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Competitions  / Newsflare  / Summer  / Viral Videos
Summer Fun Competition – THE RESULTS
Sian Melonie Posted On July 27, 2018



As many of you may know last month we launched our first Summer Fun Competition, where you had to opportunity to win up to £250! The terms were simple; upload your best videos to Newsflare by Friday 6th July and you could earn a cash prize – £250 for 1st place, £100 for 2nd place and £50 for third.

We would like to take the time to say thank you for all your submissions – we watched every single video and it’s safe to say it was a very hard decision to make!

However after much deliberation between us on the Newsflare team, we have chosen our winners! We based our vote on the videos that were the most creative and keeping in with the “Summer Fun” theme! We have already notified our winners but if you wanted to have a look at who won, you can check out their videos below:

THIRD PLACE

Clean up the beach day

User: bubcvision

SECOND PLACE

Gymnastics challenge to help motivate Dad to get fit!

User: Kalista

FIRST PLACE

Man drinks beer while sitting on a lawn chair attached to a jet surf board

User: Julianlnorth

While it may be the end of the road for Summer Fun Competition, make sure you keep an eye out for our next competition coming very soon!

In the meantime, you can check out our Video Brief section:

https://www.newsflare.com/videobrief 

If this if your first visit to Newsflare – welcome! You can learn more about us here and how we work:

https://www.newsflare.com/about/video-licensing 


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Competitions  / Holidays  / Newsflare  / Summer  / Viral Videos
Summer Fun Competition!
Sian Melonie Posted On June 5, 2018



 

With the weather gradually picking up and proving it’s here to stay, this month at Newsflare we have introduced a new and exciting Summer Fun Competition!

It’s pretty simple – upload your best videos to Newsflare by Friday 6th July and you could earn a cash prize of up to £250.

The following prizes are as follows:

1st prize – £250!

2nd prize – £100! 

3rd prize – £50! 

 

From summer games to keeping cool, your videos may be purchased by clients in addition to the chance of winning a cash prize! The types of footage we’re after but not limited to includes:

– Slip ‘n’ slide water slide action

– Think funnies and fails!

– BBQs gone wrong!

– Did the weather take a turn for the worse, or did you just sizzle that steak a bit too much?!

– Summer games, including pool joust, beer pong, sports fails

– Novel ways of keeping you, your kids or the pets cool in the heat

– Innovative ways to get beach body ready

 

3 reasons to join Newsflare 

1/ Newsflare sells videos globally to thousands of clients.

2/ Receive exclusive newsletters with video briefs, hints and tips.

3/ You retain full ownership of your content.

 

Ready to get started? Upload today! 

– Competition closes Friday 6th July 23:59.
– Winners will be announced by 31 July 2018.
– The best videos judged by the Newsflare team will win the cash prizes! Judges decisions are final.
– Prizes include £250, £100 and £50.
– Please note entries after the closing date will not be included. Videos need to ideally be over 30 seconds long.
– For full Newsflare terms and conditions – see here – https://www.newsflare.com/about/terms

 

UPLOAD YOUR VIDEOS HERE: https://www.newsflare.com/videobrief/978/summer-fun-competition-enter-to-win 


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Competitions  / Journalism  / Licensing videos  / Newsflare  / Viral Videos
The top 5 viral crazes of 2016 and how we covered them
Rich Oxley Posted On December 30, 2016



For many people, 2016 is a year that would be best swept under the carpet. Given all the celebrity deaths, political upheavals, and tragic news events that have taken place, there are few who would talk glowingly about the year that’s been. The start of 2017 is anticipated with all the significance of a curse being lifted rather than just an excuse to get drunk.

In the world of viral video though, there have been plenty of amazing moments recorded and shared online. Our researchers have been kept busy with all the various crazes and challenges that have emerged this year. Many have been for a good cause, others just good old fashioned frivolity.

So whether it was the epic wins, heartwarming gestures, or moments of accidental brilliance, let us remember those times when the internet brought us all together in mutual merriment.

Mannequin Challenge

Starting out among bored college students in the US, the Mannequin challenge took the world by storm towards the end of 2016. For a week or so, almost everywhere you looked you saw office workers, gym goers, and tube passengers doing their best living statue impressions, cashing in on the viral craze. One of many memorable moments of the US presidential election was seeing Hillary Clinton and her campaign team standing shock still on their private jet, perhaps a dress rehearsal for the eventual election result.

We have already covered our top 5 mannequin challenge clips in an earlier blog, so to avoid a blogception effect, we have selected our favourite video from the lot. If anyone’s ever been on a London Underground, you’d know how averse its patrons are to all forms of human interaction. Which is why inspiring a carriage full of tube users to participate in an impeccably performed Mannequin Challenge is deserving of our utmost respect, and inclusion in our list.

Pokemon GO

If you woke up on the morning of July the 14th and found your journey into work confounded by pale faced youths walking around aimlessly gazing at their smartphones, you’d be forgiven for thinking Google Maps had been hacked. Your confusion would then have intensified while overhearing colleagues bragging about ‘how many’ – often medical sounding names – they had caught. Almost the entire adult population went through similar experiences when Pokemon GO was released in the UK.

Here at Newsflare HQ, our researchers worked furiously to ensure that there wasn’t a Pokemon GO win, fail, or any other notable incident, that passed us by. Adopting the same ‘gotta catch ‘em’ attitude promoted by the game, we brought in clip after clip of Pokemon related hijinks. But amid all the Pikachu-chasing crowds, hilarious disputes, and clever hacks, our most successful video of the lot took place in a park in the US. It is pretty cruel, but rather funny.

Dabbing

It is an unspoken rule among the internet community that every year needs its dance craze. 2010 had its Dougie, 2013 its Harlem Shake, and now we are blessed with the ‘dab’. For the uninitiated, ‘dabbing’ essentially involves looking towards your armpit while sticking one arm in the air. Like all major historical events, its origins are disputed. It is said to have emerged out of the Atlanta hip-hop scene, with several artists –  Skippa da Flippa, Peewee Longway, and Rich The Kid included – all laying claim to having invented the dance sensation. Whoever it was, no one could have anticipated it entering into our collective consciousness in the way it has.

Along with highly regarded sports stars such as Paul Pogba and Lebron James, many of the great and good of the entertainment world have got in on the act. Ellen Degeneres, Tom Hanks, and Jamie Foxx have all had a go. The Newsflare 5 a-aside football team may or may not have been photographed performing a version after one of their games (5 points to whoever can locate this image). And, always to be relied upon for contributing towards viral memes such as this, our members have joined in. So here’s our favourite:

Water bottle flipping

You’d think that the harmless pastime of flipping a partially empty bottle of water into the air to make it land upright would be pretty free from controversy, but when schools around the world start banning it, you know it has gone out of proportion. Its origins lie with a chemistry student in the US performing the trick at a talent show. Since then, the internet has been pretty inundated with others attempting the feat.

With the dull thud of challengers trying to accomplish the stunt echoing throughout homes and schools, it can be difficult for run-of-mill water bottle flipping to gain any kind of ground in the viral video market. And with all the video platforms full of different variations on the theme, our researchers had a tough job of sorting out the best from the rest. This video was identified – mainly down to its complexity – as being in the former category. A bottle flip from a rooftop onto a trampoline. Impressive.

PTSD pushup challenge

If our previous inclusions have brought about a moral skepticism as to whether these crazes have done any good, or are just plain disruptive, then consider this final entry. The PTSD pushup challenge was a social media led initiative to increase the public’s awareness of post traumatic stress disorder, especially relating to servicemen and women. It started off in the US military, then spread around the world to include megastars such as David Beckham and Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson.

But if you wanted to see more high octane efforts, then Newsflare was your place to look. Among many excellent videos brought in by our researchers, perhaps the most incredible one involved a man from Canada performing the 22 pushup challenge while flying a plane. The cautionary note of ‘do not try this at home’ applies pretty strongly to this clip, although I’m unsure how many of you have your own jet parked in your backyard.

______

If you’re a budding videographer or simply have a talent that you want to share with the rest of the world, our website is full of assignments and directives for filming engaging and newsworthy material. So whatever you’re doing throughout 2017, remember to keep Newsflare in mind. We wish you a happy new year, and best of luck for the year ahead.


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Animals  / Competitions  / Dash Cam  / Drones  / Extreme Weather  / GoPro  / Holidays  / Licensing videos  / Newsflare  / Viral Videos
Get into the Christmas spirit with our top 5 festive fails
Rich Oxley Posted On December 2, 2016



It’s December, and there’s one event on the horizon everyone is getting very excited about. National Handwashing Awareness Week runs from the 4th to the 10th, and is a celebration of all things hygiene. The event is a community led initiative intended to highlight the importance of keeping things clean. Previous years have seen a … (wait… are those bells I can hear in the background?)

 

Christmas is almost here! And as the countdown begins, expect a ratcheting up of Christmas tree photos, santa selfies, and the appearance of gaudy christmas jumpers. With many hoping to hasten 2016’s end for various reasons (RIP Harambe), those advent chocolates can’t be eaten soon enough. But for anyone finding the wait interminable, then I have good news for you: Newsflare is FULL of festive videos that will keep you entertained for hours on end.

 

As is the case with a lot of viral videos, it is often the fails that provide the most amusement. Such is the anxiety many Christmas party planners experience when trying to put on the perfect event, that the moment of release when witnessing dear old grandad fly a mini drone into his own face is worth a thousand Christmas carols. So allow us to impart a bit of festive cheer with our roundup of the top five Christmas fail videos on our platform.

Man tries out hoverboard for first time, doesn’t end well…

One gadget that really blew up last Christmas (literally) were hoverboards. The retailers of these products clearly had viral video companies like us in mind when they decided to push for a big pre-Christmas sale, with the inevitable result of daredevils up and down the land deciding – post Christmas lunch – to take their new pressie for a spin.

The unsteady bearing of this lad suggests more than a few glasses of champagne to accompany his Christmas turkey. Luckily for him though, his blushes are spared as he smashes the light on his way down, conveniently plunging the room into darkness. Like all good art, what happens next is left to our imagination…

Santa arrested in Glasgow after climbing onto statue

What does Father Christmas do on his days off? If you imagined peaceful seclusion in Lapland, you will likely be shocked to find out how wrong you are. Rather than living – as we all thought – alongside Mrs Claus in domestic, mince-pie-eating bliss, he downs vast quantities of alcohol and climbs onto equestrian statues.

Here, instead of Fairytale in New York, we have lairy-tale in Glasgow as the man straddles the famous monument to the Duke of Wellington on Royal Exchange Square, no doubt singing ‘Santa Baby’ with all the pronouns changed to the personal. He is filmed being escorted down by emergency services, before he was reportedly issued a penalty fine. But at least he wasn’t drink-sledding.

Irish man falls over while performing Christmas jig

The fabled ‘luck of the Irish’ is sadly lacking in this next clip, as a merry lad performing a festive jig ends up falling over backwards, taking the Christmas tree out with him. Another casualty of his descent is a speaker system, which falls down onto his unfortunate girlfriend.

If anyone is confused as to why such a fit, healthy lad could end up losing his footing so catastrophically, note the tall can of beer he’s holding precariously in his right hand…

Man flies drone into his face

As promised, we have our man flying a mini-drone into his own face. Clearly enthralled with his new present, and excited about taking it for a maiden flight, this granddad ends up getting way more than he bargained for when he takes the controls for the first time.

If you’ve never watched the 2015 film Eye in the Sky, it is about the moral challenges and implications of using unmanned aerial vehicles on the battlefield. Unbeknownst to them, the real issues lie much closer to home with Christmas celebrants like this piloting their stocking fillers around the household. Thankfully, the drone hits him only in the chin, avoiding contact with his eyes. A ‘close shave’.

Reindeer destroys Santa’s sleigh

It must be difficult for Rudolph. Being forced to carry out a pretty-much-impossible task every 25th of December, with a by-all-accounts overweight man expecting you to cart him around. Overworked, fed only with leftovers, and in desperate need of medical attention for his nasal swelling, you’ve gotta feel for the poster boy of Santa’s reindeers.

No wonder then, that he feels the need to take out his frustration every once in a while. This clip – filmed from a security camera at a wildlife park in Canada – shows a reindeer (bearing Rudolph’s appearance) destroying Santa’s sleigh. The animal then runs off, leaving the vehicle in urgent need of repairs. Now where are Santa’s elves?

If you manage to film some awesome Christmas-related footage, whether funny, beautiful, or heartwarming, please upload them to our website. Our clients aren’t scrooges, and love to get in the Christmas spirit too!


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Competitions  / Cooking videos  / Viral Videos
The Great Newsflare Bake Off
Rich Oxley Posted On September 23, 2016



Image of a cake

Great Newsflare Bake Off

Unless you were living under a rock cake all week, you’d know that Mary Berry – host of the beloved Great British Bake Off has left the programme, after it was announced that Channel 4 secured the rights to the show. Also quitting are presenters Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins, saying that they were not “going with the dough” – a typically BakeOffian pun.

But don’t despair…

Newsflare is full of awesome baking videos that will keep you entertained for hours on end. If you’re wanting some inspiration, then check out this roundup of the best baking-related clips in our archive.

Jumping into a giant iPhone cake

Newsflare member and tech junkie TechRax celebrated his birthday in style this year with a massive 500 pound iPhone cake. In tribute to his obsession with testing the durability of smartphones, a friend was given the enviable task of jumping face-first into the structure, before taking a cheeky nibble.

The iPhone cake comes complete with edible apps, realistic buttons, and some solid density that will leave you wondering how much blood, sweat, and tears were involved in its production.

Carrot cake with a twist

If you haven’t yet heard of Ben Churchill, then now is the perfect time. Some say he is the next Paul Hollywood, others that he gives Heston Blumenthal a run for his money. And it only takes a quick look at his incredibly realistic carrot cake to see why.

I can already imagine the kind of sticky orange mess that would result if someone less handy with a spatula like me attempted this epic feat of bakery. But the delicacy with which the carrot, rock, and flower pot have been produced is true artistry. Search the hashtag #foodyourillusion, and see all the other outstanding pieces that Ben has created! It will leave you all with soggy bottoms.

Toddler’s amazing egg-cracking skills

If this toddler is anything to go by, the future of baking is very bright. In this video, the apron-clad 16-month-old can be seen cracking an egg and emptying its contents into a bowl without batting an eyelid. “Wow!” exclaims her dad, and the internet echoed his astonishment to the tune of 4 million Youtube views and huge interest from all major websites and broadcasters.

This kid was clearly born with a wooden spoon in her mouth…

If you are an expert baker, or even if you just like to ‘attempt’ ambitious baking projects, we’re always on the lookout for amazing videos. So be sure to upload your footage to our website!


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Competitions  / Journalism  / Newsflare
Shooting Video with a DSLR: Randance's Tip 1
newsflare-admin Posted On May 19, 2014



Raindance Raindance is an independent film festival and video & film school that operates throughout major cities including: London, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin and Brussels. The festival itself was established in 1992 by Elliot Grove, founder of Raindance to be the voice of British Filmmaking. Listed by Variety as one of the world’s top 50 ‘unmissable film festivals’, Raindance aims to nurture, support and promote independent films, filmmakers and videographers.

Along with screenings, there are seminars, workshops and parties to allow everyone the chance to share the passion for independent film, video & cinema. Newsflare is proud to be associated with the Raindance team to bring our members expertise in film and video to help you take better, newsworthy videos that we can sell.

Across the next 5 News Blogs, we will post 5 video production tips that will detail some technical know-how from the Raindance crew. These will include:

  • 1. Depth of Field
  • 2. Achieving a Cinematic Look
  • 3. Light: Night Time Shooting
  • 4. Sound
  • 5. Steadiness & Composition

Raindance talks about the rise of DSLR’s and gives their first tip on Depth of Field.

The Rise of DSLR Technology

The first Digital Single Len Reflex cameras that could shoot high definition video emerged in 2008. In the 6 years since they have become the camera of choice for most, if not all, beginner and professional photographers, videographers, filmmakers and documentarians in the world.

Their ability to deliver stunning professional-looking photos and video with very little effort, in a cheap and compact package, has revolutionised the way we capture and share our daily lives.

It’s hard to imagine a part of today’s media, from student films to live war coverage, that hasn’t been affected by the inexorable rise of cheap DSLR technology.

If you’ve got a DSLR, it’s good to know how to use it properly. Sure, you could just set it to ‘Automatic’ and shoot away, but knowing just a few key tips and tricks could make all the difference to shooting great newsworthy video.

1. Depth of Field

Most DSLRs come with a standard 18-55mm lens. They’re handy, adaptable and can yield some great results, but sacrifice aperture f-stops for zoom flexibility. This might sound complicated, but put simply it means that you can’t achieve the ‘sharp subject, soft background’ cinematic look by having a shallow depth of field.


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Competitions  / Journalism  / Newsflare
The Worst Scene Imaginable
newsflare-admin Posted On May 16, 2014



Written by The Tornado Hunters

This past week marked the beginning of chasing season for Team Tornado Hunter. The first day was a blue-sky bust in Nebraska. The next day, Sunday April 27 however was an incredible roller coaster.

We began the day in Nebraska, headed into Missouri. At this point, the Storm Prediction Centre upgraded the watch area in Arkansas to a High Risk for Tornadoes and also issued what is referred to as a PDS (Particularly Dangerous Situation). I had been trying to avoid chasing in Arkansas, as this is an area that is very hard to chase in due to hills, giant trees, winding roads and generally low visibility. But here we were at a cross road and we took it! Off to Arkansas we went, and as we arrived in the Little Rock metroplex radar indicated that a large tornado was forming within just a few miles of our location.

We headed to our intercept point and came upon a half mile wide monster tornado that was so large we actually thought it was a large cloud until we got close enough to tell that it was moving way to fast and full of debris. For the next hour and a half we chased this monster on its 128km damage path until it eventually hit the small town of Vilonia Arkansas. This is where our chase ended and our night began.

Imagine, all of these homes and trees and vehicles destroyed, hundreds of them in complete darkness.
The searchers were calling out to survivors, it was eerie. My driver Ricky and I continued searching and after about a half hour we heard a reply from beneath a pile of rubble. We quickly called out for more searchers and within minutes we had a dozen people pulling a collapsed brick wall and large amounts of other structural debris off the pile. After 20 minutes we finally had the cellar door freed and 3 families emerged from their dark cocoon. I cannot imagine how terrifying their ordeal must have been.

We stayed on site for the next 4 hours ferrying survivors and doctors and pets to the staging area set up at the local high school. Our night finally ended just before sunrise with a rum and coke.“We were one of the first vehicles on the scene and we couldn’t believe what we were seeing. It was a town devastated and broken.”

Keep an eye out for more stories and wild videos from the Tornado Hunters on Newsflare’s Facebook,Twitter &YouTube channels or visit wwww.tornadohunter.com


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Competitions  / Journalism  / Newsflare
A message from our Managing Director, Jon Cornwell
newsflare-admin Posted On May 16, 2014



The last few months have been like a whirlwind in the Newsflare offices; In January we concluded a major investment round and since then the team has grown significantly.

Along with the fresh faces in the office, each week we add fresh clients to the growing number of organisations that license your videos. In the last fortnight alone names like the New York Daily, Sweden’s Aftonbladet as well as production companies like Juma Entertainment and Renegade Pictures have joined our client list.

The most dramatic change that we have seen over the last six months has been the dramatic increase in the demand for engaging video. Broadcasters and websites are now being joined by major brands and training companies as buyers of Newsflare video. It is also worth highlighting that as the world’s climate seems to be increasingly unpredictable, we in turn are receiving and licensing more and more footage of extreme weather from all around the world – a quickly uploaded 40 second clip not only provides eyewitness footage of a breaking weather event, but also secures the author a respectable share of license fee.

Another trend that we are seeing is more and more footage captured by quad-copters or “video drones” as they are often referred to. Whilst the various air safety regulators around the world clearly have some important work to do in issuing fresh guidelines for the safe use of these devices, there’s no doubt that they are already an important source of video footage for a range of subjects; sports, weather, conflict, to name just a few. The footage is often shot from such a fresh perspective that it proves highly engaging to viewers and buyers of video alike.

In the context of all this exciting video we are well aware that we have important work to do to improve all our members experience of Newsflare. With that in mind, if you have any ideas on improvements you would like to see, then we’d really like to hear from you. Please email us on contact@newsflare.com or fill out our survey here


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Competitions  / Journalism  / Newsflare
'Off the Beaten Track' competition winners announced
andrea Posted On October 27, 2012



After much hard deliberation Newsflare and Stray decided on 3 winners who responded to the Stray Travel: Off the Beaten track competition. Big congratulations to everyone who uploaded a clip, as it was extremely difficult to judge the top 3.

Without further a due the winners are;

1. WeTravel Tight – http://www.newsflare.com/video/1091/travel/we-travel-tight—movie-trailer-off-the-beaten-track

2. Nicole – http://www.newsflare.com/video/1083/travel/india

3. Jessica – http://www.newsflare.com/video/1081/travel/stray-thailand

We Travel Tight receive a Stray Asia Big Wat pass around Thailand, Laos and Cambodia worth US$715 or another pass of equivalent value (http://www.straytravel.asia/south-east-asia-bus-travel/search/19/) and both Nicole and Jessica get Stray Asia Tom Yum pass around northern Thailand and Laos worth US$495 or another pass of equivalent value (http://www.straytravel.asia/south-east-asia-bus-travel/search/3/)
Thanks to Stray for offering such amazing prizes to these winners.

Stray have also generously offered us a discount code to give to our members so if you or any of your friends want to go on one of Stray’s amazing trips you can get a 20% discount by using the code NF2012. However you will have to hurry as this code is limited to 10 redemption’s per country. Check out http://www.straytravel.asia/ and http://www.straytravel.com/ for more details.

Don’t forget to check out our assignments page regularly for more competitions and paid assignments from news organisations near you. Also if there’s an event you’re attending please let us know and upload what is happening via the website or iPhone App.

Newsflare


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Competitions
MyStreet Film Competition
newsflare-admin Posted On April 6, 2012



Our friends at My Street have just launched their annual film competition and we are encouraging all our Newsflare members to get involved.

You can check below what it is about. We will shortly be adding this to the assignments section so you can submit your entries straight from Newsflare. For now, here is what the guys at MyStreet have to say:

MyStreet Film Competition

MyStreet is an exciting opportunity for you to tell your story about your area, through film. Share with the world where you are, who you are and how you live.

We’ve just launched our annual competition, to participate simply upload your video (1 to 10min. long) at www.mystreetfilms.com by 8th May 2012.

What will happen next?

1. We will review your film, send you a submission confirmation and your film will appear on our site

2. The 10 best documentaries will be screened at Open City Docs Fest from the 21st – 24th June 2012

3. At the festival the shortlist will be reviewed by our Grand Jury, chaired by Nicolas Philibert, who will select the 3 best films. Prizes will be awarded!

We’re looking forward to watching your MyStreet film and hearing what you have to say. More about Open City Docs Fest here: www.opencitylondon.com

Get involved and spread the word.

260x190.jpeg
Image: MyStreet


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