We just purchased the Transworld Snowboarding Team Shoot Out video from the iTunes store. And while the Rome Team’s winning segment is well-worth the $4.99 in and of itself, we did get the feeling that we were paying money to watch 35 minutes of advertising. And in reality we were.

Borrowed from a similar sort of team competition that Transworld Skateboarding did previously in their print magazine, the Transworld Snowboarding Team Shoot Out video is really a promo video in four parts featuring teams from DC, Burton, Forum, and Rome. And yeah, it was kind of weird that of all the companies in the snowboard world this video would be 50 percent Burton, but we’re guessing that these were the only companies who bought into the concept of Transworld’s editorial/video package.

Each team, armed with a Transworld Snowboarding photographer, was allowed to do whatever they wanted to set up the best possible photo/video shoot. All the teams had to complete their builds and shoot in the same two week period each at a different resort. The teams then were to submit a five minute video and 10 images for the judges to rate. The five minutes videos were then compiled and released as the Team Shoot Out, while the still photos were used as editorial in Transworld’s print magazine.
In the film the videos were ordered from worst to best with Rome deservedly getting the ender and Burton and Forum taking up the middle. All three of teams used night shoots to crank up the drama, and all came away with crispy smooth video and some strikingly boss still images.

Apparently, no one was behind the wheel on the DC Snowboards entry because, aside from an amazingly cool multi-step up/down circus set-up complete with a pole jam and a Northstar-At-Tahoe gonola popsicle, their video was pretty rough. And not in a good way. Either they didn’t understand the point of the contest or the DC creative team was on vacation. Either way DC was completely and entirely outclassed by the rest of the teams from a creative execution standpoint, and we’re guessing that’s why their entry kicked off the video.

While we wished there could have been just a little footage of the judging panel discussing the photos and videos, at 35 minutes, the video never lagged. Sitting in a hot room with the sweltering summer sun streaming in our window we’d watch anything icy cold. The Transworld Snowboarding Team Shoot Out brought the temperature down a few degrees, especially when Burton’s Evan Rose stumbled face-first into a frigid cold reflection pond at the end of the Burton segment. With staying cool at a premium, $4.99 is a bargain.

Think we’re going to go watch that Rome part again. . .

[Link: Apple iTunes Store]