The Kickstarter project video makes a crucial first impression. Creators introduce themselves and their dreams, sum up their plans, and ask for a little love. But as new projects continue to push the boundaries of what's possible on Kickstarter, the videos feel more and more like their own virtual film festival. Hitting that play button never felt so good.
Each week, we experience hundreds of new videos — way too many to keep to ourselves. Feast on five recent favorites that we've been passing around the office and let us know what catches your eye this week.
The Claytheist is a "conceptual experiment in stop-motion animation" wherein two puppets engage in an escalating argument over the origin of their existence. The creators' project video combines a rapid-fire narrative reminiscent of some 1920s radio hour with claymation mad scientists, hallucinatory visual effects, and some seriously impressive suspenders.
2. These Treats Don't Suck: A Gluten-Free Cookbook
...And neither does their hilariously tongue-in-cheek project video, which poses the existential question of the ages: "What is gluten free?"
3. The Goon
On the shortlist of reasons why we love this one: killer robots, suspicious hooch, bad guys, zombies, slow-motion flying cars on fire. And David Fincher. Hit play... or else.
4. Dale Radio: Spending Time With...
Nothing beats a pitch video performed completely in character. In his podcast, "Dale" is a lovably crass, middle-aged weird uncle type. In his project video, he cements the rep with a killer tie, some tinted aviators, and a couple packs of Twizzlers. Now that's balling on a budget.
Speaking of staying in character, what about character and genre? The crew behind this noir-inspired card game, King of Crime, never breaks form in a pitch that doubles as a ransom video. We're guessing they'll let Smith go... if they reach their goal.
Comments
Creator Brian LaPan on October 15, 2012
I'll agree that the video is probably the most important part of Kickstarter project selling. However, when you highlight RIDICULOUSLY expensive-to-make videos (like The Goon and The Claytheist) it's a disservice to the thousands of other entrepreneurs who are not filmmakers, actors, editors, musicians, etc. and have equally (or more so) innovative projects that deserve attention. I'm concerned that Kickstarter is evolving into a pre-sales tool only for previously successful and wealthy organizations as opposed to being a 'kickstarter' for new and innovative thinking.
Creator Patrick Henschel on October 15, 2012
+1. Totally agree to you Brian. Though I don't want to say that these are very good videos and I hope the efforts for making these videos will be rewarding, I would like to see some more real "indie videos", where it's more about creativity and not the most expensive (insert random filmmaking tool here).
Creator Simon Brooks on October 15, 2012
Brian I completely agree with you. In fact I think it's a disservice that they're pushing the projects that clearly have had money put into creating them. If they've got money to create professional Kickstarter pages perhaps they should be investing that into their products instead? It's stealing from the little guys who really do need the kickstart. Some of the projects are by successful teams. Why didn't they spend some of that success on their new product? Or as they have previous success approach angel investors instead?
I canceled my project there this morning just a few hours before it was ending. It didn't meet its goal, far from it, but didn't get any exposure either. It should have gotten exposure on Oct 5th when one of the very biggest names in gaming tweeted my project and wished it luck. This was actually a big day for him too, as he was mentioned in pretty much every tech media for something else he'd done that day. It was big news. He doesn't have a big twitter following because he's not a regular tweeter. Kickstarter didn't retweet it to their followers which I found odd, considering he's such a big name in gaming. there really aren't many bigger names in gaming. I wrote in and told them but they ignored me. My project wasn't even listed in the ending soon category when it was ending. I'm left with the impression they intentionally did as little as they could for my project for reasons I don't know yet.
It may sound like sour grapes, but it's not. I have a legitimate reason to be disappointed in Kickstarter, and I'm sure I'm not alone, or the first.
Creator Hesper Lucent Laboratories on October 15, 2012
Hey guys, while we are immensely flattered that our video appears to be ridiculously expensive, it is actually the result of years of hard work done in our garages and bedrooms with what little garbage and art supplies we have been able to scrounge together as raw materials, and a whole lot of determination. While it IS true that Hesper Lucent himself is a backstabbing billionaire mogul who has merely chosen us as pawns in ever-growing sinister plan to enslave humanity and slowly turn all human entertainment into puppet based media, the greedy miser simply holds his billions over us like a carrot on a string, constantly taunting us while refusing to give a single cent until we deliver this project. All that said, now's the time to get on his good side before the impending puppet apocalypse--if you donate today, there will always be a job for you at the laboratory. Good luck with all your projects! The future was yesterday!
Best wishes,
David and Micah, "The Claytheist"
Creator Eli Dvorkin on October 16, 2012
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. We explore every single project on the site and highlight great work wherever we see it — from high budget to no budget and everything in between. Take a peek at our Tumblr and other blog posts and let us know what catches your eye on the site. Great projects come in all shapes and sizes and we love to spread the word.
David and Micah: Please put in a good word for us with the mighty Hesper Lucent. May we all find pleasing new roles as meaningless cogs in his horrifying puppet machine.
Creator Becky Schantz on November 1, 2012
For me, the video has NOT been the most important thing. I backed several projects BEFORE watching their video. As Patrick mentioned, our project and video are VERY indie, what he's looking for; I don't understand why projects with VERY disappointed backers (sad pictures for children, for example) deserve a spot on the Staff Pick page (as I've asked Ks). It made 645% of its goal... What about the integrity of a project? That's gotta be worth 1000%.
Creator Laura Kent on November 10, 2012
Hey where is the Scratch video? That one really ROCKS! :-)