2012 August | Video Contest News - Featuring News about Video Contests!

Happy Anniversary to me!

Posted by Dan L. on August 31st, 2012

yummers

I just got an alert from godaddy that said that my domain, videocontestnews.com, was set to auto-renew on September 1st. So that means Saturday is VCN’s three-year anniversary! To commemorate this momentous occasion, please head to the grocery store today and get some cake mix and frosting, make me a cake (or a tray of cupcakes) and fedex them to me so I can enjoy them on the first. Right now my instinct is to say “time flies” and that I don’t know where the last 3 years went. But man….it actually feels like I’ve been writing this blog for half my life. I guess now I understand why people keep diaries. When you spend a few hours every week writing about whatever is on your mind it kind of slows down the passage of time. Weeks and months can’t really slip past you if you’re always stopping to recap what’s been going on.

If you’re a regular reader of VCN I really appreciate you and your discriminating eyeballs. Thanks for visiting the site, leaving comments and sending your tips and suggestions. And a big fat thank you goes out to all the companies that have sponsored the blog over the years. I know how my brain works and without their support I think I would have gotten lazy and let the site fizzle out a long time ago.

Speaking of fizzling, I’m a little worried about VCN’s future right now since some non-video contest projects have been taking up a lot of my time lately. I will try and keep blogging at least once or twice a week but you might encounter some longish gaps this fall. Actually, if you have anything you’d like to say about video contests I’d love to run some guest posts in September and October. So if you’re interested in borrowing my soapbox, send me an e-mail at . Thanks and seriously…make and send me some cupcakes, ok?

How to create Stop Motion videos with a DSLR

Posted by Dan L. on August 28th, 2012

This year Tongal has been running a ton of stop motion-themed video contests. But I’ve never entered any of them because I had absolutely no idea how to create a stop motion animation. So earlier this summer I decided to finally buckle down and figure out how to do it. Turns out the right gear and the right program make the whole processes hilariously simple. Here now is my first attempt at making a stop motion video since I was about 14. A friend of mine did a cute little song for a Dole contest and I wanted to add some quirky visuals. (Check out my previous post to see the great song/video she did for Butterfinger’s Last Spokesman on Earth Contest.) I think it turned out a lot better than my last stop motion project which was a 10 second video of a toy Rancor chasing a stormtrooper across my desk. Like I said, I was 14.

The animation wasn’t very smooth but I actually like that jumpy look; it kind of fit the mood of the song. But if I had taken more frames it could have been a lot smoother. I also screwed up and had my camera set to take 2 quick shots each time I took a a picture. Each frame was exposed differently and that’s why you can see kind of a flicker effect when the fruit cups are moving around in the freezer. So don’t do that unless you want your video to look like a silent film!

Now, let’s go over how you can make something as amazing and brilliant as my (non-winning) Dole video. I’m going to assume you know a thing or two about film and that you already understand how to SHOOT a stop motion scene. So here’s what you do after you take all your photos.

STEP 1: Once you’re done taking your photos, import them from your DSLR into your computer. Put them into their own folder and take a few minutes to look them over. If you notice any messed up images you’ll want to delete them. A sudden change in lighting or your big fat hand in the shot will ruin the optical illusion of your animation.

STEP 2: If you don’t already own QUICKTIME 7 PRO you’re going to need to buy it! It’s $29 and well worth the money. Head to buy it.

STEP 3: Open up your new copy of Quicktime 7 Pro and go to FILE and select OPEN IMAGE SEQUENCE:

Select Open Image Sequence

STEP 4: Find your photos on your computer. Click on just the first photo in the sequence. Quicktime will automatically snag all the photos in the folder.

STEP 5: Chose how many Frames Per Second you want. Normal video might feature 24 frames per second but you’ll only be able to choose that option if you took a ton of shots. I’ve found that 12 frames per second works just fine.

Super obvious point: A lot of frames per second means a shorter video and a smoother look

STEP 6: It’s magic time! Quicktime will string all your photos together into a video sequence. If you like the way it looks, go to FILE and select EXPORT to turn the sequence into an MOV file.

Export your sequence to an MOV file

And that’s it! Now you can drop the file in your timeline and start editing. Of course, you might have to crop your new sequence some since the size of your photos won’t fill up a wide screen frame. So when you take your photos, leave yourself some room to crop the finished video.

Ok so you’ve seen my goofy attempt at stop motion, now I want to see yours. If you enter one of Tongal’s stop motion contests, send me a link to your video so I can see how awesome you are!

Vote for my pal ANNA H. in Butterfinger’s Last Spokesperson on Earth contest!

Posted by Dan L. on August 26th, 2012

Butterfinger, she’s your girl!

A few weeks back I shot an entry for Butterfinger’s last spokesperson on Earth video contest but I didn’t make the finals. But it turns out that my friend Anna DID manage to make the top 5. Anna’s a very talented musician from Chicago and I’m happy to say that I introduced her to the world of video contests. She writes and performs amazing and catchy little songs and I think if she gets hooked she’s going to wind up winning a lot of contests. The Butterfinger contest had a really weird theme; contestants were supposed to demonstrate a talent and show what an effective spokesperson they would be after aliens invade during the Mayan Apocalypse in December 2012. The concept is totally insane but Anna managed to write an absolutely beautiful song about Butterfingers and the end of the world.

The winner of the Butterfinger competition is determined by facebook votes so Anna could use your support. To vote for her, just follow this link and scroll down past the promo video. You’ll see 5 thumbnails. Click on the one that says Anna H. and vote. I totally slacked off on this request and midnight on Monday the 27th is the voting deadline so cast a vote while you still can. Thanks!

Oatshake jingle winner

Posted by Dan L. on August 24th, 2012

Last week I posted about a musician named “Sawyer F” who won the grand prize in the Firehouse subs video contest. The guy’s song was so I good that I mentioned that he could totally clean up if he wrote more songs for other video contests. I was just looking around for some recent winners I could post and it turns out that Firehouse subs guy has already won another jingle video contest. This time it was for the Oatshake jingle competition:

Grand Prize Winner. Prize: $2,000:

Once again, that was pretty damn good. This dude is going to become the Justin Bieber of video contests and make a bazillion dollars.

IHOP’s “Show Your Breakfast Love” winner

Posted by Dan L. on August 20th, 2012

A few weeks ago I read about IHOP’s “Show Your Breakfast Love” video contest and I immediately swore to myself that I would NOT enter this one. Why? Because the grand prize was a year’s worth of free IHOP in the form of a $2,600 gift card! I know myself pretty well and if I were to win a a prize like that I’d be dead in 6 months. My autopsy would reveal that my BSC (Blood Syrup content) was at least a .08 and I’d make medical history as the first man to somehow completely stuff his arteries full of bacon. Even if I managed to survive I’d wind up being more hash browns than man and my life would be pretty much ruined.

So I sat this contest out. I didn’t even allow myself to look at the rules. I think you had to create a music video for IHOP’s new theme song….I don’t know. Here’s the video that won. Just looking at those adorable singing pancakes makes me want to stab their happy faces with a fork and shovel them down my gullet. Goddamn I love breakfast.

Contest Winner. Prize: Free IHOP for a year:

Firehouse Subs owners mess with the winner of their video contest

Posted by Dan L. on August 17th, 2012

This week the owners of Firehouse Subs announced that a musician named Sawyer Frye had won the grand prize in their “Lei Your Love on the Line” video contest. His entry is absolutely fantastic and he gives one of the best musical performance I’ve ever heard in a video contest entry. I don’t know who this guy is but if he keeps entering video contests he’s gonna make a killing:

First Place Winner. Prize: A trip for two to Hawaii:

The two owners of the company videotaped themselves when they called the winner to tell him the results. But for some weird reason they decided to mess with him a bit by telling him he had won third prize. I’ve gotten a few congratulatory phone calls from video contest sponsors and I gotta say, it’s kind of a nerve racking experience. The sponsors usually want to draw out the conversation to build up the suspense. So whenever I get one of those calls I’m just holding my breath as I wait to hear how I did. So to all you contest organizers out there, don’t mess with your winners….just come right out and tell them how they did! And also, you really shouldn’t call people who won smaller prizes because you’re just getting their hopes up. Most people wouldn’t expect the owners of the company to call them if they won 3rd place. Here’s the video of the Firehouse subs guys pranking their winner. The guy did win a pretty sweet trip so I’m guessing he didn’t mind being the butt of their joke.

VCN Sponsor Spotlight: 8/15/12

Posted by Dan L. on August 15th, 2012

Right now VCN has three regular sponsors, Poptent, Mofilm and Tongal. Whenever I’m feeling lazy I just head to one of those sites and whip up a post about one of their current or recent contests. I try not to do that toooo much though because I don’t want VCN to feel like one big commercial. But Tongal, Mofilm and Poptent are constantly generating a lot of interesting Video Contest News! So I’ve decided to compromise with myself and start a new feature: The Sponsor Spotlight. Every two weeks I’ll post the best recent results from Mofilm, Tongal and Poptent competitions OR I’ll highlight a new, notable contest from each site. Just for the record, no one is paying for this column and all the contests and videos featured in the Sponsor Spotlight are chose solely by your boy Beardy. In this installment of the Spotlight, I’ll be highlighting three REALLY fantastic new contests/assignments; two of them award trips to the winner and the the video that wins the third one will air on television!

Oh burn!

MOFILM’S BURN ENERGY DRINK CONTEST: There are five different brand categories in Mofilm’s current London-themed ad contest and I think the most attractive of those brands is Burn energy drink. Burn doesn’t want a traditional commercial. Instead they want “stories that illustrate the “Free State Of Crea4vity.” Consider what you know of the creative process and bring it to life in a short story. Creative expression can take many forms, though Burn is most prominent in the snow, skate, surf, electronic music, street art, and BMX communities, so stories about these passions are ideal.“ The brief for this contest says you don’t even need to show characters drinking Burn. So this is a nice opportunity for filmmakers who want to make a wild, fun short film. Top Prize: $8,000 + a trip to London. Due Date: 10/1/12 Click here for more info.

Marvel-ous! (get it?)

TONGAL’S MARVEL SUPER HEROES CONTEST: Usually Tonal runs their video contests in different phases but right now the site is hosting two “straight to video” competitions. Both contests are for Marvel and DC comic-themed LEGO playsets. From Tongal: “Make all your favorite heroes and villains come alive in a 1 to 3 minute animated video, and you could be on your way to hang with fellow Comic-heads in the city that never sleeps. “ If you can’t come up with a fun idea for a short video about Lego superheroes you might want to get out of the video contest game. Oh and by the way, if you have a DSLR, Stop-Motion animation is actually pretty easy to do. In fact, I think I’ll post a little tutorial on that topic next week. Top Prize: $10,000 + a trip to the NYC Comicon. Due Date: 9/14/12 Click here for more info.

drink me.

POPTENT’S BOLLA WINE ASSIGNMENT: This is a notable contest for two reasons. First off, the purchased ad will air on TV. Having your work air on television is almost better than any cash prize since since a TV credit can really help you get future work. But there’s another reason you should consider entering this contest…it’s for a wine company which means that a lot of Poptent members won’t be able to create ads since you have to be at least 21 to participate in the assignment. Here’s what the company is looking for: “Bolla is a well know Italian wine that is looking for a relevant consumer message to dialogue with its target consumer in a modern contemporary way.” Top Prize: One video purchased for $7,500. Due Date: 9/4/12 Click here for more info.

Project Reason video contest winners

Posted by Dan L. on August 13th, 2012

Some folks in this country just don’t believe in God. If that idea freaks you out you’re going to want to skip these next two videos. These are the first and second place winners of Project Reason’s 2012 video contest. Here’s what the contest was about:

The primary goal of Project Reason is to spread scientific thinking and secular values. We invited you to help us further our work by submitting a short video that conveys the message of the foundation.

Basically, this was a video contest promoting atheism. The first place winner is extremely well done and creepy as hell (no pun intended.) I don’t really like the over-the-top voice acting but the message is pretty hardcore.

Grand Prize Winner. Prize: $10,000:

The second place video isn’t as slick as the first prize winner but I’m a bit of a science nerd and the concept really struck a cord with me. When I was a kid I remember wondering why God didn’t drop advanced scientific facts into the bible to prove to future generations that he was all-knowing. It would have been really helpful if the 11th commandment had been something like “Thou shalt was your hands to prevent the spread of disease.” Some instructions on how to make soap would have been nice too. This video shows us what a scientifically accurate version of Genesis might look like.

Second Place Winner. Prize: $4,000:

Project Reason seems to be an on-going operation. To learn more about it, head here.