Over the past year, we’ve tried ZHIYUN’s gimbal products on a variety of video productions, creating what we thought was excellence, that is until now. Zhiyun has unveiled the winners of their SMOOTH 5 Mobile Movie Contest, and the winning entries were of such high quality we now need to go back to the drawing board!
ZHIYUN’s SMOOTH 5 Mobile Movie competition was divided into five categories: Mini-documentary, Adventure, How-to, Narrative and Music and Dance. The prizes consisted of USD$10,000 and filmmaking products, (including Zhiyun Gimbal’s) for the winner of the Filmmakers’ Choice Award, with $3,000 and equipment being awarded to each category winner. The judging panel comprised ZHIYUN, Insta360, Artlist, Artgrid, Motion Array, NANLITE, SmallRig and ESRgear.
There were more than 400 entries into the competition from all over the world, with the judges noting the overall high quality. The narrative category received the most significant number of entries, including some quite outstanding creative works.
The competition allowed many new creative teams to showcase their abilities, with many stating they were challenged to embrace new styles and techniques and that the entries also showcased the full potential of smartphone videography, which, as the entrants proved, is narrowing the gap to professional, dedicated cameras.
Top Prize: Filmmakers’ Choice
Shelly – Tim Hamilton
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tgkd2-B0RlY
Comments: “Incredibly creative and imaginative visual storytelling with a suitably offbeat narrative.”
Category Winners
How-to:
How to set up a skateboard – PJ Madd
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXn26trBJng
Judges’ comments: “Lots of interesting tricks, and we can see the author’s intention to work with composition. It’s a very well-formed video, that comes together into one united story.”
Music & Dance:
Words – Polar Eyes
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRNtd2yAsvg
Judges’ comments: “Innovative shots fit perfectly with the music and dance to tell a story.”
Mini-Doc：
Something Is Coming – SJ van Breda
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhbiHg6VdoU
Judges’ comments: “Every element looks harmonious, not a single wasted shot, excellent camera work, good editing.”
Narrative:
The Speed Date – TRIO Stories
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrhPjMhmWbo
Judges’ comments: “Feels like a movie, really cinematic and great storyline. Impactful mise en scene as well.”
Adventure:
Life Breath – Leo Markov
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJQ-15CCzQM
Judges’ comments: “Very time consuming and excellent planning of shots … the order of the shots. Well done.”
BTS Winners:
- Camelot – Max Prod
- This is my adventure – Romuald Kabala
- The Painter – Roberto Eduardo Mazzarago
ZHIYUN is committed to enriching filmmakers and pushing the boundaries of filmmaking through its products and community initiatives. The ZHIYUN SMOOTH 5 gimbal offers a 3-axis design, supremely smooth movement, a full-control panel, and the ZY Cami companion app, resulting in next level cinematic filming with your smartphone.
The ZHIYUN SMOOTH 5 is now available at USD$169. The SMOOTH 5 plus a combo accessory pack is also available for $219.
More information on ZHIYUN’s products can be found below:
SMOOTH 5 Standard: https://store.zhiyun-tech.com/products/smooth-5
SMOOTH 5 Combo: https://store.zhiyun-tech.com/products/smooth-5?variant=40930271035572
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