After three days of the Reality Bytes Film Festival, judges viewed everything from the rise of Napster to the fall of steamboats.

The event kicked off Friday with a student documentary competition in Room 204 of DuSable Hall. “Ride at Your Own Risk” by Mike Novelli, a film exploring the institutionalized prejudices against BMX bikers in public places, won first place in the Social Category, with second place going to Adam Neer and Mark Hoffmeister’s “.Wav of the Future,” which detailed the emergence of peer-to-peer file sharing in the public conscious. “Family Musings,” by Columbia College student James Edwards, won Best Autobiographical, focusing on the thoughts and views of Edwards’ family within Chicago. “Ride at Your Own Risk” was further recognized as Best in Show, while “.Wav of the Future” received the newly-minted Audience Pick award.

“I think we had a good turnout,” said Laura Vazquez, assistant professor in communication and the coordinator for Reality Bytes. “I thought we had some really interesting films from other schools. I was delighted for their contributions as well as NIU’s.”

Jeffrey Chown, professor and graduate director in communication, said Reality Bytes showed an interesting range of what is possible.

Saturday saw the presentation of two graduate projects from the Department of Communication: Former Northern Star employee, Marcus Leshock’s “Mark Twain and the American Steamboat” and Brian Ekdale’s “10 Days in Malawi.” The treatment for Leshock’s film was presented to him by Drew VandeCreek, head of the Founders Memorial Library’s Mark Twain Digitalization Project.

“I wasn’t a Mark Twain scholar in the least, so I had a special relationship with the audience,” Leshock said. “He [VandeCreek] wanted me to do it to appeal to a younger audience.”

Ekdale’s “10 Days in Malawi” documents his trip to the impoverished African nation of Malawi, where Ekdale and a group of missionaries attempt to distribute medicine to the AIDS-inflcited population. A partial version of Ekdale’s version won the Best Student Documentary award at Kean University’s Purple Violet Film Festival, and Saturday saw the debut of the film’s finished state.

“I feel good. I’m so glad so many people came out,” Ekdale said. “I just wrapped up the film on Monday, so I’m very excited about this. The next step is how to market it.”

Finally, Monday showed the release of several music videos produced by students. The films were judged by NIU alumnus and freelance editor Bill Weinman. The award ultimately went to Adam Neer, who choreographed a simple painting in motion to the tunes of a Bloc Party “Helicopter” song. In addition to supplying the students with feedback before the final project was complete, Weinman also showed the works to his friends and coworkers.

“I just think all these people, who were all volunteers, did a great job,” Weinman said. “It’s fantastic because I showed these works to my friends, who are agents, directors and agents, and they all agreed this was really great.”