The MindMashup video contest takes its inspiration from a quote from George Bernard Shaw: “If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.” This year’s Sparky contest is being organized by SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) with additional co-sponsorship by the Association of College and Research Libraries, the Association of Research Libraries, Penn Libraries (at the University of Pennsylvania), Students for Free Culture, and The Student PIRGs. Details are online at http://www.sparkyawards.org.
“This video contest is an excellent venue to engage students and to explore with them the intricacies of re-using content,” said Anu Vedantham, Director of the Weigle Information Commons at Penn Libraries. “The videos that emanate from this and similar contests provide vibrant examples of student creativity and ownership of new media. At Penn, I have noticed that mashup video contests and video classroom assignments engage students and faculty in new ways with academic material, and that video creation can be effectively integrated in many disciplines including writing, history and language studies. Through involvement with the 2009 Sparky Awards, libraries and new media centers have a valuable opportunity to reach out to faculty and students” said SPARC Executive Director Heather Joseph.
Content: make a short video to illustrate the power of info sharing. Deadline of video contest submission: Nov 30 2008 Eligibility: To be eligible, submissions must be publicly available on the Internet – on a Web site or in a digital repository – and available for use under a Creative Commons License. Prize: The Winner will receive a cash prize of $1,000 along with a Sparky Award statuette. Two Runners Up will each receive $500 plus a personalized award certificate. Rules of video contest: http://www.sparkyawards.org/
Novo Nordisk has launched its online video contest in order to increase diabetes awareness. The title of the video contest is Dancin’ to Change Diabetes. ABC’s Dancing with the Stars champion Drew Lachey will lead a panel of contest judges. Unfortunately, it is not You who can vote in a video, but it’s the panel of judges. The public will vote for their three finalists. Still, it is a contest with a great aim – at least several families I know have a member suffering from diabetes. One in 28 adults and one in eight African American adults in San Francisco County have diabetes, according to their press release.
Content: submit videos of the cool moves that help you stay active and healthy. Deadline of video contest submission: May 26 2008 Eligibility: over 18 years old, US resident (over 19 in Nebraska and Alabama) Prize: First prize is a year-long gym membership within close
proximity to winner; second place is a Wii(TM) System
including Wii(TM) controllers, Wii Fit(TM) and Dance Dance
Revolution(TM); third place is a four hundred dollar gift
certificate to REI(R), a popular sporting goods store. Rules of video contest: http://www.dancingtochangediabetes.com/
Here is Drew Lachey dancing freestyle with Cheryl Burke (“Brokeback Mountain to the music world”)
Gasping for air at the sight of a video contest prize of your annual income (or more) of $57,000 and all going to a guy, a high school graduate, Matt Cozza? That’s when huge brands realize how cost-effective it is to crowdsource their commercials and engage the audience from top to bottom, from tomato to ketchup.
From Suburban Chicago News:
Ketchup Kid Matt Cozza’s commercial conquered the competition and landed him a cool $57,000. Cozza, a Shorewood native and graduate of Joliet West High School, won the grand prize in the Top This TV challenge for best Heinz Ketchup commercial. Cozza, along with a crew of friends from high school, filmed the spot on a Sunday afternoon in Joliet’s Chicago Street Bar & Grill.
Matt Cozza pointed out that they managed to overcome the celebrity network effect:
“We were up against good competition, and there was no way to tell how the voting was going,” Cozza said. “Some of the people had large existing networks. One guy had a lot of fans because he’s a country music singer. It was a tough four days of trying not to think about it.”
Here are is the winning video entry, the Heinz Ketchup commercial:
If it makes you think that you could have done it too, buy a camcorder and check out the current online video contests.
The Superhero Video Contest (FYI’s Make Your Own Superhero (or Supervillain) Movie Contest) will soon close down submission! The deadline is April 30 and all you need to do is to unleash the superhero/ superheroine in your mind.
Content: what is your superhero/ine like? Max 1 minute. Deadline April 30 2008 Details: Kansas City
Here is a simple but somehow touching entry for the video contest. Nothing flashy at all like in comic books, but quite powerful:
Travel video contests are always a great success, and the You and Europe competition must be a great let-out for your creative energy. Maybe you could revamp a video that you just made for your family and friends and win another trip to a European destination, like Budapest, Hungary or Prague, Rome, Krakow, Berlin, London, Amsterdam, Riga, etc.
Content: Have you been to Europe lately and recorded your travels? “It can be funny, poignant, romantic, serious or silly. Catch an aspect of the culture, whatever captures your imagination and tell that story in your own voice and in your own style. Max 3 minutes in length. Eligibility: over 18 years old US residents Prize: win a trip to Europe for 2 (it’s a 7-day package to one of the 38 countries of the European Travel Commission) Deadline: Sept 30 2008
This is the promo video of Compulsive Traveler on YouTube:
According to the organizers, some tips for making a travel video for the contest may help you to find your inspiring narrative perspective for your European story.
I like the idea of having a video contest centering around remix culture, and the first video that comes to my mind is that of Michael Wesch, anthropology professor who made a video of what the Web looks like today, and became a viral video success reaching about a million viewers.
Now your task is to show what our culture looks like today, I guess. Even though we knew that our culture is basically remix, it is even more visible thanks to the web, and more easily remixable at the same time. Total Recut ( a video remix community website) has managed to get great judges for this touchy and blurry challenge: Lawrence Lessig, Henry Jenkins, Kembrew McLeod, Pat Aufderheide, JD Lasica and Mark Hosler Content: make a video answering the question ‘What is Remix Culture?’ You can you use any footage you can find, including Public Domain and Creative Commons work, max. 3 minutes – min 30 seconds long. Don’t forget you “must remix previously published video footage” and can use your own too.
Prizes: laptop computer loaded with video editing and conversion software, a digital camcorder, a digital media player, as well as Special Edition Total Recut T-Shirts, books, DVDs and CDs.
Deadline: June 1 2008
Eligibility: Contest is open to natural persons of any age, from any country.
And here’s the video made by Michael Wesch, anthropology professor: The Machine Is Us/ing Us This is a slightly revised and cleaned up version of the video that was featured on YouTube in February 2007.
“What’s Your Velocity?” video contest for a chance to win a $10,000 ultra performance Skulltrail gaming PC or 22″ Velocity Micro monitor.
Content of video contest: Create a video of max 3 min around the theme: “What’s Your Velocity?” Be sure to include the phrase “Building the Perfect PC Experience” in some way, mention Velocity Micro PCs, and insert one of the icons on the right. Submit your video to our YouTube group contest page. “Entries will be judged on creativity, use of the theme, and all around awesomeness.”
Prize of video contest: the top three runners up will receive a 22″ Velocity Micro monitor and the grand prize winner will get a new ultra performance gaming PC of about $10,000 Deadline: June 1 2008 Eligibility: 18 years of age or older. Further info: Velocity Micro
Crackle encourages you to tell your story – maybe it could be developed into a longer film or even series.
Content of video contest: new opportunity to tell your story better and louder. We’re currently accepting short-form, web-appropriate submissions from any genre: comedy, drama, music, documentary, and so on. Max 40 minutes. Submissions will be judged on originality, production value, and potential for further development. Prize: A Sony XDCAM EX™ Camcorder; a Sony VAIO® Computer; Vegas® 8 Editing Software; and; an offer to receive a development deal with Crackle Studios to develop material for Crackle distribution, including two (2) meetings with Crackle Studios executives Deadline: May 31 2008 Eligibility: US residents who have obtained the age of majority in the jurisdiction in which they reside, as of March 14, 2008 Video Contest Rules: Crackle Vid Contest
Hurry up, Gillette Phenom video contest will soon end, submission of video entries is until May 20 2008.
Content of video contest: Create a video of 90 seconds or less showcasing your skill in a ball sport. Your video may include the biggies—basketball, baseball, soccer, football, golf, tennis—the lesser obvious ones— volleyball, water polo, cricket, rugby, croquet—and even the fooseballs and Super Balls of the world. Eligibility for video contest: You must be a 14-years male citizen living in the United States to qualify. Grand prize of video contest: $30,000! Deadline: May 20 2008 Further info: http://youtube.com/gillettephenom
or check out the official video advertising the contest:
See more ongoing video contest with great themes and prizes in the Video Contest Calendar.
Lipton Free Your Y Video Contest is actually three video competitions combined into one big contest. Whatever talent you think you have you can cram it into one o these broad categories.
Content of video contest: choose one of the three categories and make a video of may 2 min.
MOVE & GROOVE: Cut loose. Make it old school, original, or freestyle—whatever moves you. Use any of the music tracks we’ve supplied, or your own originals. Please, no copyrighted tunes.
TRICKS & FEATS: Show your skills, like a reverse dunk or a Triple Lindy. What is your best trick shot or athletic move?
FREE FOR ALL: showcase your unique talent: tricks, silly songs or watermelon juggling. Anything goes!
Prizes of video contest: grand prize $25,000, second place $10,000, 3rd $5,000
Video Contests that Rock 