2009 Video Contest - Win a pistol!

Just for fun, we decided to hold a video contest. It was actually Wendy's idea.

These days, everyone either has a digital camera or has a friend with one, and everyone that is crafty enough to operate a digital camera is crafty enough to upload a video to www.youtube.com

Here's how the contest works. From now until September 30th, just upload your favorite video of you or a friend shooting or otherwise showing off one of our muzzleloaders to youtube. Once it is there, send us the URL for the video. We will embed the video on this page of our website in the order they were received in. The video MUST feature one of our muzzleloaders to qualify for entry.

At the end of September, we will add buttons for viewers to click on to vote for your video. On December 31st, we will tally up the votes and the entrant with the most votes will win one of our pistols of their chosing (with the exception of the double barreled pistols).

Ham it up with a little made-up battle scenario, be serious and show folks how to shoot, be educational by giving a little talk on your historical persona or just show off your best shooting by hitting plastic bottles full of water at 50 yards...but above all HAVE FUN!

Submit your entries to: contest@middlesexvillagetrading.com
Please put "video entry" in the subject line.

If you are working on a video, let's get moving! Time for submissions is running out! The entry period ends at midnite on September 30th!!!

As an example of how the videos will look, here is a video of Soheil up in Canada firing and loading one of our double barreled flintlock pistols.

Here's our first entry, it is the crew of The Black Rose II doing a flintlock and cannon firing demonstration at the New Hampshire Renaissance Faire. First they fire a feu de joie, then a volley of blunderbusses fired from the hip. The rest of the video is a demo of loading and firing a halfscale naval gun.

Here is Captain Crusty DeVille's entry. There is black powder, white smoke, a sandy beach...and a ninja!?!?!

Here's Justin with a Georgia Whitetail that he got...with a matchlock musket. Traditional muzzelloaders are not just for shooting blanks, they are just as effective for putting meat on the table now as they were 400 years ago!

Here's a video of a 4th of July memorial feu de joie sent in by Chris. His pirate crew is shown here firing a salute to a member of their crew, Imp, who had died the day before.

Here's John C's entry. In their theatre production of Treasure Island, a pirate uses a 1756 English Sea Service pistol in the attack on the stockade.

Pirates? Did someone say pirates? See how many classic films you can spot in this drama about one pirate's busy day at the tavern. This video was submitted by Kenny M. aka Capt. Crimson Corsair of the Skullduggery Crew.

Here's Greg H's entry firing a Long Land. The noise and flash of the musket startle the camera operator to the point that she almost drops the camera!

Here is Colin G's entry for Valhalla's Pirates. "Got pirates?"

This is Sam N's video entry, an expose' on the effectiveness of various pistol and blunderbuss loads against the zombie apocolypse.

This is Amy McN's entry, a video of the Rhode Island Pirate Players giving a blunderbuss demo outside of the Mohr Library in Johnston, RI.

Pete's note: I added this link to part 2 of this demo, together it counts as one entry:

This one is from JD. It is a drama about the "Pirates Rule of Acquisition". It is a good cautionary tale showing us that crime doesn't pay.

Here is Wrestling Mark's video of the 2008 Wickford Harbor Fest fundraiser. In the video are the Rhode Island Pirate Players and the Free Men of the Sea.

You may have seen this one on TV. It is Brian B's submission which is actually a commercial for Las Vegas tourism. Watch and learn about the history of Chinchilli Day, which commemorates the time in history when Les Trois Chinchillas saved a small French village from a band of rogues. You observe the holiday by partying in Vegas...

This is Capt. Charles W. Black's entry of Valhalla's Pirates in a skirmish for control of a bridge in Huddy Park at the wooden boat festival in Toms River, NJ. The festival is hosted by the Toms River Seaport Society & Maritime Museum.