A global video contest
about the power of mobile.

There’s just about six weeks left to go in the Firefox Flicks 2013 competition, which means it’s time to announce our second round of Early Entry Award winners.

Be Part of It - Get Mobilized
https://firefoxflicks.mozilla.org/video/2013/345/
Germany

Marvin Nuecklaus wants to study film direction in the United States. Tuition fees being what they are, however, may make it take a while to have that dream come true. The expense of film school isn’t holding him back, though. He has already founded his own production company in Germany and acted as producer, writer, director, director of photography, set designer and pretty much everything else for the creation of “Be Part of It - Get Mobilized.” Hopefully someone in his family at least helped out with craft services.

In the development of his story, he did some research. “There is actually one generation who doesn’t know anything about it [using the mobile Web]: our grandparents.” So he spoke to people between the ages of 70 and 90, asking them why they don’t use mobile phones like their kids and grandkids do.

“They told me they don’t want to use it because they are afraid. That it might be too complicated and they don’t know the advantages,” he says. “And that’s where Firefox comes in. Safe and easy to use even for old people who never used the Internet before.”

My phone, my thing, my everything
https://firefoxflicks.mozilla.org/en-US/video/2013/247/
France

Laury Herubel dreams of being a film director one day. As director, editor and cameraman on her Firefox Flicks entry, she knows that developing your passion and drowning yourself in it results in total enjoyment, fulfillment and success. “Don’t limit yourself and have fun,” in her own words.

To create “My phone, my thing, my everything,” Laury worked with Adrien Dewitte, a fellow aspiring director and actor, to produce a film that highlights the phone and the potential ways that apps can change our lives, with very humorous results. With the production of this short film under his belt, Dewitte advises future contestants to never be afraid to push themselves creatively and to be confident in their work. “Above all else have fun with your passion and just enjoying being creative,” he adds.

The third person on the team is Théo Galano. While Théo’s career goals are more in the world of media, production or journalism, working on the Flicks entry pushed him to start thinking creatively. “I really enjoyed helping my friends, as an assistant,” he says. “I like the concept of this competition as it gives amateurs a chance to show their ideas and put the studies to practice!”

From Dream To Reality
https://firefoxflicks.mozilla.org/video/2013/304/
UK

Since he was very young, Ian J. Walton has been making low-budget short films to entertain his friends, hoping one day it could turn into more.

“It’s a hobby that I have always hoped would become a career, but it’s a tough industry to break into for anyone,” Walton says. Not being a professional filmmaker hasn’t held him back, however. For his Flicks entry, “From Dream To Reality,” he took on the challenging task of making an animated film without having had any formal training in animation or art.

“It was quite difficult to get it to all come together.” The results were worth his hard work.

When asked if he had any tips for other people looking to enter the contest, Walton said, “My advice to other people thinking of entering would be to think a lot about what tone you would like your shot to have, be it comedy or serious, and then work from there.”

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You have one last chance to qualify for our Early Entry Awards. Get your flick in by July 3 and you could win $1000 and automatically have your Flick seen by our judges. The final deadline for entries is July 31, 2013. Learn more at https://firefoxflicks.mozilla.org/en-US/#prizes.

Congratulations to all the winning teams of these Early Entry Awards!

The Flicks team gets to see every entry that comes in for the contest. While there’s still a few months left in the contest we thought we’d share some of our favourites. Firefox Flicks staff picks are Flicks that we see throughout the contest. Being featured as a staff pick has no bearing on the Firefox Flicks voting process. It’s just Flicks we’ve seen come in that we think are really interesting and wanted to share them with Flicks fans. We hope you find them inspiring.

Well hello there. I’m Chelsea and this is my second year working on Firefox Flicks. I do all the social media for Flicks, help the Mozilla community support the contest and sometimes I answer your “Does my flick have to be shot with a mobile phone?” questions (and, no, it doesn’t). My staff pick is “My Phone, my thing, my everything” from France.

What I really like about this flick is how it shows how apps on smartphones have changed our lives in a fun and cheeky way. Yes, all the examples are cute exaggerations, but they’re not so far off what could happen one day. While I can’t cook dinner on my phone (yet), I sure can order food or even pay for my food using an app on my smartphone.

Apps are one of the big differentiators between smartphones and feature phones. By using the web as the platform, Firefox OS gives more people the ability to build apps for whatever people may need (or even what they may not have known they needed, like a smartphone with a shaving razor).

And that’s part of what I love about Firefox OS. Getting smartphones into the hands of people who may not have had access to this kind of technology before. It means we’re going to get apps that no one has ever thought of and they’ll be used in new and creative ways. Just like this flick says, with a little imagination, you can do anything.

I’ve been really impressed with the flicks entries for 2013. It’s fun to see how people interpret the creative brief. Making a good video is a lot of hard work. You can see a lot of love, sweat and good fun in entries that have come in so far. We have two months left in the contest so I’m really excited to see what’s to come and what all the last-minute procrastinators get in on July 31.

Last Thursday we invited the French community to join us for a Firefox Flicks screening event.

This was our programme:

• 19:00 Welcome drink, Office tour (by Pascal C.)
• 19:30 Lightning talk: What is Mozilla? (by Claire C.)
• 19:45 Lightning talk: Using popcorn.js for interactive videos
• 20:00 Firefox Flicks Screening: See the best submissions from 2006, 2012 and 2013 so far. Moderation: Tobias Leingruber
• 21:00 - 22:00 Music and drinks

Thanks everyone for coming! We hope you’ll be busy the next weeks to create your submission. Submission deadline is July 31st!

Please enjoy this photo set on Flickr from the event, taken by Achraf Fouwad.

Best,
The Flicks Team.

The Flicks team gets to see every entry that comes in for the contest. While there’s still a few months left in the contest we thought we’d share some of our favourites. Firefox Flicks staff picks are Flicks that we see throughout the contest. Being featured as a staff pick has no bearing on the Firefox Flicks voting process. It’s just Flicks we’ve seen come in that we think are really interesting and wanted to share them with Flicks fans. We hope you find them inspiring.

Hi all. I’m Greg. I manage the Flicks website and work with our partners to spread the word about the contest, spoil our winners with great rewards and make sure everything runs smoothly.

I chose “Move Faster” by Mati in the UK as my staff pick.

First and foremost, I think the video is very on brief, which is the first thing I look for in an entry! It uses great storytelling to share a unique perspective about how the mobile web keeps us connected to each other, and ultimately fosters progress.

I liked the general metaphor of transportation and hubs (bikes, busy squares, highways, crossroads) to symbolize web traffic and what “connects us.” Transportation and information technologies have a lot in common in so that they both increase the pace of our lives. They also bring us closer to those we care about, but also sometimes make us blind to those who sit right next to us. So drawing a parallel between those seemed very appropriate and it really resonated with me.

The use of time-lapse also feels appropriate in the context of the script, evoking the future and the unknown destinations we are heading towards at a fast pace. While it doesn’t necessarily answer the complex question of what lies ahead, “Move Faster” depicts the situation truthfully and offers a bit of advice: “embrace the change, it is the only way forward”. It may be a bit abstract, but it works!

A narrative that gets the assignment and flows well, reinforced by appropriate imagery. All ingredients of a good submission!

Firefox Flicks 2013 partner Dolby has been synonymous with excellence in sound and audio innovation since the mid-1960s. We’re delighted to have them supporting this year’s Flicks competition.  

Dolby is inviting Flicks Fans to view selections from their Dolby SoundWorks series. This series highlights sound editing and sound production experts from the film industry as they explain how they recorded, created, edited and mixed the sound for some of the Hollywood’s biggest films.

We’ll be sharing out some of our favourite SoundWorks profiles on the Flicks social media channels (@firefoxflicks and on our Facebook page) in the coming months, but to get you started, we suggest you have a look at these:

• In this exclusive SoundWorks Collection profile Dolby talks with visionary Director Joe Kosinski about the sound and music of his new film Oblivion. Also featured are Kosinski’s behind-the-scenes collaborators include Composer Joseph Trapanese, M83’s Anthony Gonzalez, and Re-recording Mixer Gary Rizzo, and Re-recording Mixer Juan Peralta. http://soundworkscollection.com/videos/oblivion

• Dolby speaks with Oscar winning Sound Re-recording Mixer and Supervising Sound Editor Paul Ottosson about his work on Director Kathryn Bigelow’s film Zero Dark Thirty. http://soundworkscollection.com/videos/zerodarkthirty

• Be sure not to miss this SoundWorks visit to Park Road Post Studios in Wellington, New Zealand where they speak with with the sound team of Director Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit. http://soundworkscollection.com/videos/hobbit

Also, as we mentioned previously, Dolby is offering a one-day training session at the Dolby Institute in LA, as well as an invitation to a movie premiere and after-party at the Dolby Theater for the Grand Prize winning Flicks team.

The Flicks team gets to see every entry that comes in for the contest. While there’s still a few months left in the contest we thought we’d share some of our favorites. Being featured as a staff pick has no bearing on the Firefox Flicks voting process. It’s just Flicks we’ve seen come in that we think are really interesting and wanted to share them with Flicks fans. We hope you find them inspiring.

“Hey Flicksters, I’m Lizz, part of the Firefox Flicks team. I write for the Flicks blog, coordinate our film festival sponsorships, work on film school outreach in North America and manage gear and print materials for Flicks 2013. For my staff pick, I chose the film “From Dream to Reality” from Ian in the UK.

There are several reasons “From Dream to Reality” stood out to me. Most obviously, it’s adorable and I have a soft spot for cute things. But more than its cuteness, I love that it has dry humor at the end, when the raccoon says, “How are you holding that without thumbs?”, to which the fox replies, “Magic.”

I also think the ‘dreams’ that the raccoon has of a meaningful mobile experience is spot on with what we’re trying to do with Firefox OS. More than anything though, I love the animation style. The line drawing feels kind of old school and I like that it’s not flashy, just simple and well-done.

Having seen all or most of the Flicks entries thus far, I’m really impressed by the enthusiasm and vision I’ve been seeing from a lot of the filmmakers. It seems like a lot of these videos really speak to our goals for the mobile web, which is so exciting because it means we’re not the only ones who envision a more connected and accessible world.”

The Flicks team gets to see every entry that comes in for the contest. While there’s still a few months left in the contest we thought we’d share some of our favorites. Being featured as a staff pick has no bearing on the Firefox Flicks voting process. It’s just Flicks we’ve seen come in that we think are really interesting and wanted to share them with Flicks fans. We hope you find them inspiring.

“I’m Tobi, part of the Firefox Flicks team. I work on the project in general and I help the community with their activities around Flicks 2013. I chose Scooter from the USA as my pick.

The idea seems a bit odd first of all. But I like it. The video is nicely produced as well. It gives a quite different perspective on things. I respect it a lot when people from older generations are still exploring new technologies. Actually it looks like he has a jailbroken iPhone running FirefoxOS. That’s bad ass. I can understand that when you get older you might not always want to go with the latest “trends” anymore. You might be tired of that. It’s a pitty. Mobile computing is really something that can make everyones’ life a little easier, no matter if you’re young or old. This man is doing everything right.

Having seen all the Flicks entries so far, I think we can be really happy about having such an engaged community. It takes a lot of effort to create a submission, so I already wanted to say thanks to everyone who contributed to far!”

You’ve spent days and nights planning the perfect flick. You’ve called in all your personal favors and created a winner. But what does winning Firefox Flicks actually get you? Fame, (a modest) fortune and opportunities to work with film industry luminaries — all this and more. We’re really excited to give you more details on the fantastic prizes you can win this year.

Just for participating, you’ll receive an exclusive, limited edition Firefox Flicks sticker sheet that was designed for the 2013 competition. That’s a little thank you from us. Keep reading for all the details.

People’s Choice Awards

People’s Choice is a new award category this year and will include flicks chosen by the public. The three People’s Choice winners will receive a limited edition Flicks 2013 prize package and have their videos promoted on our channels. They’ll also be featured in the Flicks gallery on Givit and on MovingArt channels.

Early Entry Awards

This year, we’re choosing three Early Entry Award winners. Each winning team will receive $1000 USD and have their flick promoted on our channels. They’ll also get a special edition 2013 prize pack and will automatically qualify for one of the 40 finalist spots.

The 40 Firefox Flicks finalists will have their films evaluated by our panel of judges and all finalists will receive SnagIt and Camtasia software licences from TechSmith (one per person).

Finalists

From the 40 finalists, the judges will choose four regional runners-up, four regional winners and a Grand Prize winner.

Regional Winners

The four regional runner-up teams will each receive $2500 USD, a one-year Shooting People membership for each team member, a special edition Flicks 2013 prize package and have their flick promoted on our channels.

The four regional winner teams will each receive $5000 USD, a one-year Shooting People membership for each team member, a limited edition Flicks 2013 prize pack and have their flick promoted on our channels. Their videos will also be featured in the Flicks gallery on Givit and on MovingArt channels. Additionally, the four regional winners will be flown to Toronto, Canada, for the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival for the award ceremony and celebration.

Grand Prize Winner

Finally, there is the Grand Prize winner. Make sure you’ve got your passport ready, because the Grand Prize winning team will fly to Los Angeles to work with Flicks judges Couper Samuelson (Producer) and Franklin Leonard (Founder, Black List), as well as representatives from Panavision, to professionally produce their winning entry using a comprehensive Panavision digital camera package. If timing allows, the winning team will also get a two-day training session at the Dolby Institute in LA, as well as an invitation to a movie premiere and after-party at the Dolby Theater.

The Grand Prize winner will also receive a one-year Shooting People membership for each team member, a limited edition Flicks 2013 prize pack and have their flick promoted on our channels. Their videos will also be featured in the Flicks gallery on Givit and on MovingArt channels. Additionally, the Grand Prize winner will be flown to Toronto, Canada, for the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival for the award ceremony and celebration.

Sound amazing? Want to win? You still have a few weeks to get your flick in for the next round of Early Entry Awards and before the contest closes on July 31, 2013.

Last week Tobias from the Flicks team went to London to say hi to some of Londons’ most prestigious film schools, to meet with teachers and to inspire film students to create submissions for Flicks 2013. Here’s his report:

Goldsmiths

My first stop was at the Department of Media & Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London to meet 2 film professors there. Beautiful campus:

Met School

Second stop was at the Met School, which is located on the campus of the Ealing Studios. They had organized a talk for me, and although the weather was beautiful, many students sacrificed their lunch break to hear everything about Firefox Flicks. Photo:

London Film School

Located in the center of London is the The London Film School, only a short walk from the Mozilla London office, in the area called “Covent Garden”. It was actually really cool to see our Flicks posters hanging at most of the universities I visited so far. (We did a mailing earlier this year, which apparently worked.)

London College of Communication

My next stop was the BA Film and Television department at the London College of Communication, University of the Arts. If I was interested in becoming a film student: I’d have trouble deciding for which school to apply to.

National Film and Television School

The final visit was at the NFTS, the National Film and Television School. The director gave me a tour around their studios which was very inspiring. I don’t know if theres’ a more successful film school around in terms of Oscar nominations that their (former) students have received. Truly impressive.

Actually - One of our 2012 Firefox Flicks winners came from NFTS! Enjoy “Paranoid” from the team of Sean O’Riordan:

Special thanks to Dogwoof Film, who helped us organize this trip.

Some Flicks participants have been wondering, “What does Get Mobilized really mean?” So we thought we’d write a post expanding on the idea to help you create your flick.

But before we talk more about that, you should check out the Creative Brief and the first Early Entry winners as a starting point. We think it’s great inspiration and a chance to see some good examples of other contestants’ interpretations of the theme.

Once you’ve done that (take your time, we can wait), read on for more insights.

We’ve broken this post into two sections: themes within the Get Mobilized concept and Get Mobilized dos and don’ts.

Themes within the Get Mobilized concept

Get Mobilized might seem like a lofty, abstract idea at first glance. And while it’s definitely open to interpretation, there are also some specific themes we think it should capture.

One of those themes is connectivity. Getting mobilized is about bringing people closer to take us all further in life and higher in our goals — together (that last part is key).

The concept of connectivity in the mobile world can happen through something as simple as collaborating on a project using emails and instant messaging, but it can also be demonstrated through more complex ideas, like changing or improving your existing personal relationships.

Two other important, connected themes within Getting Mobilized are accessibility and the democratization of the Web. We believe that everyone should have equal access to the Web and all of its amazing resources. We also think that there are unlimited possibilities of what can be made, done or discovered with the power of the Web.

At the same time, we realize that Web access is undergoing a shift from desktop computers to mobile devices. And we don’t think it’s fair that only people who can afford expensive smartphones should have access to the new frontiers of the Web on mobile.

So the themes of accessibility and democratization are the keys to this shift — we believe it doesn’t matter where you’re from, what you do or how much money you have; everyone should be able to Get Mobilized.

Get Mobilized dos and don’ts

DO make your video 60 seconds or less — we can’t approve videos longer than that.

DON’T show any branded devices — we want the concept of getting mobilized to speak for itself and not rely on specific phones or manufacturers.

DO focus on the concept and possibilities of mobile. Think of this as an inspirational video that demonstrates the power of mobile, not a video about Firefox.

DON’T focus on Firefox specifically. This isn’t an ad for Firefox in the mobile world. Instead, it’s a demonstration of the potential of mobile computing in real life settings and situations. It’s also a demonstration of the themes within Get Mobilized: connectivity, accessibility and the democratization of the Web.

DO use any style of filmmaking you want — it can be live action, animation or anything else you can think of.

DON’T limit yourself to videos shot with a mobile phone — you can use any equipment you like. If you’re just submitting videos made on a mobile device, but the content doesn’t demonstrate the concept of Get Mobilized, we can’t approve your submission to Flicks.

DO make your video in any style you want — it can be funny, serious or a little weird. The only thing we’re specifically looking for is that it be inspirational, hopeful, forward-looking and that it evoke feelings and emotions from the viewer around the power of the Web on mobile.

DON’T make a video that talks to Web experts, like programmers or hackers. In fact, you should think about people who are just coming online — your video should demonstrate what the Web can do for them and why it is or will be an important, essential tool in their everyday lives.

We hope this post clarifies our thoughts around the Get Mobilized theme and helps you to think strategically about the content of your submission. We can’t wait to see how you interpret the theme — so get out there, get creating and together we’ll Get Mobilized!