Only in America

A unique online advertising contest gives videographers a political voice.

To view "Polygraph" and other ads submitted to the Bush in 30 Seconds contest sponsored by MoveOn, click here for a link.

A few minutes before midnight on Friday, Dec. 5, Adam Feinstein sat in front of his computer uploading his first political commercial. All over the United States, a similar scene played out as hundreds of people flooded MoveOn's website with homemade ads in the hours and minutes before the deadline of the group's Bush in 30 Seconds contest.

An Internet advocacy group of more than 1.7 million online political activists, MoveOn created the contest to bring new talent and new messages to mainstream political advertising while advancing the group's stated agenda of challenging President Bush's policies and administration.

“What we see year after year in politics is the same old approaches practiced by a small cadre of mostly Washington-based political consultants, and each year the enthusiasm for politics become dimmer and dimmer,” says Eli Pariser, campaigns director for MoveOn. “We want to reverse that trend by bringing ordinary people and new faces into the political discussion.”

By midnight on Dec. 5, 1,512 people had uploaded more than 1,000 30-second commercials on the group's website. While a handful of the ads were created by people with no video experience, the majority of the ads were created by professionals with some involvement in the video or film industries.

Feinstein is one of the pros. A New York-based freelance director and cinematographer, he shot and edited a high-def documentary entitled Say You Love Me that aired on Showtime in December. The 17-minute short, which he shot with a Sony HDW-F900 24p camera and finished in Apple Final Cut Pro, documents the weeks leading up to the marriage of an HIV-positive woman and an HIV-negative man.

Feinstein, who does not consider himself a seasoned political activist, first became active in politics in February 2003 when he joined a group of protesters in New York City in opposition of the Bush administration's plan to invade Iraq. “That was a real eye-opening moment for me because people were protesting all over the world and the president shrugged it off with three little words: ‘I respectfully disagree.’ That really stirred something in me. After that, I knew if I was going to take part I would have to find new and creative ways to do it.”

Feinstein's friend Rich Garella, a political consultant and writer, persuaded him to enter the contest. Two weeks prior to the deadline, the duo decided on a concept and began production on “Polygraph,” which they funded with $1,000 donated mostly from friends and family.

To create the 30-second spot, Feinstein and Garella downloaded audio clips of President Bush's 2003 State of the Union address from the White House website. The statements pertain to Saddam Hussein's alleged possession of chemical and nuclear weapons and alleged links to al Qaeda. In the final spot, the camera focuses tightly on a polygraph machine as it interprets the remarks — the implication being that the president lied to the American people.

Although Feinstein shot his last project in high-def, he shot “Polygraph” on Super 16 with an Aaton XTR Plus borrowed from a friend. He then transferred the 16mm film footage to DVCAM and onlined the spot in FCP with a little graphic work in Adobe After Effects. To comply with contest rules, Feinstein compressed his DVCAM footage via Discreet's Cleaner to get the file size to less than 4MB.

During the last two weeks of December, more than 2.9 million online votes were submitted rating the 1,000-plus ads in the contest. The 15 highest-rated ads were honored in January at a New York City gala. “Polygraph” was among the ads honored, but only one ad was chosen for broadcast — a spot called “Child's Pay,” created by Denver ad executive Charlie Fisher, that features young children working service and manufacturing jobs. However, in February MoveOn decided to put “Polygraph” on the air.

As a result of their “Polygraph” experience, Feinstein and Garella formed a company, Fire Ant Creative, and are pitching political ad concepts to various organizations. “I would give a pound of flesh to affect the outcome of the election,” Feinstein says.