Webmakers/Projects/Popcorn-DIY

How to Hack a Commercial

Add your own voice to an old commercial by adding popups and commentary. You can change meanings, extend messages, and otherwise recontextualize the video.

Step 1: Find a commercial you would like to comment on at http://archive.org/details/prelinger_commercials Browse by collection or title. Once you've found a commercial to work with, choose a file type (we recommend the ogg file format) and click to open the commercial in your browser.

Step 2: Open mozillapopcorn.org:8888 in your browser

Step 3: Click "Get Started" and choose the Popup template

Step 4: There's a gray box in the upper lefthand corner of the video. Roll over this box and change the URL to the URL of the commercial you'll be commenting on.

Step 5: Drag a popup event to the place in the Timeline where you want the popup to appear.

Step 6: Double Click on the event to adjust the text, position, and sticker for that popup event.

Step 7: Keep adding popup events to the timeline.

Step 8: When you're ready, click the "share" button and copy and paste your link to save it somewhere. Then, click the export button and save your code.

File:Popcorn save buttons

Step 9: Share with the world. Share your video link widely.

Step 10: Iterate your project based on feedback you receive.