This Cadburry commercial has us all in stitches here at XLNTads HQ. So simple. So good.
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Poptent is our new community site where brands and independent video creators connect.
Archive for January, 2009
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Creative Inspiration: The Eyebrow Dance
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Poptent FAQ Navigation
Click any of the links below to read the answer. Or click HERE to see the whole list in expanded view.
- What is Poptent?
- How do I participate in an assignment?
- Who selects the winners? When are they announced?
- Can I enter more than one video per assignment?
- What is activity?
- How do I follow creators and brands?
- I uploaded my video, but I don’t see it on the site. What gives?
- How can I keep up with news about assignment winners, new features, etc.?
- What file types can I upload? What are the specs that look best?
- What are the benefits of uploading media?
- Now that my video is done, how do I submit the other materials?
- Where can I find music for my commercial?
- Where do I download the release forms? Do I have to submit them now?
- How do I get paid?
- Do you have in-house paid work for me?
- I don’t understand the Creative Brief, can you enlighten me?
- What is the asset tray? Do you have additional assets besides the ones in the asset tray?
- What tips do you have that can help me win?
- Does this assignment give away free stuff?
- Will you make me famous?
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Creator Spotlight: Dane Boedigheimer
Dane Boedigheimer (aka daneboe) has been one of the most creative and active members of Poptent since, well, before XLNTads even launched the Poptent Network! He’s always bringing fresh and interesting takes on our assignments. Dane’s style is always chalk full of fantastic animation. We recently sat down for an interview.
How did you get into making videos?
My perents got a 8mm camcorder for Christmas when I was 12. I started playing around with it and instantly fell in love with it. Soon I was spending entire days making short videos with my younger brother. It all just blossomed from there. I remember sitting in my room for hours editing my videos with two VCRs. It was painstaking, but I loved it. There was something magical about making stories come to life right in front of my eyes, no matter how crappy those stories were!XLNTads: Where do you get your inspiration from?
Everything! Well, mabe not everything…but I’ve been inspired by a whole range of things. It all depends. I get inspired by great movies, crappy movies, stories that people tell me, conversations I have, and things that happen in real life. Even though I have a tendency to create fantastical situations in my videos, they are all grounded in some story or aspect from real life. It just goes to show, real life can be more amazing than anything we could possibly imagine.What do you like about making commercials?
Commercials are great for a number of reasons. With most, they allow you to be really creative. They also provide a format for practicing your craft, and they actually help you connect with other people in the video industry. Personally, one of my favorite aspects is that commercial projects are usually short. I love working with short formats, so commercials are perfect in that way. Plus, your getting paid to do something you love…how fantastic is that?Any great resources that the Poptent Community should know about?
I used soundsnap.com for free sound effects religiously, but they recently began charging users for downlading. They are still affordable though, and never let me down. Detonationfilms.com is great for all kinds of free stock footage. SXC.hu is my favorite site for free photos and clip art.Tell me a funny story that happened while you were on a shoot…
Well, it isn’t just one shoot, but I don’t know how many times I’ve had run-ins with police while shooting videos. I’ve been pulled over for speeding, kicked out of a mall, banished from numerous parking lots, reprimanded for throwing objects off a bridge, fined for shooing fireworks in city limits…the list goes on and on. I’m starting to think the cops have my apartment tapped and know whenever I’m going to be shooting a video!Check out all our Creator Spotlight posts here.
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December’s Reel of the Month Winner
We had a big batch of finalists to choose from in December because of the high quality of submissions. You guys are really showing us some amazing demo reels! It always excites me to see the kind of talent out there in our network. Have you posted your Demo Reel to Poptent? C’mon, show off!
The judges have spoken and the winner of December’s $500 and Reel of the Month goes to:
Honorable Mentions
Hearty congratulations go out to all these amazing creators. Great work, everyone. You will go far.
Our judges panel this month is
Derek Hewitt
Senior Vice President of Marketing at TracFone, the fastest growing cell phone company in AmericaLance Weiler
Founder, the Workbook Project. Writer and Director of “Head Trauma”. Recently named one of “The 18 People Who Changed Hollywood” by Business Week magazine.David Schoneveld
Senior Digital FX Artist at Dreamworks Animation. Particle and Fluid Dynamics Instructor at The Gnomon School of Visual Effects in Hollywood.Denise Zimmerman
President and Chief Strategy Officer of NetPlus Marketing, a digital agency based in greater Philadelphia. She has authored numerous articles and white papers on developments in the online world, and speaks at iMedia Summits and Shop.org conferences frequently.John Shanley
Creative Director at NetPlus Marketing, a Top 50 Interactive AgencySteve Rockman
Vice President of the StarGroup, a full service ad agency based in Philadelphia. -
Poptent and XLNTads in the News
A couple of things have come up that I’ve been meaning to share with you. First, Neil has an article in MediaPost called “Marketing Differently in a Recessionary Economy“. Here’s an excerpt:
…what’s a marketer to do in this recessionary economy? Go gently into that good night? Of course not! Now is the time for growth and gaining competitive advantage; now is the time to do something different.
First, you better start getting creative, in particular, as it pertains to your creative. Here’s something different — crowdsourcing. Coined by Jeff Howe in a 2006 article in Wired magazine, and blown out in his book of that name, crowdsourcing is the act of taking a task traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people, in the form of an open call. It is a method of generating ideas and materials from a broad spectrum of interested bystanders, and using their input to meet business needs.
Crowdsourcing can be used to develop creative to supplement your marketing plan’s needs. There are hundreds of thousands of talented creators online who are young, independent, energetic and excited about your brand. Let them take a stab at filling in the gaps created by budget cutbacks. [read more]
Next, I had the opportunity to be interviewed on the brand new Philadelphia Startup Blog. I believe we are the first company to be featured, so that’s pretty cool, eh?
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Thought-Provoking Photo of the Moment
Just saw this photo and it struck me as profound. What do you guys think?
[via Agencia Brasil] -
Callaway Launches ‘Diablo’ Assignment on Poptent
If the doesn’t inspire you to yawp ‘hell yes!‘ then check out what’s going on at the assignment page!
We’re very excited to be starting a new relationship with the excellent folks at Callaway Golf. They’re about to launch a new killer driver called the Big Bertha Diablo. They’re asking you to come up with creative ways to show the ‘attitude’ that comes with this awesome new golf club.
There is $2000 of awards available for our favorite commercials and thousands more for videos that get purchased by Callaway. So what are you waiting for? We can’t wait to see your work!
Don’t forget, we’re also still giving away $500 each month to the best Demo Reel uploaded to Poptent!
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Poptent on Poptent: A New Assignment
When we launched XLNTads over a year ago, we asked our community to come up with creative ways to help us sell ourselves to great brands. The videos you came up with back then astounded us, and made us proud. Here’s the winner from that assignment, made by creator Andy Gilligan (aka woodlandanimals):
Now, many moons later, we’ve refined our business, made a few changes, and launched the Poptent community! But we still need to tell our story to brands. Help us do that! We’ve got a fantastic product for them, especially in this tighter economic times.
Create our commercial - and let the world know why you - our community - are the best, most creative folks out there. Working with you is a win-win for any brand, big or small! We’ve got $2000 in awards for the best videos, so let us see your stuff!
