At the Great Ideas Video Competition on Nov. 12, BYU–Hawaii hosted four guest judges who helped decide which videos were among the best in their respective categories.
Two American entrepreneurs, Zach James and Ricky Ray Butler, American actor Jon Heder, and Italian comedian Marco Lui were the guest judges, and said they were excited to be on the BYUH campus.
“If you take the overall skill of all the videos we saw to today, it’s much higher than average,” said James.
“I already had a connection with the school. This is my favorite temple in the world, and my uncle has lived here; his sculptures are all over Hawaii,” said James. His uncle is retired BYUH sculptor Jan Fisher. “I have a connection with Hawaii and that’s something I want to continue to grow throughout my life.”
Meanwhile, Heder said he had always been curious about BYUH. Butler said he felt like he had to make coming out to BYUH for the competition a priority, and Lui said he was impressed when he came to campus, seeing everything that the campus stands for.
Both James and Butler operate in the business world. James is the co-founder and co-CEO of a company called ZEFR, which provides businesses the opportunity to keep track of when people on YouTube mention or discuss their brand.
Butler is known for being behind the largest nativity scene, working with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, David Archuleta, and the Piano Guys. Butler has connections with YouTubers galore and is no stranger to the world of videography.
Lui is an Italian comedian who wrote, directed, and produced his own feature length film, “The Book of Life” in 2010.
Heder is most well-known for his role as Napoleon in the movie “Napoleon Dynamite” as well as roles in the movies “Benchwarmers” and “Blades of Glory.” Heder also produces and has won multiple MTV Movie Awards.
Despite the judges’ various backgrounds, they all agreed on one thing: a good video is one that makes the viewer feel something. “I’m looking for an impression,” Lui said, “a strong impact.”
Both Butler and Heder said communication is a crucial for a videographer. According to Heder, “At the end of the day, what we were supposed to judge was whether or not the idea was good and how well did they get it across. And typically, a good video will do that, but sometimes you can get that across in a video that looks like it’s made by infants. If they get their message across, then they did their job.”
Butler commented on the differences in the students who submitted videos. “I was impressed with the level of communication. There were some that didn’t have the same quality of content as others, and it’s very obvious that some were very trained and some weren’t.”
Butler explained, “However, some of the cheaper content was better because they were able to give key messaging points. You were able to understand exactly what was going on and where they were going with it.”
James summed up the overall opinion of the judges, saying, “The main thing you want to come across–regardless of the style of video–is that a story is told, and there were stories told in messages that you would remember.”
Product:
- “Marzpac” Katie Burg & Nick Marz
- “Cyrus Board Shorts” Brenon Dopp
- “Stellar Ties & Tie Racks” Caleb Bow & Derek Katana
Alumni:
“Stomp Out Bullying” Adriel Casellas
Honorable Mention: “Maleka Designs” Martha Christensen
Social:
- “Food Waste” Ethan Precourt & Adam Ah Mu
- “Kapalu Connection” William Arnett
- “Kente Style” BYU-I Guest Team
Service:
- “Testing Center Calculator” John Tippetts
- “Fitcraft” Kevan Hendrickson
- “Pololi” Brylee Bromley & Tori Waite