I’ve rounded up a bunch of new tips and tricks for our creators and I’m going to slap them all together in one post here.

First off, Tilzy has a great list of things for making good web video series. For all of you thinking about entering into The Amazing Pitch II, this is a must-read. Here’s the first tip (click through to read them all!):

1. Brands, not shows.

A show is just one opportunity for viewsers to experience your characters, to taste the flavor of your brand. Create a meal (show), but be sure to serve up pleanty of appitizers and snacks (shorter videos) and some dinner conversation (interactive elements). Your brands should be immersive experiences. I want to engage with them actively and passively, when I’m on the go, and when I want to veg out on my couch. Figure out ways to offer various experiences to match my various moods. Various disparate content within a catch-all brand just doesn’t cut it.

Next up is something that I often struggle with in my own video editing - white balance and color correction. The always spot-on and entertaining video tip show The Shirtless Apprentice guest-features master editor and video blogger extraordinaire Bill Cammack in this episode. He brings us a super easy, but valuable tip on the art of color in Final Cut Pro.

And lastly, Paul Harrill’s Self-Reliant Filmmaker blog has a great list of must-have free software for Mac. If you’re not a Mac user, fear not, he’s linked to a great list for Windows-based editors. There are tons of great stuff on his blog, I highly recommend subscribing!

That’s it for now! Happy video making.

Tags: tips, video, how to, tools, shirtless apprentice, bill cammack, tilzy, self-reliant filmmaker

We’re working hard at at signing up new clients to fire up assignments for our community members to flex their creative muscle! Some great (official) news is coming very soon! In the meantime, allow me to entertain you with these great oldies as a way of hinting around about who we just signed with for our next assignment!

[Thanks for sharing those videos, Brandy!]

Tags: creativity, phone, commercials, video, advertising, news, funny

Here’s an inspiring video that goes to show, you don’t need millions of dollars to recreate epic battle scenes. What could be more epic than landing on Normandy Beach during World War II? Not much, methinks. Check out what just three guys did with a little hard work and a heap of ingenuity.

[Thanks, Dave!]

Tags: video, creative, diy, inspiration, cool

These have to be some of the simplest, cleanest spots I have seen in a while. And short! Perfect for pre-roll or mid-roll ad placement. And really, anyone could make videos like these. So simple!

[thanks, Duncan's TV Ad Land]

Tags: creative, advertising, ikea, xlntads, inspiration

Making the mundane details in life a little brighter is a great way to start off a better brand experience. This is the new in-flight video from Virgin Atlantic. It was created by an agency called Anomaly, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but man, it’s pretty entertaining. As Karl Long at ExperienceCurve points out, “The message that they manage to get across here of course is ‘if we tried harder to make this video bearable imagine what we’ll do to improve the rest of the experience’.” Thanks, AdFreak.

In a slightly different vein, I dig this spot pointed out by Steve Hall at AdRants. The folks behind StunMedia were getting a bit bored on the set of a photo shoot for Silver Jeans when they decided to ease their boredom a bit by shooting some video. The end result? A pretty compelling spec spot for the brand.

You could do that!

Tags: creativity, creative inspiration, video, adfreak, anomaly, stun media, silver jeans, boredom

I absolutely love the creative genius that is The Common Craft Show. Of course, I love anything that’s simple and elegant, yet awesomely powerful. Take note, you don’t always have to have actors, a set and expensive props to make a compelling message. Common Craft is inspiring us all by making brand messages in the form of papercraft cutouts. Their videos are straight-forward, digestable and entertaining nuggets that both educate and promote brands. For example, here’s a spot they made for Google Docs:

Awesome, right? And because it’s Halloween, how can I resit sharing this amazing vid about zombies!?

Tags: common craft, advertising, video, messages, papercraft, google docs, branding

It’s been pretty hectic around XLNTads-land these days, and I’ve neglected to put up my promised weekly post ‘Creative Inspiration‘. Okay, kids, here’s something from waaaaay out there. Check out these awesome vintage commercials made by conceptual American pop artist, Peter Max back in the late 60’s and early 70’s. How’s that for some creative inspiration, huh? Awesome.

[Thanks, ViewersLikeYou!]

Tags: creative, inspiration, advertising, ads, video, peter max, psychedelic, art, pop

For this week’s edition of Creative Inspiration, I wanted to point out a great ad that AgencySpy wrote about. It’s not CGA, but it captures something special in simple, elegant terms with an on-the-fly production. It’s a great lesson in keeping your eye out for creative opportunities wherever they might arise:

A new Adidas viral ad features All Blacks rugby union star Dan Carter shooting the s**t with his father in his backyard. It’s an unscripted spot viral spot that took the agency 180 Amsterdam about 30 minutes to capture. It was almost an accident, as they were really in New Zealand to shoot a full fledge commercial. We just love the use of opportunity here.

Tags: agency spy, xlntads, creativity, advertising, cga, adidas, video

In this addition to my new weekly column of Creative Inspiration, I’m really excited to share with you the talented Bobby Jennings, Kevin Brueck and their extremely funny pals at Wicked Awesome Films. They just signed up to be a part of XLNTads, and man, are we excited! These guys have us in absolute stiches in the office here. We can’t wait to to see the kind of awesomeness they produce for us.

Here’s just one of their most popular videos, Punchy 2, which is, of course, a sequel to the brilliant viral hit Punchy 1 (a video that’s been seen on YouTube over 3.6 million times!). Don’t laugh too hard, now! Ya might get punched.

Tags: wicked awesome films, bobby jennings, xlntads, humor, creative, inspiration, video, community

Even the most seasoned of video creators need some refreshing on production tips. If you’re making video for web, you’ll definitely want to check out Make Internet TV, the site created by the Participatory Culture Foundation that helps educate people on how to make and distribute your own content on the web. Lots of great tips and how-to’s in there, and be sure to find out more about Miro while you’re there!

Also, another great resource, one of my personal favorites for tips on making great video is the IndyMogul Blog. They write excellent stuff consitently (like this simple quick-and-dirty 30-Second Film School: 3-Point Lighting). Head over and subscribe, and check out all the cool stuff they’re doing, like this week’s Backyard FX video: teaching people how to make a BFG9000 lazer gun for $20! How cool is that? I’m sure you could use one of those for a funny XLNTad!

Since we love saying that amateurs and prosumers can create creative work as good, if not better, than the pros, it’s important to nurture our community and light a fire of creativity. We’ve done a little inspiring before, but I decided I’m going to start making a weekly blog post highlighting excellent work that I find from both professional houses and amateurs alike. If you find something you’d like me to highlight, by all means, shoot me an email! mark {at} xlntads.com

The idea for this series came to me after reading this great post by our friends at the recently redesigned VidOpp who pointed us to this article on MSNBC about using YouTube to get discovered.

The success story highlights how YouTube and the Web are increasingly being mined by production companies and advertising agencies for cheap talent and prepackaged content. The trend has gained momentum as companies increasingly seek credibility with an under-25 set known for its love of low-cost and cutting edge YouTube-inspired content.

If that article isn’t inspring enough, I give you this. It’s the MTV-Award Winning video made for just over $1000 by one of our own creative talents here at XLNTads, Andy Signore of SecretSauceTV. It’s called, “United 300“.

Tags: creative, inspiration, media, advertising, commercials, xlntads, vidopp, ads, andy signore, secret sauce tv, united 300