Man, you really should have entered the FireFox Flicks video contest. Actually, I guess I should have too. They were offering a butt-load of cash prizes but for some reason they didn’t get many decent entries. I think maybe the premise behind this contest was a little too abstract. Contestants were supposed to create short films that “told the firefox story.” I love Firefox and I’ve been using it for as long as I can remember but even I couldn’t figure out how to make a short film a bout a web browser.
You can see all of the FireFox Flicks winners here. There actually were a few stand-out entries. For example, here’s the perfect little video that won the US “30 Second Spot” category and went on to win the $10,000 USA Grand Prize:
click to view
Another weird thing about this contest; it was open to people all over the world and prizes were set aside for winners in each region (USA, Europe, Asia/Africa/Australia, and Latin America.) Video contests just aren’t very popular outside of the US. Consequently, some not-so-hot films won $5,000 prizes simply because there were almost no other entries in their particular category. I’ve actually seen this type of thing happen in a few “international” video contests before….you know, maybe I should pull an Eduardo Saverin, renounce my US citizenship and start shooting my contest entries in Asia. Ha! I’m a genius! See you in Beijing, suckers!
It seems like a lot of bands are running music video contests these days and I always stay far away from them. Producing 3 or 4 minutes of interesting video content is pretty damn hard. And for some weird reason, the prizes are usually pretty small. Ringo Starr just ran a music video contest for his new song “Wings” and even though Ringo has got to be like a mega-super-millionaire the grand prize was only $3,000. I happen to think Ringo is awesome and I doubt he had much to do with the contest. But these small prizes just guarantee that there won’t be too many great entries. Of course, the winner does get a credit as the director of Ringo’s official music video. And that’s pretty sweet. But that credit kind of seems less impressive if you know the video was made for a contest.
Anyways, like I said, Ringo is cool. And the video he made to announce the winner of his contest is pretty funny. You can tell that someone probably just pulled him into his backyard to shoot this. Then even though a incredibly loud plane flies right overhead, Ringo kept going. So one take was all that Ringo had time for. But he does say something pretty perfect at the end that saves the whole video:
And now here’s the music video that won the contest. As you’ll hear/see, this was a really hard song to make a video for since there were long breaks where there weren’t any lyrics:
You can read the details of the contest or see more entries right here. Peace and love, peace and love, peace and love.
In North Korea, schoolchildren are required to perform complex song and dance routines in praise of their “dear leader.” Fortunately here in America we don’t make our kids do that kind of stuff. No, our kids just have to sing and dance in praise of corporations. I just read that back in December, Dole ran a video contest in which schools were supposed to organize “flash mob” performances about healthy lifestyles (and their products, of course). This is from a press release put out by the sponsor:
Dole created the DOLE Fruit Flash Mob Video Contest to encourage students to make healthy meal choices as part of a healthy lifestyle. The contest incorporated fruit and fruit themes into the contemporary and fun entertainment of a flash mob performance (a spontaneous song and dance that erupts in an unsuspecting crowd). Contest rules required that both school foodservice staff and students participate in the video on location in school’s cafeteria/dining room.
The winners of the contest were determined by Dole. Here’s the video they picked. Skip to the middle for the singing and dancing action.
FIRST PLACE WINNER. PRIZE: $1,000 and 10 cases of fruit cups.
Maybe I’m too uptight but to me, that seemed kind of creepy. For christsakes, a cafeteria full of kids had to get up and dance and sing for a thousand bucks and a few cases of fruit cups??? How much time and energy did they all have to put into learning that routine? Yeah sure, the kids probably had fun but as an outside observer, this just feels wrong. Do we really live in a country where little kids have to perform in mini-Hunger Games just to get some free fruit from a company that has revenues of about 7 Billion dollars a year? If Dole wanted to encourage kids to eat better, couldn’t they just GIVE AWAY a few dozen cases of fruit cups? What good does it do to make little kids sing and dance and compete for such a meager prize? Oh right….this flash mob video contest was about publicity and not about getting kids to eat better. I’m guessing Dole will get a lot more than $1,000 of free advertising out of this whole thing.
And that’s the problem with contests like this. Kids should NOT be participating in these types of contests because video contests are just another form of advertising. Except in video contests, the kids actually become part of the ads. I’m going to guess that the school didn’t get all the kids’ parents to sign consent and release forms. So most parents probably didn’t understand that their kids were going to be in a viral video promoting Dole. If I had kids and I found out that their school was making them participate in something like this I’d totally flip out. I’ll say it as plainly as I can: CHILDREN SHOULD NOT BE CORPORATE SHILLS.
But hey, maybe I’m overreacting. Maybe next year Dole should run a contest where schools get one case of fruit cups for every student that agrees to wear a Dole t-shirt for a month straight. The kids would get something to eat and Dole would get a bunch of tiny, walking billboards! It’d be a win-win!
Man, I must be slipping. EHarmony’s Viral Video contest is just the sort of contest I like to enter. They wanted wacky short films about eHamorny rather than traditional ads. But somehow, I totally missed this one. Judges picked four finalists and then the public chose the ultimate winner. The video that won the popular vote is amusing and pretty well done.
Eharmony’s First Place Winner. Prize: $8,000:
The winning filmmaker, Steven Huffaker actually shot two entries for this contest and his non-winning submission is so weird I had to post it too. As a short film, I think it’s pretty good but as a video contest entry, it’s totally insane. There is no panel of contest judges with balls big enough to put their company’s stamp of approval on a video that points out that Jesus’ death on the cross maybe wasn’t such a big sacrifice since he knew he was the son of God and that he’d be resurrected. Yes…for serious.
UPDATE: Hey now, the director of these two videos left a comment last night and said that the he shot the Jesus ad just for fun. It wasn’t actually a submission. That actually makes me like that video even more than I already did since it was just a crazy short film and not a contest entry.
There are only about 8 cable channels that I actually watch on a regular basis and one of them happens to be Current TV. The network runs some really excellent documentaries and news shows but I sort of miss the days when they used to run short, viewer-created docs all day long. But while Current has moved away from airing viewer-made “pods,” they still air a lot of viewer-created ads thanks to their “Viewer Created Ad Message” program. Here’s an especially great example of commercial that aired on Current. Oh…for some weird reason, Current makes you watch a commercial before you watch this commercial! So the VCAM ad is the second one that plays.
Official VCAM Selection. Purchased and aired by Samsung:
Since I’m a big fan of spec commercial contests/assignments and Current TV, I was psyched when I got an e-mail from the folks behind the VCAM program, Barry Penland and Nicole Smith. It sounded like 2012 was going to be a big year for VCAM so I decided to let Barry and Nicole tell you all about the program themselves…in the form of an interview!
VCN: So, tell me about the VCAM program. What is it and how does it work?
VCAM TEAM: The Viewer Created Content program (VCAM) is a unique advertising vehicle born out of the user-generated spirit of Current TV six years ago. The program brings independent producers together with national advertisers to create unique and often non-traditional ad campaign videos. Current TV was originally programmed solely by user-generated content and naturally complimented this aspect of our network. As Current transitioned into more traditional programming, we maintained the VCAM department as a way to offer opportunities to producers to continue to contribute to the content, as well as receive recognition and compensation. Current is based in several locations throughout the US, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco.
Producers can either sign up to receive notifications, or check the assignment page at http://current.com/vcam to find out about open callouts. From there, they will be given details of the video assignment and the goals and guidelines of the brand. If they choose to participate and their finished video is selected by the brand, the producer can be compensated up to $5,000 and the video may air on Current TV and be posted on both Current’s and the brand’s web sites. If the video is chosen by the brand to air on other networks, there is the possibility for additional money.
An important distinction between VCAM and other contests is that our program is NOT a contest. Instead, VCAMs are based on client-initiated assignments or “calls for content” that we send out to our producer community all over the world. We engage with our producers directly and communicate with them during every step in the process: from the conception of their ideas, to execution of the production, through on-air delivery. We also give them vast amounts of help to create their commercials, for example: access to a license free music library and visual assets – often from the advertiser directly. Lastly, we invite our producers to speak directly with the brand on a conference call where producers can ask specific questions about the creative direction and receive honest feedback about what they are looking for in the content piece.
VCN: What kind of brands have taken part in the program?
VCAM TEAM: The brands that we work with are National Advertisers that have creative agencies that normally create their marketing/advertising for mainstream distribution. At Current, our advertisers are looking for innovative, cutting edge creative that has an authentic consumer perspective. They are not looking for the same old, same old. In our experience, brands have selected all types of VCAMs, whether unpolished and amateur, or clean and professional.
Brands have included: Toyota, HP, XM Radio, Paramount, Wachovia, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, Pop Secret, Microsoft, L’Oréal, Nikon, Canon, Mini, Lexus, T-Mobile, Nissan, McDonalds, Scion, Sun Chips, Clorox, Allstate, Mountain Dew, Gillette, Chrysler, Electronic Arts, Chrysler, eHarmony, Revlon, Geico, Hershey’s.
VCN: Why do you think companies are interested in having “viewers” create their commercials?
VCAM TEAM: Viewers bring a unique perspective that is increasingly important in our socially networked world. Our producer community has done an amazing job at capturing brand messaging in their authentic consumer voice and we believe that is what draws advertisers to Current.
Sony Pictures Digital – Battle L.A. “Night” youtube.com/watch?v=VKkQs82I8Ac
VCN: What do you think makes for a special viewer created ad?
VCAM TEAM: VCAMs are all pretty special because they often represent perspectives that don’t normally appear in mainstream advertising. Sincerity and simplicity make for some of the best VCAMs – even if they’re rough around the production edges.
VCN: Are any VCAM assignments currently running?
VCAM TEAM: We have a number of assignments already in progress, but there will be many new assignments throughout the rest of 2012 that producers can consider. It is a very busy year! Sign up for the VCAM newsletter at http://current.com/participate/vcam or email us at vcam@current.com to get involved.
VCN: Here’s the final and most important question; who gets crazier at the Current TV office party; Al Gore or Keith Olbermann?
Last August I did a post about the amazing video that won Tongal’s “Stuck on Duct Tape” contest. It was entitled “Duct Tron” and it featured some incredible stop motion animation and ridiculously brilliant surprise ending. Well the director who made that ad, David Brashear just won another Tongal contest and once again is work is extremely worthy of a blog post. Here’s his first place entry in Tongal’s BodyArmor contest.
BodyArmor’s First Place winner. Prize: $7,500:
Pretty damn good, huh?? The thing that I love about that video is that it’s almost certainly based on a 20 year old urban legend. Back when I was in grade school, I can remember kids talking about the hover boards that appeared in Back to the Future II. The rumor was that the hoverboards in the movie were real but they were illegal in America because they were too dangerous. Just a few years ago I learned that this hoverboard myth came directly from the film’s director, Robert Zemeckis. According to Michael J. Fox, Zemeckis got tired of explaining how the hoverboard special effects were done in BTTFII so he just started saying that Hoverboards were real. He went so far as to declare in some Back to the Future TV special the hoverboards were a real thing but toy companies couldn’t sell them because parents groups wouldn’t let them. You can read a whole lot more about this weird story here. That page includes a video that Zemeckis produced as “proof” that hoverboards existed. Watch it closely and you’ll see that the director of the Body Armor video probably drew a little inspiration from it.
A dozen (!) other videos won prizes in this contest ranging from $3,000 to $500. A lot of them are also pretty good so you might want to check them out. Actually, you might want to just head over to Tongal so you can take a look at some of the contests they’re currently running. I’m really impressed with how that site has grown in the last year. They keep announcing one huge contest after another and the prize amounts keep going up and up. I just checked and it looks like almost all of their current contests offer top prizes of at least $10,000. So…that’s pretty nice. http://tongal.com/projects
Beardy’s Note: Today I’m happy to bring you folks a very special guest post that was written by a longtime friend of VCN; MOFILM’s director of social media, Kerry Gaffney. Kerry’s going to let you you know how you can apply with Mofilm to get cash to pay for your Mofilm video contest entries. It sort of sounds to good to be true but it’s legit; Mofilm is now paying out production grants to filmmakers left and right. Need some money to hire actors or rent a nicer camera or build some outrageous prop or buy a new piece of editing software? Mofilm wants to help make any and all of that happen. Here’s how you can get a slice of their sweet, production grant pie:
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There are lots of reasons why people like to enter video contests. And there are also lots of reasons why they don’t enter; usually it’s because they run out of time or because they don’t have the money to do their idea justice. MOFILM can’t help with the time element but we’re now doing our best to help with the money side with the introduction of Production Grants.
When we were running the Chevrolet Super Bowl contest last year, we really encouraged filmmakers to make their entries as big and bold as possible. The winning spot had the chance of being aired during the telecast of the Super Bowl LXVI. So we wanted to make sure that all the entries were great enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with, or be even better than, the big agency ads. That’s why we launched the MOFILM Production Grant program. Open to any filmmaker from anywhere around the world, all they had to do was apply; sharing their concepts and giving as much supporting material as they felt like. We gave out over $100,000 last fall and the scheme was so successful we decided to include production grants for as many of our contests as we possible could.
So far in 2012 we’ve approved over $140,000 in grants for 14 different contests to over 100 filmmakers. That’s not a typo, just in January we’ve approved almost $150,000. That’s in addition to the $300,000 in prizes across our Sydney, Barcelona and Texas contests.
So how does it work? It’s easy; go check out the open contests on MOFILM and pick a brand. If there are production grants available there will be a link to the application form right from that page. You need to be quick though, the grants go fast so the sooner you get your application in the better.
For the application we want to know who you are, what your concept is, how much money you’d like (there’s usually a guide as to what’s available on the form) and what you plan to spend the money on. A member of the MOFILM team will then review the applications and decides who gets what. Anyone can apply but your odds of being successful are increased if you have a great idea (natch), have some supporting material like a script or a storyboard, and examples of previous work either with MOFILM or in a link to your showreel on your MOFILM profile.
Once you’ve been told you’ve been successful, you’ll be sent an approval form to fill in and sign. Then you can get on and create. You can bounce ideas off the account manager or ask for advice and feedback. Although, any filmmaker entering one of our contests can do that by asking on Facebook,twitter or with an email to support. Once you’re ready, and before the deadline, upload your video and all the relevant release forms. One of the MOFILM team will then be in touch to ask for receipts and bank details. Once we have that we’re good to make payment and we’ll reimburse your approved expenses. After that, all you have to do is wait to find out if you won!!
—- Guest Post by Kerry Gaffney. Follow Kerry on Twitter @kerrymg —-
If you’ve noticed all the ads we’ve been running for Tongal.com you already know that they’ve been running some huge contests for some major-league companies lately. One of their bigger clients is ACE Hardware and yesterday Tongal announced the winner of ACE’s “Customer Service Video Project.” The goal in this contest was to shoot a video about how helpful ACE employees can be. Here’s the spot that came out on top:
First Place Winner. Prize: $10,000:
Pretty good huh? Looks really professional too. I was keeping an eye on this contest because I actually entered this one myself. I collaborated with my long-distance contest buddy HappyJoel Levinson; he created a song and I shot and edited a video for it. We did manage to win a prize; $500. But this was one of those times when I kind of knew I had missed the mark. I think the video was cute but it was lacking pizazz. You can’t tell from the video but the outside stuff was shot in the freezing rain. But at least the shoot was a good excuse to try out my new camera gear. I just bought an HVX200 last month and I’m really happy with it. Now that I’m using a real video camera again I realize just how inhibiting DSLRs can be. With the HVX I don’t need to worry about ISO numbers or syncing up audio in post or stuff going out of focus if I move the camera a foot closer to the subject. I’m excited to shoot a lot more entries this year now that I don’t have to worry so much about the tech side of things. Basically I’ll be able to just point and shoot. Anywho, if you’d like to see the entry Joel and I did (or the rest of the winning spots) head here: http://tongal.com/project/aceservice
