The video created by Justin Brenneman isn’t the greatest thing since sliced bread. It is sliced bread, with a creative twist.
The NIU communication major from Naperville is a finalist in a video contest sponsored by the Youngstown, Ohio-based Schwebel Baking Company, more commonly known as Schwebel’s.
As part of a course last fall teaching motion animation, Brenneman was encouraged to enter a competition. He chose the “We Want Schwebel’s” video contest, creating a clever one-minute animation of a singing slice of bread to go along with the company’s jingle.
Judges selected the Top 10 entries on the basis of originality, creativity and technical quality. Each finalist is assured of winning at least $200. Now it’s up to online voters to select the top prizewinners, including one first-place winner who will take home $5,000.
Justin Brenneman
Fans can view and vote for Brenneman’s video online through Friday, Feb. 4.
“It just kind of came to me,” Brenneman says of the singing slice of bread. “I wanted to use the character for sure, but I wasn’t’ sure how.”
He says it took about 20 hours, including an all-nighter, to put the video together. He credits the class taught by Communication Professor Laura Vazquez with providing him with the needed skills.
“If it wasn’t for the animation class, I wouldn’t have been able to learn the application and even produce a video,” he says.
Vazquez says Brenneman was a top student and gives his latest project an “A.”
“I think he did an excellent job of using what he was taught and adding his own creative ideas,” she says.
“He had to use their jingle, but everything else is original. I am very proud of his work and would have been shocked if it were not selected as a finalist. Who ever heard of a singing slice of bread?”
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