E Stings

It is my opinion that the people running E4 (the TV channel) are geniuses. They have the most original and exciting stings out of all the hundreds of TV channels that now flood our screens, and they didn't even have to empty out their wallets to get them. Instead of paying 'professionals' to come up with a series of stings, often with terrible end results (à la BBC2), E4 run an annual E-Stings competition, inviting their audience to create their own ten second sting and upload it to the E4 website. Of all the entries, the best 15 are chosen by a panel of judges, and are then broadcast on E4 on a regular basis (plus the overall winner gets a £5,000 commission). It works brilliantly, as no-one knows their audience better than the audience themselves, and the end result is that E4 end up with are set of stings that are all original and creative, and with a tone of voice which is spot on for their channel and brand.

I entered the competition myself this year, creating a stop-motion animated sting which I made in two days, using purple and white card and a selection of miniature people. This is my sting: (feedback appreciated!)


E-Trap - my entry to the E Stings competition 2009


The competition deadline is now closed, and E4 have had around 800 entrants in total this year, a selection of which can be viewed on the E Stings website. Some of the entries are very amateur, as is to be expected, but a number of them are very impressive indeed. I've picked out some of the best ones I've seen so far:


Monster VS Robot by johnny j



E4 Loco Land by AdamKellyMedia



Sheeps by nogunarmy



Mugs of Tea by us (design studio)



Invasion! by oliversin

1 comments:

KYe said...

It actually took me months to figure what E4 were trying to advertise whenver i saw this advert. I literally thought 'estings' was a word (pronounced "est-ings") and thought that i was just being stupid not knowing what it meant.

Eventually i found out that it was actually pronounced "e-stings" and thought that it was actually a really good idea as well.

I liked your e sting matt, love how the logo builds itself out of the card - very cool.
I also thought the video where the grandma is filling up all the mugs suited E4 really well - it seems like something they would have on the channel.

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