Omeish, 28, and Olsen, 25, the contest was sufficient motivation to begin a collaboration as filmmakers. The idea for the subject matter came from Omeish, who was born in Libya and had traveled the world and already captured dramatic scenes of human suffering in Ethiopia, Chechnya and Turkey with his digital video camera.

The two men sought to create the effect of seeing “two different places in the world at [roughly] the same moment in time, to compare and contrast them,” explains Olsen. “We compared [Ethiopia] to the glitz and glamour of L.A., plus the excesses of smoking, partying and everything else.”

Omeish provided the cinematography, drawing on his existing footage, and shot new images in Los Angeles. The three-minute length was dictated by contest rules. Both were involved in the editing, and once Olsen composed the music, he also handled recording it. (The honorable mention includes a trophy and a Canon digital still camera.)

Olsen, who studied design at UCLA, was introduced to Omeish by a mutual friend who knew of their interest in filmmaking.

They already plan to work again as a team to enter this year’s contest with another short film, this one shaped into an anti-drug or anti-smoking public service announcement.

“We haven’t even begun,” Olsen says with a laugh. “I hope it’s not the same situation as last year.”

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Canon Digital Creators Contest Exhibition

Where: EDA-104 Kinross Building, 11000 Kinross Ave., UCLA, Westwood

When: Today through May 17; weekdays, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Cost: Free

Info: (310) 825-9007