Tongal Twelve With Tim Swaan
Location: Studio City, CA
Member Since: May 2010
Lifetime Earnings: $2,500
In this installment of the Tongal Twelve, Caleb Light-Wills interviews 1st Place Winner of the $4,000 NYVS Video Project, Tim Swaan. “Don’t Go To Film School” is undeniably one of the most clever commercials ever produced on Tongal. By contrasting NYVS’ practical approach to video creation with the hyper-theoretical approach of a traditional film school, Tim not only explains what NYVS does, but also why their service has value in an irreverent, humorous way. It’s worth noting that Tim has both a strong production background (check out his IMDB profile) and a film school education. Ironically, if Tim were deficient in either area, this commercial surely would not have been the tour-de-force we see here.
Caleb Light-Wills – How and when did you first find out about Tongal?
Tim Swaan – If I recall, I stumbled upon Tongal one evening last May as I was cruising the Internet. I knew there were all kinds of “community content producer” sites out there and was kind of on a roll investigating them. Then I found Tongal purely by accident.
C.L.W. – Were you apprehensive about the Tongal process, or was it something you understood almost immediately?
T.S. – The process seemed like a no brainer, and one that was accessible and easily followed.
C.L.W. – What does it feel like to win $2,500 for 30-second commercial?
T.S. – I have to say it was nice to get that financial boost! But I have to give a sincere shout-out to my co-conspirator, Elan Bentov. It was a true team effort that made getting this project completed a possibility. We went into the project very last minute – within a day of finding Tongal – and since it was a fly by the seat of our pants production, neither of us held any expectations about winning.
C.L.W. – Was NYVS a company that you were already familiar with or did you have to do some research to figure out what they were all about?
T.S. – We’d never heard of NYVS before, but after sleuthing their website a bit, we figured out that the “what is” message was clearly all over their website, so the concept for the commercial was simply to hook an audience – an invitation – to visiting the site.
C.L.W. – “Don’t Go To Film School” has a pretty clear message about the absurdity of academic film analysis. Is this a reflection of your personal feelings about film school?
T.S. – The irony of this spot is quite hilarious. Elan and I are both film school graduates, and this spot simply riffs on our experiences. Yes, we both had “those” classes, but I will say that we both had an exceptional film school experience, and, speaking for myself, film school was best academic choice I could have made. Elan came up with the concept, and we both had a blast coming up with more ridiculous feedback comments than could ever fit in a :30 commercial! The other concept we tossed around was to shoot a “student film” involving a midget and interpretive dancer.
C.L.W. – What is your production background like?
T.S. – Elan and I are both well entrenched in the industry. However, projects like this are refreshing and treated as a hobby. We just happened to have been at a slow point in production, and so had the time to take this project on.
C.L.W. – How long did it take you to shoot “Don’t Go To Film School” and what was your process like?
T.S. – This is the fun question to answer, because, to be honest, we both feel like this production was our version of the class clown or classic procrastinator getting an A on the final exam. The day we signed up for Tongal, we loosely wrote the script, called friends, and set a time for two nights later to shoot AND edit the piece. That night also happened to be the night before the deadline. There was me on camera, and Elan on boom and directing. We shot on the HVX200 and basically ran all the lines by each actor. In post, we picked through the best reads, and then tried mixing and matching takes and reactions, ending up with the final product in about 3 hours. The decision to go black and white purely a fix to get around the horrible fluorescent lighting of the office, and there wasn’t any time to do a solid color-correcting job.
C.L.W. – Your commercial was beautifully cast, especially the “Fritz Lang” dude at the end. Are those people actors, actual film school kids or friends?
T.S. – The vast majority of the cast were college friends and acquaintances of Elan. The three British girls were professional actors that we both knew. Our “perfunctory girl” was the daughter of one of our coworkers who just fit the look we were going for and was willing to come in and deliver a line. Again, because the majority of our cast were non-professionals, having a reservoir of line readings from everyone allowed us to pick the best and make it look seamless.
C.L.W. – What are you going to spend the money on?
T.S. – Incredibly boring, really… paying down the ol’ credit card bill, and perhaps a bit towards whatever our next production might be.
C.L.W. – What is your favorite thing about Tongal?
T.S. – Tongal is a really great idea, and a godsend for clients who wish to advertise but not spend a small fortune on an agency. Some might argue that this actually takes work away from industry peeps, but I feel that if a client wants a $500,000 commercial, they’ll go spend $500,000 on a commercial. This gives small and large business alike the chance to tap into a goldmine of creative minds for a fraction of the cost while at the same time giving those creative minds a chance to actually make a name for themselves. For me, it puts the fun back in what can sometimes be a very unglamorous and cutthroat industry.
C.L.W. – What’s next for you on Tongal or otherwise?
T.S. – For Elan and I, we’re both keeping a close eye on the Tongal projects that are coming through, but we’re not going to jump onto each and every one. Primarily, this is because we’re both heavily involved in the production of two network shows (all of which will launch later this year, but we’re under non-disclosure contracts), so time is scarce. Secondly, instead of rushing like we did with NYVS (and RecordMyCalls), we want to pick a spot we can feel confident and proud of. We’ll see what that next project is in the near future!
C.L.W. – What types of contests, improvements, etc. would you like to see on Tongal in the future?
T.S. – What I loved about the NYVS spot was that we weren’t pigeon-holed into a limited number of concepts. We were truly free to do whatever we wanted which I think contributed to our success. We felt free to think outside the box. It’d be great to somehow always have an open-concept video category available for all projects, and those submissions should be judged on whether they deliver the core message required by the client and production quality, even though the risk of not placing in the top 5 at all is much greater.
Interview conducted via email, July 9th, 2010.
Tongal Twelve With John Jones
Location: Land O Lakes, Florida
Member Since: February, 2010
Biggest Win: $2,850
Lifetime Earnings: $2,850
In this installment of the Tongal Twelve, Caleb Light-Wills interviews 1st Place Winner of the $7,500 Binaca® Have A Blast Commercial Contest, John Jones. “Binaca Throughout The Ages” is unique in that it accomplishes something rare for a 30-second commercial…It makes you want to watch it again. Why? Because the video is so rich in detail that not all of it registers and you end up asking rhetorical questions like: “Was that a Pterodactyl?” “Was that a Jersey Shore reference?” “Was that a paisley karate uniform?” Based on Chip Bolcik’s 5th Place Concept, “Binaca – Through The Ages,” John’s commercial is a perfect blend of humor and effective brand messaging. Here’s what he had to say about the Tongal experience.
Caleb Light-Wills – How and when did you first find out about Tongal?
John Jones – I was searching the web for video contests a couple months ago and came across Tongal.
CLW – Were you apprehensive about the Tongal process, or was it something you understood almost immediately?
JJ – The concept was easily understood. I like that there’s a chance to win multiple times for each contest. It’s also nice to see how everyone interprets the concepts differently.
CLW – So how does it feel to win almost $3,000 for 30-second commercial?
JJ – It feels pretty awesome! We were a bit nervous, since there were so many other really good videos. Died Hard was my favorite.
CLW – What is your production background like? Is it your day job or more like a hobby?
JJ – I’ve been doing video production as a serious hobby for about 3 years, and just recently transitioned into doing it fulltime.
CLW – Your commercial was based on Chip Bolcik’s “Binaca Throughout the Ages” but you definitely made it your own. What made you choose that concept?
JJ – I originally wanted to make videos for 3 or 4 of the concepts using different actors for each. Christian Schwier had the initial interest in wanting to do this one. As we got closer to the deadline, all the other videos ended up falling through, so we dedicating all our time to making this the best it could be before the deadline, which was a few days away. I do feel like it was a collaboration between Chip and us. We thought we could have a lot more fun with the concept if we did different eras instead of since Binaca was created.
CLW – How long did it take you to shoot “Binaca Throughout The Ages” and what was your process like?
JJ – There were five people involved in the creation of the video. Here’s a list of cast and crew –
Diana Durango: Actor (Damsel in Distress), Costume Design
Ian Hoppe: Actor (The Villain), Costume Design
Christian Schwier: Actor (The Hero), Director, Writer, Costume Design, Editor
John Jones: Director, Writer, Cinematography/ Lighting, Costume Design, Assistant Editor
Jeff Zampino: Writer, Costume Design, Boom Operator
Keith Jones: Color Correction, Chroma Keying, Special Effects, Caveman and Space background design
There were five days total involved in the production of it, but only one of those days was spent creating costumes and filming it. We filmed it on the Panasonic HVX200. First we worked on putting together all the costumes. Christian’s been collecting costumes and props since he’s been in high school, so we had the ingredients for half of the costumes. What he didn’t have, we made. We actually made all three caveman/woman costumes out of a roll of brown string, one pillowcase, one towel and 2 fake-fur pieces (for the villain’s fur arm bands). Diana came up with the rest of her own costumes, which included combining a backwards corset and gold pillowcase to make up the princess costume. First scene shot was the medieval scene, right outside Christian’s town home. We edited that down so we had a cookie cutter layout for the rest of the scenes. All the other scenes were shot on greenscreen and bluescreen. We filmed the background for the modern day scene at a bar down the street and Keith created the caveman and space scene backgrounds in 3D. As we were filming the caveman scene some of Christian’s neighbors walked by behind his house and looked at us weird. It probably looked like we making some kind of creepy fetish porn.
CLW – Your commercial was beautifully cast, are those people professional actors, or friends?
JJ – Ian is a friend who was in town for the weekend, but now seems to be interested in doing more acting. Christian and Diana are both professional actors who are also staring in the indie feature, “Jules Dongu Saves the World”.
CLW – Does the hero usually rock a shaved head or was that an artistic decision for the commercial?
JJ – Christian usually rocks the shaved head look. He says it’s because he’s balding, but I think he just wants an excuse to wear wigs.
CLW – What are you going to spend the money on?
JJ – We split the money up between everyone involved based on how many days they put into it. My cut will probably go to getting more equipment. I think the others mentioned something about sending their cut on Japanese prostitutes.
CLW – What is your favorite thing about Tongal?
JJ – That I have the chance to participate at any level. If I don’t have time to make a video, it only takes a few minutes to come up with and submit a concept.
CLW – What’s next for you?
JJ – Interested in doing a MacGruber video. Other than that, working the day job and trying to finish up “Jules Dongu Saves the World,” which is an indie feature film that Christian and I are producing. Hoping to have it completed summer of 2010. Check it out: www.julesdongu.com.
CLW – What types of improvements would you like to see on Tongal in the future?
JJ – It looks like you guys are already working on them, so I’m happy.
This interview was conducted by Caleb Light-Wills, via email on April 5th, 2010.
Tongal Twelve With Tyler Short
Location: Portland, Oregon
Member Since: August 2009
Biggest Win: $1,000
Lifetime Tongal Earnings: $1,640
In this installment of the Tongal Twelve, Caleb Light-Wills interviews longtime Tongaler and 1st place winner of the $2,500 Governor Fitzy’s “Texticle” Music Video Contest, Tyler Short. Since August, Tyler has participated in a total of thirteen contests, four of which have resulted in cash payouts of over $100. His 1st place Idea in the Bringit contest is, relatively speaking, the most influential piece of content we’ve seen produced on Tongal, serving as the inspiration for eleven out of the fifteen Bringit Videos. Here’s what he had to say:
Caleb Light-Wills – How did you first find out about Tongal?
Tyler Short – I don’t remember specifically how I got linked to it, but I recall I was just browsing the web for video contests, and happened to come across it. It was around August of 2009.
CLW – Were you apprehensive, or was it something you understood immediately?
TS – After the first couple minutes of confusion, I watched the introduction video and perused the site a bit, and then it basically made sense. The true potential of the site didn’t truly click until a bit later, once I started actually using the site and entering contests.
CLW – What has been your favorite contest so far?
TS – I actually really enjoyed the BringIt contest. As far as a total group of entries, I thought that contest had a bunch of really great choices. Making a prediction for that contest was pretty tough.
CLW – “An Easier Way To Bring It” is a beautifully simple and effective concept. How did you come up with it?
TS – Well, I figured the good folks from BringIt really were looking to emphasize the competitive, fun nature of their site, rather than just a money-making portal. So I looked to create a concept that showed a gamers’ competitive edge in a funny, light-hearted manner.
CLW – Four out of five of the winning Bringit videos were based on your concept. Are you flattered by the fact that so many people used your idea as the basis for their videos?
TS – Yeah, I think it’s always a great feeling to see how other people can adapt to your vision and make it their own. I chose not to enter the video phase of the contest, so it was refreshing to just be able to watch the videos, laugh and enjoy, without having to worry about any competition. I thought Zak did a great job with the idea, and really took it beyond what I had first had in mind.
CLW – Are you psyched about the residuals?
TS – The residuals are a great way to really make you feel a part of the process, and remind you that not only were you able to impress some judges, but people making videos wanted to use it as well.
CLW – One of the best things about watching your videos is all of the special effects you use. What does your production background look like?
TS – I really don’t have any sort of film training whatsoever. I didn’t really get into making videos until a high school English project, when some buddies and I decided to shoot a bloody and over-the-top recreation of The Great Gatsby. After doing that, and seeing my classmates’ reactions, I decided making videos is something that I wanted to pursue. From that point on, I was basically self-taught, learning various programs and entering video contests on the Internet. I shoot on a Canon HV30, and use a combination of Adobe Premiere, Adobe After Effects, and 3DS Max.
CLW – What was your biggest win on Tongal so far?
TS – Texticle was my biggest Tongal win so far. It’s always a great feeling to get recognized for all of the hours that go into making a video. Filmmaking is a time-consuming thing, and I think you have to go into each contest with a mindset that you aren’t going to win them all, but it definitely is a big relief if you do.
CLW How long did it take you to get paid?
TS – There was a little different time schedule in this particular circumstance, as I was still waiting on residuals from the BringIt contest. But, I was always kept in great communication, and when it was time to wrap up the payments, it was in a very prompt and friendly manner.
CLW – What are you going to spend the money on?
TS – Besides the always-looming college tuition, I’m saving up to hopefully upgrade my camera equipment sometime in the near future.
CLW – What’s next?
TS – I’m hoping to squeeze in some time to create a video for the Binaca contest, seeing as there are some great concepts in there.
CLW – What sort of contests would you like to see on Tongal in the future?
TS – At this point, there’s not too much I’d like to see Tongal doing differently, as I think they’ve done a great job at building a unique site with a dynamic, creative community. I expect it to only get better as the site continues to grow. The more contests the better!
This interview was conducted via email on February 2, 2010.
Tongal Twelve With Kieran Ball
Location: London, UK
Member Since: November 2009
Biggest Win: $1,000
Lifetime Tongal Earnings: $1,250
In this edition of the Tongal Twelve, Caleb Light-Wills interviews Kieran Ball, 3rd place winner of the $10,000 Kiva Instructional Video Competition. Kieran’s video, “From Desk To Door: Kiva’s Microloan Delivery Service” is exceptional for a number of reasons. First, it features actual video footage of the Kiva loan process in action, acquired during the time he spent in Southeast Asia as a Kiva Fellow. Second, Kieran created this piece without any formal training in video production, whatsoever – An incredible feat when you consider how effectively he merges text, video and music. Finally, Kieran’s video reinforces the notion that content trumps form, or, that a high quality story is more important than a high quality camera. “From Desk To Door” is not one of the prettiest video we’ve ever seen, but it’s certainly one of the most compelling.
Caleb Light-Wills – How and when did you first find out about Tongal?
Kieran Ball – I first read about Tongal on the Kiva.org blog in November 2009. I had recently completed a Kiva Fellowship, during which I was placed as a volunteer with some of their field partners in developing countries, so I was really excited to see a competition benefiting such a great organization. Due to the complexity of their model, Kiva.org have a difficult time explaining what they do and how it works, so the competition was an excellent idea. I had made some amateur videos about them while on my fellowship and had a lot of spare footage, so I immediately started coming up with concepts for my entry.
CLW – Were you apprehensive, or was it something you understood immediately?
KB – I was a little apprehensive at first, perhaps because I have never heard of a site that crowdsources video content, but after reading the rules I felt I understood enough to take part.
CLW – Kiva: So how did it feel to win $1,000 for two-minute video?
KB – It felt brilliant, especially considering the number and quality of entries. I had actually only expected a few entries, but when I saw there were over fifty, my heart sank. The win gave me a lot of confidence to continue making videos.
CLW – Considering that Kiva was an organization you were already associated with, what did you think of the other videos in the contest?
KB – I was incredibly impressed with all of the entrants who hadn’t heard of Kiva, but who did their research carefully and produced such informative and clear videos.
CLW – Your “From Desk To Doorstep…” video features some pretty raw and incredible footage; where was it all shot and when did you shoot it?
KB – The footage was shot in Cambodia and West Timor, Indonesia in early 2009. It was so beautiful there that I had my camera with me permanently. As part of my Kiva Fellowship, I visited many rural villages far off the beaten track. It was an eye-opening and humbling experience, as well as providing prime Canon fodder, if you’ll excuse the pun.
CLW – How long did it take you to create “From Desk to Doorstep” and what was your process like?
KB – I shot all of the footage on a Canon PowerShot G9 point-and-shoot and a Flip Mino camera. The G9 has surprisingly good video functionality including a timelapse option, but unfortunately it does not shoot in high definition. I edited the video in Final Cut Pro, which I taught myself the basics of last year. I cut the music down to two minutes using Logic Pro, an expensive bit of software that I should really use more, but instead generally just use to make ringtones for my mobile phone.
KB – I had actually made a completely different video for the competition, but two days before the deadline I decided I didn’t like it, and started again from scratch. I was up late working on the final version, and was so close to the deadline that I didn’t even get to finish it properly. In fact, I thought I had an extra eight hours to finish, as I had assumed the deadline time would be in the California timezone. It turned out to automatically have updated to the UK timezone. Luckily, Kiva have since allowed me to clean it up and change some of the bad parts.
CLW – One of the best things about your video was how well it worked with the music. Where did you find that song?
KB – One of my favourite things about making videos is the way music can add an extra element that you just cannot get with still photography. I found the song on Audiosocket and after a few listens was certain it was the right one. I think Audiosocket.com is a great idea, I like the layout of the site and If I hadn’t have found the Nicole Reynolds track, I would likely have had to record myself singing, which would have been devastating for my chances of winning.
CLW – What is your production background like?
KB – My production background was non-existent until a year ago. In fact I have an accounting and business background, which couldn’t be any further away. But during the Kiva Fellowship I started making short videos to explain how different aspects of Kiva worked. I had always been a keen amateur photographer, but I really enjoyed the storytelling capabilities of video and the emotion you can capture with a carefully picked song and good imagery. While I was in Cambodia, I met two amazing film-makers, James and Rachelle (also entrants in the Kiva competition), who travel the world providing video content to communities and projects that need and deserve to have their story heard. I think this is the most amazing idea, and would love to do something similar someday. Until then, however, I will just try to gain experience by entering Tongal competitions!
CLW – How excited were you to rack up that extra $250 for Most Viewed?
KB – This was more nerve wracking than the judged phase because I could theoretically have some influence over the result. I tried promoting my video on Twitter and Facebook but eventually feared I would alienate all my friends so just let nature, or rather the Internet, take its course. The $250 was a great bonus to receive.
CLW – What are you going to do with the money?
KB – I have actually already spent the money in advance on a new camera! Since the Tongal competition I have become obsessed with watching and learning from online videos, mainly on Vimeo, and have been geeking-out over the equipment used to make some of my favourites. In the end I bought a Canon EOS 7D, which uses up the prize money and then some, but hopefully will be a good investment for the future.
CLW – What is your favorite thing about Tongal?
KB – It’s the only place I can play at being an advertising executive, be creative, make videos, and stand a chance of winning actual money!
CLW – What types of contests would you like to see on Tongal in the future?
KB – I would like to see more informational videos for non-profits, but also more commercial competitions such as the Binaca® or LendingTree ones. I also enjoyed watching the slightly awkward entries for the Camel Ammo competition. I love that Tongal is accessible to people of all skill and experience levels, so please keep up with the mixture of competition types.
This interview was conducted via email on February 4, 2010.
Tongal Twelve Video Edition With Patrick Renton
4th place winner of the vineyard vines “How Do You Tie On A Vineyard Vine?” Commercial Contest, Patrick Renton talks about the experience of creating Master Your Tie and competing on Tongal.com
Tongal Twelve With Zak Iddings
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Member Since: Oct. 20, 2009
Biggest Win: $1,900
Lifetime Earnings: $2,850.00
In the third installment of our new Tongal Twelve interview series, Tongal’s own Caleb Light-Wills was lucky enough to snag an interview with Zak Iddings, 1st place winner of the $5,000 Bingit.com Commercial Video Contest. From a production standpoint, “There’s An Easier Way To Bring It” is one of the best commercials generated thus far using Tongal.com. Zak’s visual interpretation of Tyler Short’s concept serves as an inspiration to anyone who believes in the power of collaboration as a crucial component in the creative process. Beyond that, the video is a seamless blend of originality, comedy and quality. Frankly, we were blown away. Here’s what he had to say about the experience –
Caleb Light-Wills – How and when did you first find out about Tongal?
Zak Iddings – Well, previous video productions that my friend and I made were seen by another friend, Harrison Weinfeld, who has won some money on Tongal, and he introduced me to the whole thing. I spent some time getting to know the site and the way it works, which is really cool, then started tossing ideas around with my roommate to get going on one of the contests.
CLW – Were you apprehensive, or was it something you understood immediately?
ZI – I’m familiar with “crowdsourcing” so everything was pretty straightforward for me.
CLW – What has been your favorite Tongal contest so far?
ZI – Haha, let’s see, being that we won the BringIt contest; I’d have to say that one!
CLW – How did it feel to win $1,900 for one-minute commercial?
ZI – It felt pretty good. I can finally pay off that bookie that has been leaving me death-threats. Just kidding. But yes, it felt awesome.
CLW – Was Bringit a company that you were already familiar with or did you have to do some research to see what they were all about?
ZI – Didn’t know anything about it at first, but I poked around their website, which pretty much explained how it all works in great detail and told me everything I needed to know about it.
CLW – Your commercial was based on Tyler Short’s “An Easier Way to Bring It,” but you definitely made it your own. Does it feel like this commercial was a collaborative process and how did you adapt Tyler’s concept to make it work for you?
ZI – Yeah, Tyler had a great idea! Although bazookas and chainsaws and all that are totally awesome and I wish we had a Michael Bay budget, we felt it would be cool to take the simpler route and have the emphasis be more on the concept of making childish bets with each other based off his concept.
CLW – How long did it take you to shoot “There’s An Easier Way to Bring It” and what was your process like?
ZI – We shot the whole thing in a weekend with a quick replacement shot the following weekend. We have some pretty basic equipment…I use a Canon HV20 with a Handy35 35mm Adapter and a variety of lenses, a JuicedLink preamp with a nice shotgun mic, and standard 3 point lighting. Everything is edited in Final Cut Pro, and I slapped together some quick 3D animation for the game titles. I think the fast pace of the whole thing makes it pretty effective. One snag that we dealt with was going from outdoor to indoor… we had to ditch the 35mm adapter for the game play footage due to us not having adequate lighting. Although the whole thing was written out by my friend, Derrick Hackman, who actually WENT to film school, we both collaborated on the script/direction while we were shooting.
CLW – What is your production / animation background like? It is your day job or more like a hobby?
ZI – I have been working as a full-time designer/animator for a couple years now. I think shooting films is more of a hobby for me, and I look forward to doing many, many more, so who knows where it will lead!
CLW – How excited were you to rack up that extra $1,000 for Most Viewed?
ZI – Man, super excited. It’s like after you open up all your Christmas presents and you see an extra one hiding back there behind the tree.
CLW – What are you going to spend the money on?
ZI – Fireworks. Haha no, maybe a new TV or something sweet like that.
CLW – What is your favorite thing about Tongal?
ZI – I like that it’s a community effort and that there is almost always something for someone to win.
CLW – What types of contests would you like to see on Tongal in the future?
ZI – Hmmm…I would maybe like to see maybe some higher-profile contests, but I bet that is already in Tongal’s plans for the near future!
