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18th Annual Video Contest Winners!

  • Best Expermental Videos - Working Nightmare

    Levi Taylor
    Anchorage, AK
    Camcorder: Sony 8mm
    Editing software: Adobe Premiere 6.0
    Prize: Roadwired Skooba Satchel ($100)

    A bleak look at the life of a working stiff. If you've ever felt like your weeks go by faster and faster as you get busier and busier, you will definitely sympathize with Taylor's character in Working Nightmare.

  • Grand Prize - Carbon Nation

    Riley Harmon
    Shawnee, OK
    Camcorder: Panasonic PV-DV953
    Editing software: Adobe Premiere
    Prize: Digital Juice-Graphics/music/footage Mega-Pack: 27 Volumes of Jump Backs Animated Backgrounds, 10 Volumes of StackTraxx Production Music, 6 Volumes of Editor's Toolkits Animated Graphic Sets, 3 Volumes of VideoTraxx Stock Footage Library ($7,854)

  • 1st Prize - Beijing Golf Video-2005 Polar Classic

    Mark Wickham
    Mendham, NJ
    Camera: Nikon D100 SLR
    Editing software: Adobe Premiere Pro
    Prize: NewTek VT [4] ($3,995)

    A smoothly-animated composition of high-resolution still images taken at a golf tournament comes together very well.

  • 2nd Prize - Le Combat du Samourai

    Keith Feeney
    Perrysburg, OH
    Animation software: Macromedia Flash MX
    Editing software: Nova Video Explosion Deluxe
    Prize: JonyJib JonyPrompter ($1,995)

    A Flash animation ports to video nicely in this samurai warrior fight with brilliant, saturated colors.

  • 3rd Prize - Speed

    Jason Adair and Jon Guthrie
    Savannah, GA
    Camcorder: Panasonic AG-DVC15
    Editing software: Adobe Premiere Pro
    Prize: VariZoom DV Sportster Combo Kit ($1,800)

    Adair and Guthrie produced Speed as a school project. Shooting took 2½ days. Color correction was performed with Adobe After Effects, and the music was composed with Apple Soundtrack.

  • 4th Prize - Spor-"Vision"

    Brian Taylor
    Toledo, OH
    Camcorder: Canon XL1S
    Editing software: Apple Final Cut Pro
    Prize: Sony Media Software Vegas+DVD Production Suite ($900)

    A very well-produced video for the Toledo, Ohio-based band Spor included some interesting public domain footage from the Prelinger Archives.

  • Best Music Video - Rearview

    Scott Seraydarian
    Doylestown, PA
    Camcorder: Sony DCR-VX2000
    Editing software: Apple Final Cut Pro 4.5
    Prize: Trilab Digital Hotcakes Grand Slam ($579)

    An abandoned train car is the backdrop for this story of lost love set to music.

  • Best Classroom Video - SharpFocus XS

    Jason Hall
    Sewell, NJ
    Camcorder: Canon GL2
    Editing software: Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5
    Prize: Serious Magic Visual Communicator Studio ($490)

    SharpFocus XS is a clever parody on a drug commercial that features a guy in a gorilla suit. All of Hall's footage was acquired over the course of one-day shoot.

  • Best Senior Videographer - Let's Dance

    Wendy Evans
    Rarotonga, Cook Islands
    Camcorder: Sony DCR-TRV20E
    Editing software: Adobe Premiere 6.5
    Prize: Ulead DVD Workshop 2 ($395)

    A native dance contest in the Pacific Islands is documented in this video.

  • Best Sports Video - Fastpitch Fever

    James Urban
    Wheaton, IL
    Camcorder: Canon XL2
    Editing software: Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5

    Prize: Azden 100LTH Wireless Microphone ($450)



  • Best Comedy - Baby Max Beer Hunter

    Ron Bullock
    Oshkosh, WI
    Camcorder: Panasonic AG-DVX100
    Editing system: MacroSystem Casablanca Solitaire
    Prize: PixelPops PopDrops DVD Menu and Packaging Templates ($230)

    A very funny story about hunting in the upper Midwest, complete with a Conan O'Brien-style superimposed mouth on Baby Max.

  • Best Drama/Action Video - Unplanned

    Stephen Strosin
    Los Angeles, CA
    Camcorder: Canon XL2
    Editing software: Apple Final Cut Pro 3
    Prize: Lite-On LVW 5045 DVD Recorder ($449)

    Unplanned is a tragic, cautionary tale of what happens when someone is too quick to judge what is really going on. The shooting took place over a day and a half.

  • Best Training Video - Theatrical Lighting Basics

    Kade Mendelowitz
    Fairbanks, AK
    Camcorder: Sony DSR-PD150
    Editing software: Adobe Premiere 6.5
    Prize: Tenba TriPak Case for Tripods and Light Stands ($185)

    A well-executed training video that concisely illustrates the best way to set up lighting for theatrical productions. The use of picture-in-picture closeups clearly shows the procedures to use to get the lighting effects you need.

  • Best Documentary - AKA Donut Dollies

    Jack Schell
    Gun Barrel City, TX
    Scanner: Microtek 900
    Editing software: Sony Vegas+DVD 6
    Prize: Bogen Manfrotto 745B Tripod with 701RC2 Head ($408)

    A tribute to the Donut Dollies, a corps of female Red Cross volunteers who served in Vietnam. The documentary consisted of many still images, which were touched up using Corel PhotoPaint. The project took about three full weeks of scanning, photo editing, video editing and compositing.

  • Best Commercial/PSA - Tallberg-Respect

    Richard Hartwell and Mike Harrington
    Petoskey, MI
    Camcorder: Canon GL1
    Editing software: Adobe Premiere 6.5
    Prize: Music 2 Hues - 4 Flagship Collection Music Library CDs ($125)

    This commercial was both shot and edited by Hartwell, who used his friends and family as talent. One zoom effect was facilitated with a remote lens control, and the audio was provided by a local audio producer. The :30 spot appeared on local cable in northern Michigan.

  • Best Young Videographer - Sorry

    Hodges Usry
    Augusta, GA
    Camcorder: Panasonic AG-DVX100
    Editing software: Sony Vegas 5.0
    Prize: Ulead DVD Workshop 2 ($395)

    A disadvantaged boy is pushed too far in this tragic video. Hodges filled all of the crew positions by himself over two days of shooting. He used local talent, including fourteen kids as extras on a school bus, and his own father played the father in this video.