People have a LOT of times on their hands. One of the things they apparently use it for is to take existing movies and cut trailers for them in a different genre. A horror becomes a comedy or a comedy becomes a horror.

One of the classic examples of this, and I believe the first, is the above trailer for the family comedy Shining, starring Jack Nicholson. Clearly, this is not what Kubrick intended when he made The Shining. This what you get with the YouTube generation. And I think it’s hilarious.

Enjoy the clip above and find me more! Everyone that posts a Trailer Mash-up gets a Gold Sqweegel. Only one link per person please.

Let me know what you think.

Zuiker

Above is the trailer for the Oscar winning short film The New Tenants.  If you'd like to see the full version of this or any of the nominated films, they're available for purchase at the iTunes store. I think it looks intriguing to say the least. Seems right up my alley, though I haven’t seen it yet.

Take a look and let me know what you think. Did any of you guys out there know about the nominees? Any of you check out the films before or after the Oscars? Post your comments below.

Zuike

Well…that took about three days. As some of you know, last Friday we uploaded all of the cyber-bridges to YouTube. It’s now been six months since the books launched and we thought making them available would be a great marketing tool. Perhaps potential readers would stumble upon them, become intrigued and buy the book. One of the other reasons we did it was because we were interested in feedback from a community that wasn’t on Level26.com.

So, what did we learn?

Well, the first thing we learned was that YouTube users apparently find footage of a woman in lingerie inappropriate. I don’t get it. This book sells at major retailers. While I understand the book is a little dark and hardcore, I’d say it’s telling that Cyber-bridge 1 was flagged not for violence but for “nudity.” What nudity?

Personally, I think there are far worse things in movies and on television today but the YouTube community has spoken. I think when you have a website with fictional content, that is clearly NOT filled with graphic violence or nudity, that gets flagged and removed feels excessive. But we’re learning. We’re seeing people’s response to things that they feel is inappropriate and we, as content creators, will respond by either going harder or pulling back.

I would post Cyber-bridge 1 here but, obviously, YouTube took it down. So, check out Cyber-bridge 1 with the code word “snuff.” Even if you’ve seen it before, I want to know your thoughts on whether you think it’s inappropriate and why.

Zuiker

Many of you are familiar with Ok Go’s penchant for unique, entertaining, choreographed videos. From the backyard dance in “A Million Ways” to the treadmill sequence from “Here It Goes Again” their videos have been viewed over 60 million times.

Well, their new video has debuted and for fans of their quirky approach to the format, it does not disappoint. Check it out above.

If you want to know more, check out the Wired.com article on the making of. There are also behind the scenes videos somewhere on YouTube. Find them and post them in the comments section below. First four people to post them get Gold Sqweegels. Only one video post per person.

Zuiker

A big reminder to all our Deputies that today, at 11:59 PM EST, is the deadline to submit your entry for the Final Deputy 26 contest.

When you've completed your story, post the cards and paragraph in a blog on your profile and flag it as "cool".  We want to make sure that everyone's submission is counted, so if you're having trouble posting, please let Site Admin Jason know.

I will personally be reading all the entries over the next couple weeks and we’ll have a winner for you soon.

What’s at stake? A trip for the winning deputy and a +1 of their choosing to Los Angeles during production of the cyber-bridges for Dark Prophecy, Book 2 in the Level 26 series. We will provide coach flights from one airport (thus, if your plus one is flying from another place, they’ll have to pay the difference), a hotel room and make every effort to visually put you in the cyber-bridges.

We’ve had our ups and downs during the Deputy 26 process but overall I couldn’t have been more pleased. I’ve watched this site grow from a handful of members to over 61,000 users on the site. The book is available all over the world in several different languages and we are eagerly beginning prep for Dark Prophecy’s release this fall.

Even though the teams will be dissolved that doesn’t mean that you, the Deputies, aren’t still an important part of the site and the building of this community. I still want you guys to be vocal, to get the word out, to help those having trouble on the site. This is YOUR community. You are the early adopters. You are the ones who will help us get to 100,000 members, to get to books four, five and six, to cement the Digi-novel into the hearts and minds of not only the United States but the world!

Our mandate, from here until October 14th and beyond, is to sell as many books as possible. We want to be a New York Times Bestseller. But we don’t want to just be #18, right? We want to be #1! We need to sell 15,000 copies, so let’s spread the word: Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, whatever you can do.

Thanks for everything, Deputies. Can’t wait to see what you’ve got for me.

Zuiker

Level 26ers,

We have a big announcement today. Huge! Mind-blowing! Book 2 of the Level 26 series is now available for pre-order at Amazon.com.

Currently titled Dark Prophecy: A Level 26 Thriller Featuring Steve Dark the book will be released on October 14, 2010. We’re telling you this now because we have a mission for you, the community. As you know, Dark Origins was a bestseller and you guys played a big part of that. We sold nearly 4,000 books through this site alone!

Now, to become a New York Times #1 bestseller we need to sell 15,000 books during the first week. Pre-orders count towards that so long as the books are shipped during the first week of release. This is where you come in. One of the ways you, our loyal community, can help us is to pre-order your copy of Dark Prophecy today and start spreading the word. This is our mission!

The important thing is that you pre-order the book and NOT wait until it’s released because the first 500 people that pre-order the book and send us an email to prove it, will receive a special gift.  To ensure you're one of the first five hundred, pleasure forward your order confirmations/proof of purchase to insidelevel26@gmail.com. We'll have more on the special gift at a later date.

Go forth and tell everyone you know!

Zuiker

Level 26ers,

We have exciting news for you. Yesterday, Level 26: Dark Origins was nominated for Best Experimental Web Series for the 2010 Streamy Awards! This is a great honor for us. Thanks to all of you who helped spread the word and have supported us a long the way. We couldn’t be happier to be a 2010 Streamy Nominee!

About the Streamy Awards:

The Streamy Awards is the first and most prestigious awards ceremony devoted to honoring excellence in original web television programming and those who create it. The annual ceremony, and it’s live online broadcast, brings together top talent, decision-makers and influencers shaping the online entertainment industry. Awards are presented for the past years’ finest achievements in a variety of categories spanning multiple disciplines, including Performance, Directing, Writing, Editing, Visual Effects, Sound and more.

Currently in it’s second year, the Streamy Awards began as a grassroots effort spearheaded by visionaries in online entertainment and continues to support the spirit of independence that drives the digital entertainment industry forward. The show is co-hosted by Tubefilter News and NewTeeVee, and is produced by Tubefilter, Inc.

The Streamys consideration process begins with a public submissions period and winners are selected by members of the International Academy of Web Television, an independent, non-profit organization representing a cross-section of online entertainment professionals, including actors, agents, composers, content creators, directors, journalists, producers, technology innovators and writers.

Check out the nominees list and more at: http://www.streamys.org/

Zuiker