Giving Away a Camera and More! — #ArtInTheHeart2019 Filmmaker Competition

October 5, 2019: A winner has now been selected, please read on to see the announcement — thank you to everyone who entered!

As you may have seen on my YouTube channel, I’ve just launched a massive filmmaker competition in partnership with Musicbed as a main sponsor, and I couldn’t be more excited about it! Read on to learn more about this competition as well as all the prizes up for grabs.

I’ve always had a history of making things. Alongside my career as a designer, or the last 13 years of photography, I’ve been continuously been setting myself personal projects and side-challenges. My evenings and weekends have always been busy working on things. However, it was video that really set out a focused path for these personal projects and has led me to where I am today.

It was through publishing video online, that I made a pathway for how I would develop as a filmmaker. It was video that gave me the opportunity for a continued narrative and revealed a direction and consistent commitment to my personal work. With a growing audience on my channel, came great responsibility to maintain momentum with uploads. It’s through you guys, I’ve felt continuously encouraged to make more, and I’m forever grateful for that.

For the longest time, I’ve wanted to give back to you guys in a significant way, but do it with purpose and utilise connections I’ve built over the last 5 years of running my channel. It’s with this direction that I’ve created this filmmaker competition and I hope you can submit an entry!

Sometimes the hardest aspect to making something, is simply starting. I want to make it easy for people to get involved in this competition, so I’m setting a few guidelines in place to help drive your creativity.

The brief is to make a 2-minute video about something you’re passionate about. Something you’re personally attached to that you’d love to share with other people. It could be a hobby, a community you’re a part of, a sport, a global movement, or even a cause you’re particularly attached to. You are the judge of what makes you tick, and I’d love to see it in video form.

A requirement for your two-minute video is to feature music from my specific Musicbed playlist. You can sign up for a free 30-day trial, with no further commitment required. If you do choose to continue your membership you’ll have unlimited access to an incredible library of music for all your future video productions. There’s a lot of competition online for finding music for video productions. Musicbed has definitely been the best platform I’ve used so far; both on usability and quality of music available.

Remember, you can get creative with the music and chop things up, trim things down and even mix multiple tracks together. This is your opportunity to get creative with the music available!

If I’m running a competition, there must, of course, be some prizes up for grabs! I want to personally thank Panasonic, Manfrotto, Lowepro and Joby for getting involved in this competition, alongside Musicbed. With their help, I’ve been able to arrange some prizes that I’m so stoked to give away!

1x Grand prize winner

Panasonic Lumix GH5

For the grand prize, one entrant will win a Panasonic Lumix GH5 with 12-60mm Leica DG lens. This is the same camera model I’ve personally been using for making my films over the last 2 years. I am honestly over-the-moon to be able to give a camera away to one of you guys, this is such a big deal!

RØDE Videomicro

Having good audio for your videos can elevate the quality exponentially, so I’m throwing in a RØDE VideoMicro. This tiny microphone is small but mighty. Requiring no batteries and including an extremely competent wind filter, you’re guaranteed to get great results.

Prograde 64gb UHS-II SDXC

To properly get you off the ground with making videos, I’m also throwing in a UHS-II SDXC V90 memory card, which is more than capable for the GH5’s heavy 4K bitrate files.

Manfrotto BeFree Live

If you wanna place this camera down and lock your shot off, you’re gonna need a tripod, so our friends at Manfrotto are adding in a BeFree Live travel tripod with video fluid head. I personally own one of these too and they’re exceptionally capable in a small form factor.

Manfrotto Lumimuse

Manfrotto are also adding in a small LED Lumimuse for times when you need to brighten the scene a touch.

Lowepro ProTactic 450 BP AW II

With all this gear, you’re gonna need something to carry it all in. So Lowepro are adding in a ProTactic 450 II — the same bag I personally use and love. There will be plenty of room for more items as you improve your skills and expand your arsenal of gear.

Musicbed 12-month Subscription

And finally, when you get down to making your videos, Musicbed are throwing in a 12-month subscription to their services for personal creator use.

2x Runners-up

In addition to the grand prize, there will also be two runners-up with their own subsequent prizes available to win.

Joby GorillaPod 3K

The first runner up will receive a Joby GorillaPod 3K. This bendy tripod is hugely popular among vloggers and travel filmmakers, for its portable size and flexible use (literally!)

Joby GorillaPod Mobile Rig

The second runner up will receive a Joby GorillaPod Mobile Rig. This particular variant of the bendy tripod is equipped with a smartphone holder and extra “arms” suitable for holding accessories such as LED lights or a microphone.

Both runners-up will also receive a Manfrotto Lumimuse LED and a 12-month personal subscription to Musicbed.

I think you can all agree this is an absolutely massive prize fund. I’m so stoked to be able to offer it to you guys! In total, we have about £2,500 worth of gear up for grabs, which is incredible.

So now you know what’s up for grabs, how do you enter?!

1. Upload to YouTube

Once you’ve made your 2-minute video, you’ll then need to upload it to YouTube. You can upload it publicly, or if you prefer, you can make it unlisted which means only people with the link will be able to watch it.

You can also tag your video with #ArtInTheHeart2019 to group it together with everyone else’s uploads.

2. Submit your entry

You need to submit the video to me by July 31, 2019 at 11:59pmBST, along with your details and any supporting information you’d like to add about your video.

Please note: entries to the competition are now closed. Please subscribe to my YouTube channel to see the winners announced during August.

3. Subscribe and follow

Although not required, I do recommend subscribing to my YouTube channel and enabling the bell notifications, to make sure you receive the updates about this competition. You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram, where I will be posting updates throughout the duration.

Now that you’ve successfully entered your video, cross your fingers and hold your thumbs for good luck! After all the entries have been judged, I will be posting an announcement about the winners in August.

All entries will be judged by Elly and myself throughout the first couple of weeks in August, with further comments and feedback from each of the brands involved. I can’t wait to see all the videos and wish you the best of luck!

Massive thanks to everyone who entered the competition! Both Elly and I were blown away by the amount of people who entered and the sheer quality and enthusiasm people shared within their videos. Unfortunately, there can only be 3 winners in this competition. Check out my announcement video below and see the winner’s videos right after…

Om Bagul, from India, submitted this great short film documenting a mysterious package being transported on a motorcycle. The film held suspense, with the viewer wondering what was enclosed, used creative camera angles and flowed naturally as a piece of film. The narrative was exceptionally well told, with only a smartphone camera being hardware behind the production! Well done, Om, this is a thoroughly deserved prize!

Mikey Elefant shared his inspirational story for teaching the craft of woodworking. The film was emotive, well-shot and showed a deep insight into his passion to teach others — good job!

Andie Man’s film about the humble Rubik’s cube showed great storytelling through visual media, with multiple creative angles and a unique first-person perspective, not seen among other entries. The story was inspiring, captivating and all the while, relatable. Well done!

I hope you enjoyed this post! Make sure to check back here to see the latest content and subscribe/follow me on whichever channel suits you best:

Join thousands of others and get updates straight to your inbox! Plus, get a massive 40% OFF some of my Lightroom presets, instantly!