2013 April | Video Contest News - Featuring News about Video Contests!

Apartments.com launches the 2013 installment of their “Roommate of the Year” video contest

Posted by Dan L. on April 28th, 2013

One of my favorite annual video contests is back for 2013. The Apartments.com “Roommate of the Year” competition is up and running again and the deadline for submissions is set for May 20th. To enter you’ll need to create a funny and/or cool and/or clever video that explains what makes you such a great roommate. The sponsors will select a group of 15 finalists and then there will be a public vote. After the voting ends, a panel of judges will pick the grand prize winner from the 5 most popular entries. The grand prize is $10,000 in cash plus another $10,000 that the winner can use to pay their rent.

$20,000 is a pretty amazing prize and this contest always gets a lot of great submissions. But Apartments.com is also running a weekly video contest right now and it doesn’t usually get a lot of entries. To enter the Roommate of the Year “Video Shorts” contest you just have to demonstrate what makes you a “one of a kind roommate” in 30 seconds or less. Each Friday from now until May 17th, the Apartments.com judges will pick one weekly winner and send them a $250 gift card. Last year I noticed that the weekly contest wasn’t getting much attention so I threw together a video and I won one of the gift cards. Last Tuesday I was looking over the rules for the 2013 contest and I realized that the first “Video Shorts” deadline was Wednesday and not a single entry had been submitted yet. So once again I made a quick video and although I did have some last minute competition, I managed to win again. I can’t embed my video so you can see my goofball submission here:

Click to watch on the contest site

Obviously that video ain’t exactly a masterpiece but hey, it literally took me about 90 minutes to shoot, edit and upload it. So my half-assed efforts earned me a quick $250. And that $250 comes in the form of a Visa gift card which is almost better than cash. When I get a check I just deposit it and blow my winnings of stupid stuff like bills and groceries. But a free gift card is just begging to be wasted. I think I’ll go crazy on iTunes and download 252 songs. Actually, I’m taking a trip to either L.A. or New Orleans this summer so I’ll probably save the card and use it to buy red wine and Pink’s Chili dogs or Hurricanes and Red Snapper.

The deadline for the next weekly video shorts contest is this Wednesday and so far, only one other video has been submitted. The weekly contest usually gets a bunch of entries near the end of its run but right now most people don’t even realize it’s happening. So I suggest you stop screwing around on the Internet for a few hours and go shoot a submission.

-

Sunkist’s “Power Orange Challenge” winners

Posted by Dan L. on April 25th, 2013

-

Hey what’s your favorite fruit? Mine’s Pineapple. My cabinets are packed with so many cans of sliced and cubed and even crushed pineapples that it looks like I’m prepping for some kind of apocalypse scenario in which pineapples will become our new currency. But after pineapples, I have to say that my second favorite fruit is the Cara Cara Orange. They’re sweet and tangy and they really give pineapples a run for their money. Unfortunately, Cara Caras are only available for a few months a year and the season is just about over. You MIGHT be able to find some Cara Caras for a few more days so if you’ve never had one I suggest you run out and try and find a few while you still can. Or you can just eat some canned pineapple and watch the winners of Sunkist’s Cara Cara video contest. Both options are pretty good.

Grand Prize Winner. Prize: $5,000:
-

-

Man, that was hella slick. I’m 99.95% sure that video was created by a filmmaker named Pete Herron. Herron is literally the most successful Mofilm member of all time. He’s at he top of their rankings and he’s won more prizes on Mofilm than anyone else by a mile.

Sunkist also named two “first prize winners” that each received $1,000. Here they are:
-

-

-

My love of Cara Cara’s inspired me to enter this contest with a friend and we finished in the top 10. If you’re interested, is our submission. We managed to win $120 which we’ll split two ways. That might not sound like much but I think I’ll save my winnings and buy like 30 pounds of Cara Caras next January.

-

Joseph Gordon-Levitt Invites you to Hit RECord

Posted by Dan L. on April 22nd, 2013

Hey you know what? That Joseph Gordon-Levitt kid is ok in my book. He easily could have grown up to be a Shia Labeouf-style douche bag but he seems to actually care about his craft and his medium. I remember a few years ago he was hosting SNL and he performed “Make ‘em Laugh” during the opening monologue. At the end of the song, that mother f&%ker did the full-on Danny Kaye wall flip on live television and it was one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen on SNL. Not a lot of famous actors would be committed enough to risk smashing their face on live TV.

The Boy Wonder (heh) runs his own “online collaborative production company” named HitRECord and they’re currently looking for content for a TV show that will air on the new cable channel, Pivot. If you’re a writer you can submit a script, if you’re a filmmaker you can shoot a short, if you’re an editor you can download raw footage and chop and screw it together how ever you’d like. And if HitRecord uses your stuff, you get paid. The show is looking for artists of all types; musicians, photographers, graphic designers etc etc etc so if you’re any time of “creative” there’s a way for you to participate. This promo video will fill you in on all the details:
-

-
I really like the sound of this whole endeavor and I think I’ll go sign up right now. This idea reminds me of the the way CurrentTV was about 5 years ago. (Current TV used to air viewer submitted documentaries all day and it was absolutely fantastic. Now they just air the same two documentaries about weed 40 times a week.) For more info about HitRECord head to www.hitrecord.org.
-

VCN Sponsor Spotlight: 4/19/13

Posted by Dan L. on April 19th, 2013

Late April has got to be my favorite time of year. The days are getting longer, the temps are starting to rise, the flowers are in bloom, the robins and redwings are back and the sky is a deep, gloomy gray. Ok, that last point might sound sort of weird but April’s gray skies are great for filming. The clouds act like a natural diffuser and the sunlight is nice and even. I just finished a big entry for a Mofilm competition and I was planning on taking a break from video contests for a little while. But April’s niceness has inspired me to go out and shoot a new entry as soon as I can. If you’re also in the mood to do some filming this month, here are 3 new contests you might want to check out:

Deadline: 5/19/13

Poptent’s “Hormel Black Label Bacon” assignment: Just a few weeks ago I was a little worried about the future of Poptent. They were running 16 private, invite-only assignments and only 2 public assignments. I thought maybe the company was going to close their doors to the general public and just start assigning work to their most successful members. But good news; Poptent just launched a whole bunch of very enticing new public assignments. So they’re not going private any time soon. Their biggest current assignment is for Hormel Black Label Bacon. There will be one $10,000 purchase, one $7,500 purchase, one $5,000 purchase and seven $3,500 purchases. The top 3 winners will also get a trip to Brooklyn so they can attend a screening of their shorts at a “Bacon Film Festival.” Bacon is obviously a really fun product and since there are a ton of prizes at stake, Poptent is going to get a billion submissions for this. But the brief is kind of challenging, Hormel doesn’t want 30 second commercials; they want short films up to 5 minutes long. Head here for more details. DEADLINE: May 19th, 2013.

Deadline: 5/13/13

Tongal’s “Everyone Loves Welch’s” contest: Tongal is running a bunch of big money contests right now but this one for Welch’s Fruit Snacks managed to grab my attention. It’s currently in the “Idea Phase” so you still have a few days to submit a concept. After the idea winners are selected you’ll have a chance to submit a pitch and explain how you would go about creating one of the winning ideas. If you win the pitch phase you get $1,000. When all is said and done, the first place video will receive $10,000, 3nd place gets $5K and third is good for $2,500. You can read the contest brief here. And if you’re in need of some inspiration, I suggest you eat 2 or 3 pounds of those fruit snacks and then take a nap. I’m sure you’ll have some pretty entertaining fruit snack-themed dreams. Video Deadline: May 15th, 2013.

Deadline: 7/15/13

Mofilm’s “Wild Turkey American Honey” contest: According to Mofilm “Wild Turkey American Honey is looking for some fun and aspiring video content for its new campaign: Born Wild Made Smooth.” I’ve got a decent idea for this contest but I’m not sure I should enter. Why? Because the Wild Turkey contest is a part of Mofilm’s 2013 Lollapalooza contest and the 1st place winner gets $8,000 and a trip for 2 to Chicago. I can see Chicago from my kitchen window so I don’t need a plane ticket to get there. But even if I don’t enter, I’ll probably be at Mofilm’s Chicago awards dinner so if you win, you get the bonus prize of meeting your video contest buddy Beardy from VCN! Oh one more thing, there are still production grants available for this contest. The grants go fast so hurry up and submit an idea and maybe you’ll get some cash to produce your idea. If you win, I promise to buy you a glass of bourbon in person. To download the brief for this contest, click here. Deadline: July 15th, 2013.

I just realized that I made some really delicious picks this month. BACON, FRUIT SNACKS and WILD TURKEY: Everything you need to throw one kick ass party!

How to reduce camera shake in Final Cut Pro

Posted by Dan L. on April 16th, 2013

I’m always in a big ass hurry when I’m out shooting and consequently a lot of my footage winds up looking sorta shaky. I know there are some pretty effective methods for smoothing out footage in After Effects but I don’t have After Effects and neither do you. (If you do have After Effects, you probably already know how to get rid of camera shake. Also, you’re probably a software pirate.) So if Final Cut’s all you’ve got, your best option for removing camera shake is a video filter named SmoothCam. This tutorial offers a nice step by step explanation of how to use the filter:
-

-
Fair warning; SmoothCam won’t work miracles and if your footage is jumping all over the place the filter isn’t going to save it. Sure, it will render a smoother version but you’ll probably get a lot of digital blur. It seems like SmoothCam works best on simple pans, tilts and slides. Let me show you an example: Last December I filmed this clip of a couple sitting next to a Christmas tree. The shot had a couple minor shakes but SmoothCam made it look totally slick. This clip will show you what the shot looked like before and after the filter was applied. Only the pan was done on set. The little zoom out at the end was added digitally in post.
-

-
The effect is subtle but it makes a huge difference. One final tip; if you’re planning to use SmoothCam you should frame your shots a little wider than normal. SmoothCam has to zoom in a bit and it will have to crop the frame some. To get rid of the little bumps in that Christmas video SmoothCam had to enlarge that clip to 110% of its original size. So if you leave your frame a little wide, and if your camera movement is slow and already mostly steady, SmoothCam can make your crappy footage look nice and smooooth.

-

“101 Ways to Use Lysol Disinfectant Spray” winner

Posted by Dan L. on April 11th, 2013

I just found out that a friend of VCN, Tim O. won the $10,000 grand prize in Lysol’s “101 Ways to Use Lysol Disinfectant Spray” contest. For this competition you could enter a photo, video or written testimonial about how you use Lysol. Here’s Tim’s winning submission:
-

-
You can never go wrong with a cute baby entry! After Tim found out he was the winner he was given a choice. Either his family could star in a Lysol commercial or he could have $10,000 in cash. Guess what? He took the cash. Good call Tim and congrats!
-

MSNBC profiles the rise of Tongal

Posted by Dan L. on April 9th, 2013

When I’m working on a new blog post I like to keep MSNBC on mute in the background. Every so often I’ll look over and see the kind but concerned faces of Rachel Maddow or Lawrence O’Donnell and I’ll briefly feel comforted by the fact that other people are out there worrying about the important events of the day which leaves dorks like me free to blog about video contests. But last week my worlds collided when I looked up and saw a shot of the Tongal.com forum on MSNBC. The shot was gone in a flash but I did some googling and learned that MSNBC’s show “Your Business” was going to run a story about the crowdsourced video site’s recent successes. The show aired on Sunday morning at 7:30AM and since I’m not a 2 year old child or a 72 year old man I was asleep then. Fortunately we live in the future and we can all watch any clip from any tv show any time we want. So here’s the “Your Business” profile of Tongal. It’s pretty good and well worth 4:57 minutes of your time.
-

-

Smooooth: The MōVI has arrived!

Posted by Dan L. on April 5th, 2013

Hey cinematography nerds, you can throw your dolly tracks in the nearest dumpster because “The MōVI” has arrived! The MōVI is a digital 3-axis gyro-stabilized handheld camera gimbal that’s produced by Freefly Systems. If you stick your DSLR in one of these things people will think that a 10-person crew spent half a day to setting up some of your tracking shots. I’m not gonna bother explaining what exactly this thing does because the godfather of DSLR filmmaking, Vincent Laforet, just filmed a short with the MōVI and his Behind the Scenes footage will really make you wish you had $15,000 to spend on one of these things:
-

-
If you thought that was cool, check this out. It’s a short, sound-free clip that demonstrates what the contraption looks like when it’s keeping a camera stable.
-

-
A smaller version of the MōVI is in the works and it will cost you a mere $7,500. You can read a whole more about this neat little device and watch Lafort’s finished short film on his blog.