The American Embassy and Consulate in Hanoi and Saigon recently held a joint video contest to showcase 100 seconds of Vietnam. "If you had 100 seconds to tell the world something about Vietnam, what would it be?" The winner gets an iPad mini. John, Old Boy, and I entered and yet we did not even make the top 11 despite our video being original and with a twist. I don't have to further explain how disappointed I am because of this. I will just show you some videos that made top 11. I threw up thinking about why and how our video didn't make it.
Visit Vietnam! from Vo Chi on Vimeo.
These videos were selected before mine.
All I can say is, WTF? WTF? WTF BRAAAAH
I know that the ending of my video was a huge risk, but even with its inclusion the overall video still trumped in quality and originality of the selected few. WTF. I haven't been this mad in a long while.
I have agree that yours was by far the best out of all of them. Maybe they didn't want a viet kieu to win.
ReplyDeleteP.S. The Vietnamese accent makes me cringe when hearing it LOL
Well only local Vietnamese were supposed to enter. An ID was required and John used his Vietnamese drivers license number... maybe...
DeleteAgreed your video is much better than the ones you posted...but to be honest, I didn't get what you were doing at all and I didn't understand why you were talking so slowly...I mean I think I get the joke, but why would you do that? And maybe you should be more enthusiastic or something. I think if you wanted to be taken seriously you should've been serious about the video.
ReplyDeleteJust trying to provide constructive criticism. Love your blog! Don't stop making your videos.
I was trying to speak slowly so they would understand me.
Delete^I agreed with Anonymous...even though you featured many cities, it was rather dull and didn't focus on what was so special about those cities and especially Vietnam in general. You were also not very enthusiastic (especially in your narrations). You showed a 4 seconds clip of Hanoi and all you said was "country's historic capital" and then jumped right away to the Mekong Delta with John holding locally grown honey...and then you were in Buon Ma Thuot sitting next to a tree on the riverbed...and then the natural hotspring in Binh Chau where we just see your mundane face and some guy staring into an egg..and so on. You didn't capture the essence of Vietnam or the point of the topic, which was to show off how awesome and interesting Vietnam is. If it was a 15 minutes video, I'm sure you would have came up with some awesome stuff.
DeleteThe interesting part of Vietnam is the travel potential! HOw is that not clear? Do you think the other videos I posted captured the essence of Vietnam? This is the essence of Vietnam! Lots of travel potentials and diversity. Shit, what more don't you get? My point was my video might not be the best, but its a lot better than those videos I posted that qualified for the contest!!!
Deleteagree with anon. lol
DeleteAnonymous OP here. What was the intent of the video? To showcase vietnam? to boost tourism? I don't know, but enthusiasm might have helped sell that.
DeleteI'm not saying my video would win the contest, but I'm saying despite the ending, it's still so much better than all of the ones I posted above. I think that's clear, but why wasnt I chosen??!?!
ReplyDeleteHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHH oh god their accent...one word to describe it....horrible LOLOLOL
ReplyDeleteanyways i think ur video is soooo much better than the others, but i also agree with the others. the video didnt tell us much about vietnam >< i think it would be better if u focus on 2 cities instead of many.
yeah.. thanks..
Deleteuh.. a lotof their videos didnt tell us about VIetnam either.. I mean that guy in the countryside with just footage of shaky scenery? WTF is that all about?
hahaha hmm.... yeah i dunno too LOLOL w/e ur video is the best and all the other ones are crap lol
DeleteMaybe you look too badass in the videos lol. Also something about the way you stare man. You could audition for "The bold and the beautiful"
ReplyDeleteBut the main reason you didn't win was you weren't FOBBY enough.
Kyle, you and John look like a gay couple in the video. That might be the reason why you didn`t make it to the top10 hahahah
ReplyDeleteYa know... i thought that too
DeleteYou should've spoke with a thick Vietnamese accent and captions in the bottom..then you might have won.
ReplyDeleteMy reasons on why your video didn't get pick:
ReplyDelete1. You speak way too slowly. I understand it might be a comprehension thing ( making it easier for non-native English speakers to understand) but it made you sound monotonous and a bit dull. If you spoke normally your video would've probably done better.
2. People on the selection committee or whatever have no sense of humour( referring to the ending)
3. Your English is just way too good. haha.
My thoughts on the other 4 videos:
Should've all spoken in Vietnamese and provided subtitles in English.
#1- My ears hurt. Not really sure if he's even speaking English. Scenery is okay.
#2- My ears still hurt. At least there are subtitles. Street food is okay, but a bit cliché
#3- Feels like cruel and unusual punishment. Thank god for subtitles. Motorbikes are interesting but hearing the narrator speaking is cringe-worthy.
#4- Can't hear crud ( kind of a relief, I punished myself enough with the 1st 3 vids) whether it's in English or Vietnamese.
Speaking way too slowly isn't the reason... if I spoke at a normal pace the local vietnamese would never ever understand. I had to dumb things down.
DeleteI think the problem is maybe we weren't serious enough. They didn't care about the boldness or the grand scale of the project, high lighting scenery throughout Vietnam. But maybe we weren't seen as down to earth people. I know the people who selected the top videos were likely Vietnamese people from Ha NOi who hated Dam Vinh Hung..
My comment is the one above.
ReplyDeleteI agree with some of the opinions here. You can talk slow but maybe change the tone so it doesn't sound so low. Plus using some of the scenes with you in it didn't work because lets face it, you don't really smile or seem that enthusiastic haha.
ReplyDeleteThe joke at the end definitely wouldn't work even if it's funny to normal viewers. You should have thought about what the judges want instead of what you want. Which is pretty much a more serious thing I reckon.
You could of done something like the last vid and showcase a bunch of smiling people from each of the places you visited or something. Make it more cheery and sensible.
Your english was the most easy to listen to. Pity a bad accent wins.
P.S: I really don't like Dam Vinh Hung lol.
having been around Vietnamese ESLers for this long, the way I spoke is easily understood. If I had emotions in there they wouldn't be able to follow along. Remember, I was disguising myself as a local Vietnamese since this contest was meant for locals only.
DeleteYes, I understand that they want serious, but why did they accept shit? I mean the motorbike video had some false information and showed a guy sitting on Yamaha Nouvo and claiming he was a xe om.. Nobody drives an automatic bike and is a xe om at the same time. That was so cliche and trite, yet it got in.
DeleteI guess I'll never know.
Sometimes shit can be the right kind of serious lol.
DeleteMaybe this contest was intended for domestic Vietnamese to enter and not VKs?
ReplyDeleteYes, but how would they have known? It never said only local Vietnamese. They required an ID and John had an drivers license which is a recognized official form of identification here.
DeleteWhen I produced this video, I really thought an American would be in charge of selection. I thought humor would ring past cliche boring ass barely understandable English. I've lost all hope in America.
ReplyDeleteLoved the video but I do not think they will understand that kinda of humor and frankly speaking, you do not dress like a local..shoes are a dead giveaway.
DeleteYou talked like a person with down syndrome...you could have won if spoke normally.
ReplyDeleteHmmm. if I spoke like I have down syndrome then what about the other videos' narrations?
Deletethey spoke normally with shitty english
Deletelololol
DeleteKyle, what you fail to get is that the people who judge the contest also speak English with a heavy accent, thus, see nothing wrong with the other videos. Moreover, you do sound like a person with down syndrome in your video; A little enthusiasm would go a long way. Lastly, you look constipated in your video, not exactly the kind of person I want to see on a promotion film.
DeleteI think maybe it's because you look hella creepy lol
ReplyDeleteWhile watching your video, I paid more attention on you guys than the background sights, and the only thing that left after watching the video was the joke at the end. I wouldn't laugh if I did not know who Dam Vinh Hung was. It's just my opinion, and I hope you don't feel offended.
ReplyDeleteNot offended at all. The video was not the best by far, but it was better than the those four that I posted in all sorts of ways. That's my problem.
DeleteHey Kyle,
ReplyDeleteIt's a contest organised by the embassy...i.e. a politcal organisation. It is not originality they prefer. It is political correctness. That is what those crappy videos have in common. So just be proud that you didn't end up in the top 11 dude.
Keep posting your amazing original "laughing my ass off vids"!!
Greetings from the guy from the Netherlands.
Oh yeah...
Deletethanks.
Sorry, I just accidently deleted a comment.
ReplyDeletewas it a long one
Deleteyes sorry. im on my phone and messed up
DeleteHope the local wins so that he/she can use the ipad to improve his/her English. Maybe they can give you the ipad for English lessons.
ReplyDeleteIn all honesty, we were just going to sell the ipad mini and split the earnings on a big feast.
Deleteur korean friend is sooo funny lol i love the ending
ReplyDeleteyour video was awesome. all of those other videos made me cringe.
ReplyDelete