This week, we’re highlighting Zooppa Member Justin Adkinson (game7) who has so far cashed in on our Silk Campaign and our Ultimate Software Campaign. We had the opportunity to talk to him a little about the evolution of his film-making and the breakdown of his submissions.



Can you tell us a little about yourself?



I am a stay at home dad right now but have a passion for creating videos. I have been doing video work for a long time but after my daughter was born I found a new and fresh passion for it. So, after 2 years of making video of her I started Heavensent Films because she was the biggest miracle in my life. I think every new parent feels the same way after having a child but I wanted to create videos that she would love watching later in life instead of the “usual” family style films.



How did your film-making translate into Zooppa competitions?



I heard about Zooppa a few years ago through a family member who thought I could have a chance to win in a few contests. At that time I wasn’t anywhere near ready to compete in video or graphic design with the Zooppa community. My experiences from the last 2 years of filming my daughter, self taught video concepts, and adding motion to video in order to add cinematic movements was only recently added to my skill set. I am definitely still learning and pushing myself beyond my comfort zones.



In the past 2 months we witnessed your Silk video winning a cash prize and your Ultimate Software - video also placing to receive a cash prize. Mind telling us a little bit about those videos? How was the creative process was similar/different?



As for the recent Silk Campaign I decided to film my daughter (with assistance from my wife) making cookies. I called it “Silk & Cookies”. Because it was all shot live I had to think on my feet and get the angles I wanted fast or as they happened because there was no going back once a 2 year old says or does something. After editing the first video entry for this contest I found myself coming up with other ideas with all of the footage I had of her helping my wife make cookies. That’s how I came up with the title Silk is just plain FUN! which won 8th place. The only setup that I did was with my daughter’s dolls at her table and having silk & cookies on it to share. My daughter was so surprised and excited that I had to make sure to capture her reaction as it happened.



For the Ultimate Software contest I wanted to think “outside the box” so to speak and create something slightly abstract, but I still wanted to use something practical and within my expertise filming. I came up with filming her toy wood train set and named the video A Truly Unified System which in the end won 1st place. This really surprised me because I loved the other entries for this contest. I thought that the text animation on some of them was top notch and couldn’t be beat. I think it goes to show that we (the video creators) don’t know exactly what to expect when it comes down to the company picking their favorite piece of work. It also makes me want to think outside the box a lot more if possible when creating videos of any kind just to push myself.



As a follow up, can you talk about your Buick/NCAA submission and how the creative process had to change?



Now for the latest Buick/NCAA contest I was introduced through my brother in law a close friend of his who was the QB for the University of North Dakota. After contacting him about this contest he was more than happy to tell his story. To my surprise he had the most amazing story to tell. The difference with this contest was we were really limited on time and in order to tell a story like Kelby’s I had to cut so much out and still try to get the same impact across to the viewer. This was the most challenging and creative process I have ever gone through in order to tell a story. (Check out Kelby’s foundation Holiday Magic from Markus)



So, you have received $3,000 in prizes thus far. For a 2-month user submitting only 6 videos that is quite an accomplishment! Now that you have a few competitions under your belt, what key takeaways do you believe will benefit you in participating in your next Zooppa competition?



I have definitely felt that my skill set as a video producer/filmmaker has been noticed because of the money I have won so far. I am really appreciative to Zooppa for having these competitions where creative people in the community can push themselves to create something for companies they would otherwise never get a chance to. I think that having these few competitions under my belt have really helped me professionally to try new things. And after seeing the great competition from these contests it makes me want to continue crafting my filmmaking skills to become better at what I do. I am nowhere near done learning but in the Zooppa community I feel we all can learn from each other and give constructive criticism where needed to help better each contest entry.



Thanks Justin!