We had this very cool video sent to us today and couldn’t help but notice the strong presence of the Vitamin Water brand. The amazing dancing is clearly the reason this video has received close to 170k views, but Vitamin Water is in frame long enough to make you wonder if they were involved. However, this street view proves the ad was already there and not placed in the shot intentionally. Still, it makes you think about how brands can insert themselves gracefully into genuine viral content and ride out the views on YouTube. (via Ben Stein)

]]> http://urgensia.com/2010/07/vitamin-water-cameo-in-successful-youtube-video/feed/ 0 http://urgensia.com/2010/07/5-video-contests-wed-enter-if-we-had-time/ http://urgensia.com/2010/07/5-video-contests-wed-enter-if-we-had-time/#comments Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:07:33 +0000 peter http://urgensia.com/?p=1559

Video contests are not only good for the winners. They are a great opportunity to exercise your creativity, gain valuable experience working under a deadline, and most of all, boost your reel if you’re an aspiring filmmaker. Check out these cool contests going on right now:

1. The first-ever Vimeo Festival and Awards is coming up soon. With several reputable judges like David Lynch and DJ Spooky there will surely be some interesting videos that win. The award categories include narrative, animation, documentary, music video, experimental and more. The overall winner will receive a grant for $25,000 to work on future video projects. Hurry, because the deadline to enter is July 31st! Enter here.

2. Amazon wants you to make their next television commercial for Kindle. In 60 seconds, show what makes Kindle such a great product and you just might win the grand prize of $10,000. There will also be 5 editors’ choice awards totaling $2,000 courtesy of Poptent. This contest also ends July 31st, so time is of the essence. Enter here.

3. You know those self-indulgent moments in life when you might eat a little too much and need something to settle your stomach? The witty people at Pepto-Bismol want you to capture the pink stuff on film saving the day.  Judges will look for the most genuine recorded moment (60 seconds) and award the winner $15,000. Deadline is August 16th. Enter here.

4. Canon is featuring a cool contest involving photographer Vincent Laforet. Participants must interpret a still photograph and create a short film (2-4 min) about it using an HD camera. Several submission periods have already passed, and a few winners have already been selected, but there is still one last chance to enter by August 25th. All chapter winners receive a one year membership to Vimeo Plus, a Canon EOS 7D or 5D Mark II and choice of lens, plus a trip to work on a film with Vincent Laforet. Enter here.

5. In need of a long vacation? Get Rid of Me is a video contest from On The Go Tours with a organized six month trip as the grand prize. Create a video explaining why they should get rid of you, write a short essay and create daily confessions to qualify to win. The best part is you get a spare ticket to bring along a friend to places like China, Egypt, South Africa and Nepal. Contest ends September 30th. Enter here.

New Orleans = off the hook

Partially inspired by, Jerry Solomon, a producer and production/agency honcho I admire, I’m going to be writing a series of blog posts from the perspective of the “boutique” agency founder.  Hopefully my ruminations on the state of the industry, of which, I am essentially a n00b in, and the trials and tribulations of starting a biz will be interesting to a few people, even if those people are on the distant end of the long tail.

I just returned from the glorious city of N’awlins, where I attended a 2 day conference celebrating the “small agency.”  The agenda was such that there was only one presentation occurring at a particular time, in contrast to larger conferences that have you scrambling to see different panels; I really enjoyed the intimacy of it.

I started at the welcome cocktails, embracing the open bar and greeting the big easy with 3 Pimm’s Cups (they’re hella weak in general, so i wasn’t perved at that point).  I had to get my Southern Gentleman swerve on I figured since I was solo, not knowing a single person, and hoping to interject myself into some casual conversation.  All the attendees were super cool, and I immediately got the vibe that this was a humble group of ad people you don’t often come into contact with in the big cities.

Punctuated by the panel, The Big Questions: Small agency leaders address their most important issues, (contributors to the ad age blog small agency diaries) the underlining theme of the conference seemed to be “don’t call us small”, as people insinuated that “small” was a derogatory term.  I get where ya’ll were coming from, however, I think we’re being a bit touchy on this subject.  As schmaltzy as the saying is, it’s true, it’s not the size that matters, it’s how you use it… or work it for that matter.  Folks seemed to settle on the term “independent”, which reminds me of indie hip hop, or other music for that matter, and is just as insulting.  Who wants to be the backpacking hip hop agency?

Another highlight was meeting Claudia Batten, COO of Victors and Spoils, a firm in a similar space as ours.  Claudia gave a nice presentation on Crowd Control: How to tap the masses smartly.

Finally, I met a guy named Bubba, who claimed that he’s the goto media buyer, cutting out the big media firms and able to negotiate rates better than anybody East of the Mississippi.  He also bragged about owning many retail stores that sell clothes to the african american demo “one time they camped out over night to buy the special edition michael jordans”  Bubba didn’t have a card, was based in Memphis, and also pontificated about the Internet and Digital being a waste of time.

Overall, a great op to meet peers in a congenial environment.

‘Coalition of the Willing’ has been Directed and produced by Knife Party, written by Tim Rayner and crafted by a network of 24 artists from around the world using varied and eclectic film making techniques. Collaborators include some of the world’s top moving image talent, such as Decoy, World Leaders and Parasol Island.

Coalition Of The Willing from coalitionfilm on Vimeo.

via mark k.

We shot with the hvx200 with letus adapter package and nikon still lenses. edited myself in final cut pro and did all color correction with FCP and magic bullet.

Sound mixed at Todd AO West. Got a great sound mix and a bunch of other favors and that was key to getting good production value. Very DIY production. I cast, pre produced, did everything with just me and a very small crew of friends and a few crew hands. It is interesting to note that despite the big SLR craze, you can get perhaps an even more filmic look with the adaptor packages on an HD camera. the letus does a great job of adding in that organic film grain look. I really dug it.

J. Cole – Who Dat (Directed by BBGUN) from bbgun on Vimeo.

Asher Roth – Muddy Swim Trunks (Directed by BBGUN) from bbgun on Vimeo.

Kidz In The Hall – Jukebox (Directed by BBGUN) from bbgun on Vimeo.

The Roots – How I Got Over (Directed by BBGUN) from bbgun on Vimeo.

Check out dudes site, http://bbgunfilm.com

I couldn’t find an embeddable trailer, but SlashFilm has an exclusive clip/interview with artist here. The DVD is avail for purchase. I’d caution that this tape might explode your brain.