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Panasonic Viera PZ81: Students get creative

Crave has been getting all judgemental on the kids, on a panel of experts compiling a shortlist of student films and print ads that hope to be the new face of Panasonic's PZ81 HDTV

Richard Trenholm Former Movie and TV Senior Editor
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
Expertise Films, TV, Movies, Television, Technology
Richard Trenholm
2 min read

Crave never passes up the opportunity to shape young minds (ahem), so we were excited to get involved with Panasonic's competition to find the next generation of creative talent. Along with Young Creatives Network, Panasonic challenged students to create a film, storyboard or print ad for the new Viera PZ81 high-definition television.

The competition is a fully 2.0 affair: Crave arranged its involvement through Twitter, with CNET UK being invited to join a crack team of bloggers, social media mavens and cool-hunters in judging the user-generated content.

Click through our gallery to see the entries, but don't forget to head over to the competition Web site for glorious high-resolution versions, as well as complete videos. You can also see the clever things wot the judges said with their mouths about each entry, and finally vote on your favourite. What's in it for you? Only the chance to win a Panasonic SDR-S7 camcorder, that's all. But hurry: voting closes at midnight tomorrow.

The winner walks away with a 42-inch plasma telly, an HD camcorder, a Lumix camera and a surround sound Blu-ray home cinema system, all worth over £2,500. So vote carefully: the winner is about to become the most popular person on campus, but can probably kiss goodbye to the rest of their degree. At least they also get work experience at one of Panasonic's creative agencies, a tonne of Panny kit for their college, and of course their ad gets made.

We kick off with Matt Frodsham, who envisages a family of high-definition products. The panel liked the striking imagery and cool typeface. Would it make you want to buy the first HDTV with a built-in freesat HD tuner? It certainly made us want to see more of HD the Dog. "What's that, HD? There's someone stuck down the old mine?!"

David Gilbert depicts the television grabbing our attention. A smart use of colour without evoking Sony's Bravia campaign.

A crop from Gareth Edwards' storyboard, placing the significant collective moments of our time with our own special memories.

A screen grab from James Fox's clever ad. Head to the competition Web site for the full video.

Marianne J Bjerkem's strong concept turns the roots of technology into the flowers of user experience. Aww.

A screen grab from Charlotte King's stop-motion ad. Head to the competition Web site for the full video, complete with well thought-out music choice.