Wannabe filmmakers take note – last call for entries for the Kirin “First Cut” Short Film Competition

Are you one of those people with a vague ambition to make a film but never act on your ideas?  Here’s your chance. Japanese beer, Kirin Ichiban is running its inaugural First Cut short film competition and wants entries of all standards and formats, from amateurs on their mobile phones to pros using 35mm.  One stipulation is that the film should be themed around the concept of “First Press”, a reference to Japan’s Prime Brew, Kirin Ichiban, which is made by the “Ichiban Shibori Process”, which literally translated means “First Press”.

For full details on how to enter, visit www.kirinfirstcut.co.uk.  Deadline for entries 30^th June 2011 so time to get creative!

The rules

Short film entries must be original work and can be anything from 1 minute to 10 minutes in length and use one of the following production techniques: live action, animation, narrative/experimental or documentary.  

The Judging process

A shortlist of the four best film entries will be chosen by a panel of industry experts from the world of short film including the London Short Film Festival and award winning Short Film director Simon Ellis. 

The four shortlisted films will also be screened at the Kirin Ichiban Pop Up restaurant in East London in August 2011.

The Prize

The overall winner will then be chosen from a shortlist by public vote and receive £3000 cash and the career boosting prize of having their film shown at a series of prestigious short film festivals in the Capital.  These include the prestigious 55^th BFI London Film festival in partnership with American Express (October 12-27^th), Rushes Soho Shorts festival ( 20-29 July) and the London Short Film Festival in early January 2012. 2^nd place will receive £1000 cash, 3^rd place will receive £500 cash and the final runner up will win a year’s supply of Kirin Ichiban beer

To find out more and to get your creative juices flowing, visit www.kirinfirstcut.co.uk for more details of how to submit your film and the full terms and conditions.

Whether it is your first steps on the road to directorial stardom using your mobile phone or your first short in a while, be sure to make ‘First Cut’, your next move as the deadline for entries is the end of this month – June 30^th 2011.

As a starting point, some of the short films below may give you inspiration.

1         Interview with Simon Ellis http://www.kirinfirstcut.co.uk/home.html

2         Right Place - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHyfN5qsUW0

3         Bruce - http://vimeo.com/groups/18713/videos/5395365

4         The Yellow Smiley Face http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HDM6ERbBKA

5         4 - Noodles - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex90lHEJh1o

Oscar-winning director to judge hundreds of commercial online videos in vzaar Video Festival

Hollywood movie director Oliver Stone will have his socks knocked off when he views the entries for the vzaar Video Festival – the standard of the hundreds of digital mini-movies vying for the title of Best Business Online Video 2011 is “fantastic”.

So says Stephen McCluskey, CEO of vzaar – the leading British-based online video hosting platform which is running the hotly contested international competition.

Mr McCluskey said that with just over two weeks to go before entries close, more than 600 videos have been received, most of them from creative agencies in London and the USA.

“We are delighted to note that the standard is very impressive,” said Mr McCluskey, who added that  he thought  the ultimate judge of the competition  – film director Oliver Stone – was going to “have his work cut out” choosing winners in the various categories, and the video deemed worthy of the Best Business Online Video 2011 title.

Vzaar is expecting to receive hundreds more entries before the deadline on July 1^st. Winners are to be announced on July 18th, but before then vzaar will contact entrants whose work has made the shortlist, so they can be on standby for the final judgment to be delivered by Mr Stone.

It’s easy to enter. Simply submit your video at http://vzaar.com/festival bearing in mind that digital video content submitted will be judged on style, originality and its commercial impact.

The categories for which awards will be made (along with an endorsement and personal critique from Oliver Stone) are

- Best Product/Service Video
- Best Video by a Creative Agency
- Most creative use of Video Online

The entry adjudged the best of the bunch across all categories will win the Best Online Video 2011 Award.

The competition is open to all vzaar customers, be you a media and communications company, marketing agency, e-commerce business or non-profit organisation. If you are not already a vzaar client, no problem – sign up on the website for a free trial, and you can upload your video for judging.

YouTube is watching you!

From today, YouTube will have to cope with explosive growth in terms of security images that are to be uploaded. This is due to the introduction of IP Cameras that automatically upload evidence to YouTube. As a result, YouTube will become not only a location for watching or sharing images but alsole for saving private videos.

Real time monitoring

You can monitor everything from a distance with a Marmitek IP Camera*. It is, therefore, the ideal solution for checking that everything is in order at any time of day or night.
Your sense of wellbeing can be improved if you can check, from the office, whether the pets at home are alright, check who is at your front door or just see if the sun is shining back at home.

Evidence

In addition, a Marmitek IP Camera can also provide images that allow you to verify what exactly happened and who or what let to the situation changing.
These images are automatically sent to your e-mail address or uploaded to a NAS (Network-attached storage) server. Storage space from an e-mail account, however, is often limited. And uploading to a NAS server means that you cannot usually access and view saved images online and specific technical knowledge is required if you do wish to do so.

World first!

Today, Marmitek is introducing two new IP Cameras. The IP Eye Anywhere241 and the IP RoboCam541. These IP Cameras can automatically and independently (without the intervention of a computer) upload your security images to YouTube. You can allow these to be seen by anyone or protect them so only you have access. As a result, you have a free, online alternative to a NAS server.
So whether it's your car on the driveway, the motorbike in the garage, the exclusive equipment in your lounge or the nursery where your baby is sleeping – YouTube is watching!

Price and availability

The IP Eye Anywhere241 (Static camera) is available from 4 July for €199 /GBP179.
The IP RoboCam541 (Pan&Tilt variant) is available from 4 July for €279 / GBP249.
For availability, see .

Click here if you would you like to know more about IP Cameras and what you can do with them or if you would like to see live images from a Marmitek IP Camera. 

If you would you like to know more about the important aspects when choosing an IP Camera or know how you can see the images from the IP Camera on your smart Phone then please take a look at theMarmitek University.