Here Are the Winners of the Artlist SFX Challenge

Can you hear that?

That’s the sound of the SFX Challenge winners rejoicing.

Some 3 weeks ago, we launched a contest that challenged you to create the best-sounding videos using Artlist sound effects and music.

The contest was sponsored by some of the best gear manufacturers out there, such as Zhiyun, NANLITE, Adam Audio, RØDE, Focusrite and Lume Cube, offering equipment worth $10K to the 3 best videos. A panel of judges from the Artlist Creative, Audio and SFX teams chose the winners based on creativity, storytelling and technical ability.

After reviewing more than 300 contest entries, the results are in…

Honorable mentions

All honorable mentions will get a full Artlist merch kit.

Oskar D.

 

This romantic short follows a guy who finds a bracelet inside a crumpled piece of paper with the writing “Good Riddance’. He rushes through a city and reaches a hill to give the bracelet to his girlfriend. She rejects him, and he stays sitting on the hill disheartened. As night falls, we see her return, and they live happily ever after…

This video gets creativity and storytelling points for how it manages to tell a story showing only the characters’ legs. The interesting camera placement helps attract the viewers’ attention as they try to figure out the story. As for sound design, Oskar set a background of city sounds almost throughout the entire film add energy to the film.

Ranjan Simkhada

 

This short about the .musings of a travel filmmaker has a lot going for it, from the cinematic footage, through the energetic editing to the dramatic voice-over, The sound design here adds a lot of life to the already breathtaking footage of adventurers walking through primal landscapes.

Melchizedek Kerketta, “Deja Vu”

 

Melchizedek Kerketta took what could have been a straightforward and “simple” story, and through clever editing turned it into a heartwarming tale about friendship and the power of memories.

In a Nolan-esque play on time, the video advances in reverse, creating a unique sensation that emphasizes the message of the story and immerses you in its dreamy atmosphere.

Working on a video like this really shows some sound design skills, as Melchizedek seamlessly weaves reversed sound effects, music and voice-over

And the winners are…

3rd Place

Mohamed Alhoqbani

 

In this clever short, a video editor shares his thoughts on what it means to be an editor.

Combining actual cutting of film roll and SFX creation, this short has a great rhythm thanks to its editing, music choice and precise sound design, which also delivers a humorous punchline when the guy sets up his sound equipment to create his own sound – a hand fart…It’s comedy gold!

Congrats, Mohamed! Here are the prizes we will send you.

• A Zhiyun Smooth XS gimbal
• The NANlite Forza 60 w/ Softbox + 2x PavoTube II 6C kit
• ADAM Audio SP-5 Studio Headphones
• The RØDE Vlogger Kit
• Focusrite FAST Audio Plugins
• Lume Cube Panel Go
• A 1 Year subscription to the Artlist Music + SFX subscription
• Artlist merch kit

2nd Place

Gaku Aoyagi

A Piper PA-18 Super Cub airplane bursts through a speaker and flies through the room to the rocking sounds of ‘Once and for All’ by Ian Post only to get back into the speaker where it lands on the song’s waveform and transforms into the play button. On top of the excellent music choice, this video is a great representation of how music gives energy and freedom to your creation. There’s also a nice BTS video that shows the 3D airplane model was created and how the flying route was set.

Congrats, Gaku! This is the gear you will receive:

• A Zhiyun Weebill S gimbal
• The NANlite Forza 60B w/ Softbox & Projection Attachment + 4x PavoTube II 6C kit
• ADAM Audio T5V Studio Monitors
• A RØDE VideoMic Pro+ microphone
• Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen
• Lume Cube Panel Pro
• Logitech MX Combo
• A 1 Year subscription to the Artlist Music + SFX subscription
• Artlist merch kit

1st Place

Djason Demassey & Myriam Destephen

 

While many people have negative feelings towards mimes, this clever little film might turn around some haters. A woman having a party on a beach. She pops an invisible bottle, pours it into invisible glasses and adds invisible ice cubes. A guy passing by sees her and starts staring at her perplexed. When her invisible cat runs out of her invisible apartment, she runs out to take him back inside. The guy approaches her invisible door and accidentally presses the invisible doorbell. The woman opens the door, all the invisible party people start cheering and they continue to party together.

This is one of the few entries where sound is at the center of the film rather than in the background. Hearing every invisible action not only makes the viewer laugh but also adds another dimension to the story and gives her world a sense of reality. And on top of that, Djason and Myriam don’t compromise on storytelling, creating a compelling feel-good (love?) story which is a challenge when shooting a short film.

Congrats Djason and Myriam, these are the prizes you will receive:

• A Zhiyun Crane 2S gimbal
• A NANlite Forza 300B w/ softbox + 4x PavoTube 30C kit
• ADAM Audio A5X studio monitors
• A Dell U2720Q UltraSharp 27″ 16:9 HDR 4K IPS monitor
• A RØDE NTG5 shotgun microphone
• A Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 3rd Gen sound card
• A Lume Cube 2.0 Pro lighting kit
• A Logitech Craft keyboard
• A Logitech MX Master 3
• A 1 Year subscription to the Artlist Music + SFX subscription
• Artlist merch kit

Finally, a big thanks to everyone who participated in this contest. It was fun and inspiring seeing all your creative videos. Until next time, stay creative!