- I brought three of my fans to Los Angeles
to compete in the Ultimate VFX challenge.
I brought three "Magic of the Month" creators
from around the world to make their best magic video.
They'll only have 72 hours and will compete
for every single piece of equipment.
We packed so much into this video.
You won't believe how far they went
to be crowned the ultimate magic maker
For the first challenge,
I've hidden everything they need to create their videos
within this mansion.
They must search the house
and fit everything they find into these red squares.
If any gear is outside of the square, it'll be eliminated.
I've also hidden some surprises.
Huge shout out to Nomatic for helping sponsor this video.
Now, I've got a huge advantage for later in the game
inside of this bag.
We'll see if anybody finds it.
By the way, you're gonna have 60 seconds to do this,
and this is the only gear you're gonna have
for the competition.
On your mark.
Get set. Go.
And they're off.
Oh, only Brandon saw the C stands.
- It's touching the tape. He's gonna have to fix that.
- Run, for the love of cameras.
I hear a lot of screaming. Why is there screaming?
- Can I carry more than one thing at a time?
I'm gonna assume so.
- 40 seconds. Oh, they have nothing, dude.
- [Brandon] There's not enough time.
Oh my God.
- [Zach] Now, you're probably wondering
why I'm doing this video.
Over three years ago, I started this series
"Magic of the Month" where you submit your own
visual effects videos.
After our final episode, I promised
an explosive ending to this series
and the winner of this competition will get to shoot
and star in a magic video with me on my channel
that has the potential of going out
to over 100 million people.
This video is even crazier than I could have imagined.
Wow. Okay, they got a big haul.
Sofian's got the important stuff.
Nice, Sofian got the C stand.
(dramatic music)
- Oh God, I need a camera.
- Brandon didn't get a camera yet?
You have 15 seconds left.
You guys better be scrambling.
- I need an editing apparatus.
(dramatic music)
I haven't got a laptop.
- [Announcer] 10, nine,
eight, seven- - Oh, oh, your leg in,
leg in. - Get this-
- Six, five- - Got it.
- [Announcer] Four, three,
two, one- - Oh no, is everything in?
Oh no, oh no. Oh.
Okay, there's a couple things that are not in.
(tense music)
With the final tally,
Eva's C stand and sandbag were eliminated.
Sofian, you found everything.
And Brandon, you didn't grab a laptop?
While they finalized their video ideas,
I gave them each a hundred dollars to use
towards any props they need.
Looks like they're going on a little shopping spree.
- I'm trying to call FedEx.
Their phone line's in Spanish.
- [Zach] This is Brandon.
He's made some really cool trick videos over the years
and he's from the United Kingdom.
This guy, I noticed, just likes to yell.
- Run.
I need a camera.
I need an editing apparatus.
- Hey, this is Dutch.
Paper, English, and papau, I don't know.
- [Zach] Eva's another creator that's made so many videos
for "Magic of the Month."
She came all the way out from the Netherlands.
I can't wait to see what she's gonna make.
- Yeah, so this is only $20,
so I can buy four.
- This is Sofian.
I've seen him create so many "Magic the Month" videos
over the years, and I actually met him at an event
a couple years ago when I went down to Indonesia.
- [Brandon] So we've gotta work out,
how do we get image from my phone to these printers?
- [Cameraman] Which ones do you want?
- I think this one.
- [Cameraman] All right.
- We've got $36 left to spend.
- [Zach] While contestants are finishing shopping,
I'm setting up the craziest challenge yet.
Welcome to Malibu.
I'm a couple hundred feet in the air,
where contestants will have the slack line
to get their upgraded gear.
Each contestant will have 60 seconds to collect three flags.
For each flag clipped into their harness,
I'll upgrade their camera, tripod, and audio equipment.
This terrorizing challenge will push them to their limits.
- [Brandon] For the love of God!
- Whoa. - Keep going. Keep going.
Keep going. - Stay on, you're good.
(dramatic music)
- Let's start with Eva.
Are you ready? 60 seconds is on the clock.
- Oh. - Three, two, one, go.
(epic music) - Oh, shoot.
- You've got this.
The conditions are getting worse and worse now.
It's starting to rain.
Okay, she's gonna get this first upgrade here.
Uh oh, she's shaking.
All right, 30 seconds left.
She's just gotta go fast.
- [Eva] Whoa. Whoa.
- [Zach] 10 seconds left.
You've got this.
Five, four, three- - Oh, shoot.
- [Zach] Two, one, that's time.
Yeah, you faced your fears.
- I was very shaky. I'm so glad I'm back.
- [Zach] Okay Sofian, you're up next.
Three, two, one, go.
He's an absolute animal.
- Whoa. Whoa.
(epic music)
- Okay, he's got the first flag.
45 seconds left.
- Whoa. - Whoa, oh.
- Whoa, whoa.
- He keeps like going back and forth. 30 seconds, Sofian.
- I can, I can get it.
- Hurry Sofian, get it!
Get it. Get it, Sofian. - Three, two, one.
- That's time.
Way to go, Sofian. (crew cheers)
Unfortunately, he didn't get the third one.
He didn't clip it in time.
Great job on the two.
- When I go there, it's really easy because I have a goal.
So I left all my fear back.
- Alright, Brandon's up next.
I'm scared for him.
- Oh my God.
- And go.
- [Brandon] Oh my God.
(Brandon screams)
- [Zach] Why are you going so slow?
(Brandon grunts)
You have 45 seconds left.
He hasn't even gotten one of 'em yet.
- [Brandon] Come on.
There we go. Whoa.
- You have 30 seconds left.
Brandon, I'm rooting for you,
but you're wasting a lot of time.
- We've got this.
- Oh, oh, oh.
10 seconds. Get the other one.
- [Brandon] Quick.
Oh. (Brandon screams)
I'm falling. I'm falling.
- Whoa, whoa.
No, he's off, he's off.
- I think that was my problem,
that I tried to go so quickly,
but I lost balance and I ended up going all over the place.
But we got two upgrades in the bag.
- [Zach] After the slackline competition,
each contestant upgraded their camera,
with Brandon and Sofian upgrading their camera
and tripod packages.
We're heading back to the house to start filming.
- Let's get it. (contestants clapping)
- Nomatic was kind enough to sponsor this video,
so we hooked you up with some bags.
You guys can pack your gear and go start shooting.
- Yeah, let's do it.
- [Zach] While the contestants are packing
their brand new backpacks,
let me tell you a little bit more about Nomatic.
So they hooked up the contestants with these awesome bags,
but I actually asked Nomatic if I could give some bags away
to you, and they actually said yes.
So I'm giving away 10 backpacks to you guys,
and just so you know, I've used the same Nomatic backpack
for the last couple years on all my productions
and personal trips, and that thing is still going strong.
So if you want a chance to win one of these,
sign up at the link below.
I'm giving away 10 of 'em.
In the meantime, let's see if they've started
filming their projects.
Each contestant has picked an idea and is off to shooting.
Contestants only have four hours to shoot their videos.
- Today, I'm a chef.
- [Zach] Sofian's mirror trick is super difficult
to pull off.
He's 3D tracking apples, cutting through mirrors,
and he's got a lot of work ahead of him.
- Yes.
- So this isn't my bedroom.
It's all in the name of art.
- I ask for forgiveness later. - Exactly.
I didn't win a microphone yesterday.
So I'm gonna be using the camera for our wide
and then stick the iPhone a bit closer
and use the microphone from that to pick up myself.
Okay, now I'm gonna attempt to make a cardboard version
of myself.
- It's raining, so I need to improvise.
I can't, like my phone is all wet.
- [Zach] Eva used her prop money to hire an actor,
but the weather's crazy outside so she can't start filming
until the rain stops.
Are you nervous you haven't shot anything yet?
- I think it will be fine.
We've got two and a half hours.
- Yeah.
Without a tripod, Eva had to get creative
with getting the best shot.
Welcome to "Master Chef."
Put the frosting on. Let's go.
Sofian's secrets are revealed now.
He uses frosting tracker marks. That's genius.
(funky music) - Oh yes.
(tape ripping)
Now, that's boarding.
Put this in here.
High five.
- He's going psycho here.
Looks like the weather's cleared up,
so Eva heads out to start filming.
I like your tripod.
Can't win a tripod, build one.
Eva not only had to wait for the rain,
but now she has to wait for people to not walk in her shot.
With this trick, everything has to be perfect.
Every time he films, he has to check the footage
and then go back to filming again.
He's starting to run out of time.
(clock ticking)
- Okay, I'm now so behind and nothing is going how I want.
Ah, what was my next line?
There are still so many shots I need to film.
I don't know if I'm gonna be able to get 'em all in.
- 10 minutes remaining.
Are you stressed?
- A little.
- [Zach] Oh, this is gonna be close.
- Six minutes to get back.
- So we've only got two minutes left,
and we haven't started any of the closeups.
We're gonna quickly rush through all the tight shots,
so we've got something to add into the edit.
- [Zach] Five, four- - Set up.
- [Zach] Three, two,
one, everyone that is a wrap on your sets.
It is two o'clock.
Brandon, that is a wrap. Hands off the cameras.
- No.
- All right, so we're moving to post-production now,
but before we do that,
we're actually gonna go do another challenge
out on the beach.
If contestants wanna speed up their editing
and earn a fully loaded MacBook Pro,
then they're gonna have to face their fears.
Oh, this is gonna be rough.
Each contestant must withstand three minutes
of bugs and snakes.
If they complete the challenge,
they'll earn a supercharged MacBook Pro.
First up, we have Brandon.
- Snakes I'm okay with. It's the critters I can't do.
Come on laptop. - Three, two, one.
Go, time's begun.
- Oh.
- Okay. - Oh God.
(crew cheers) (Brandon shrieks)
- [Juliana] How is that?
- It's horrible.
- I wanna barf.
- Oh, it's the worst thing I've ever done ever.
- [Juliana] How does it smell?
- Oh, horrific.
- Brandon, you need that laptop.
- Oh my God.
- 30 seconds.
- No, no!
(Brandon shrieks)
- [Crew] Five, four,
three, two,
one, time.
- Okay, so, so. - All right.
- Oh God. God!
I don't even know if it was worth it for the laptop.
Tonight, I'll definitely be grateful.
That was the worst thing I've ever done.
- Next up we have Eva.
On your mark. Get set. Go.
(Eva shrieks)
- Oh.
- [Juliana] Just taking it in.
Killing it. You're killing it.
- I know. I need to focus.
- Okay, we're halfway there.
- [Juliana] Here we go.
- 30 more seconds.
It's going in the ear. Look at the ear.
- [Crew] Five, four,
three, two,
one.
- You were good. You want to take your head out?
- No, she wants to keep it in there.
(crowd cheers) (Eva shrieks)
Also, if you're wondering who this woman is
giving evil laughs in the background,
this is Juliana, our animal wrangler from the Reptile Zoo.
So don't try this at home.
Okay, you got this Sofian.
- I come from Malaysia.
I need to show that Malaysian people are strong.
Let's do this.
(crowd cheers)
What is the smell?
- Timer is beginning in three, two, one, go.
Time's begun.
(dramatic music)
Every time it doesn't get easier. Oh.
They're on his glasses.
He should've taken off the glasses.
- The smell is really bad.
- Sofian, you're halfway. You're halfway.
- The last one.
(Sofian groans)
- [Zach] You're so close. You're so close.
- [Juliana] You got it, you got it, you got it.
- Oh, oh, oh gosh.
Oh gosh.
- [Crew] Five, four,
three, two, one.
(crowd cheers)
- Get his glasses. Get his glasses.
Oh my God.
- I hope Malaysians are proud.
- Was it worth it?
- No.
- [Zach] Since they all lasted three minutes,
they'll be receiving a supercharged MacBook Pro.
Competitors edited throughout the night
and now only have three hours left in editing.
So they might be a little bit tired.
- The secret to becoming a better VFX artist
is actually just to do sound work.
Here's a match cut.
It's a set up. No.
See? It looks horrible.
It's boring. But we add some sound design in.
It's a set up. No.
Whoa.
So I'm gonna go round and just record
like a bunch of crazy sounds that I can throw in the edit.
FBI, open up.
Hands where I can see 'em.
(shoes slapping)
(fabric rustling)
- What is that?
(Brandon tapping)
- [Brandon] Hello.
- You guys good in here?
- Yeah, we weren't doing anything, were we Nate? No.
- All right, cool.
With three hours remaining,
I have one last trick up my sleeve.
So I hid a clue in their Nomatic bag
leading them to a riddle, and if they solve it,
they get a disadvantage to use against someone else.
I hid two keys in this mansion.
The first key is in the masterpiece
and the second key is in the most important meal of the day.
- [Brandon] God.
- Key is in the masterpiece.
- Hello guests.
The most important meal of the day will surprise you.
Oh my God.
- Can I check out your pocket?
- Sure.
What are you doing?
Why is he touching me?
- It says, "Surprise in every box."
- I'll tell you right now, it's not in me.
- Okay, sure.
- Okay.
- All right, I'm sorry.
- Nope.
- [Crew] It's got to be somewhere.
- Nope.
Oh, key.
What do we do with said key?
- [Crew] It's got to be somewhere.
- [Sofian] We need to open the box.
- Can we take it out of there?
(tense music)
- [Zach] Whoa, before we show you what's in the box,
see editing can be one of the most important aspects
of a great video.
It requires extreme focus, quick thinking,
and zero distractions.
These boxes, well, they actually do the opposite.
- I don't like where this is going.
- [Zach] Brandon chose Sofian to wear handcuffs
for the next 30 minutes while he edits.
- First time?
- [Sofian] Yeah.
- [Zach] Wasn't happy about this punishment.
So he returned the favor by giving him something
that was a little more distracting.
The way everyone's sprinting out the room.
(trumpets blaring)
(band shouting)
The only thing I need to do is the sound.
And I can't hear anything.
(Nate screaming)
- It's so loud.
(trumpets blaring)
- Bathroom break?
Yeah, just you stay now.
(trumpets blaring) (band shouting)
What is going on?
(crew cheers)
Goodbye.
- [Zach] The 30 minutes is up,
so Sofian and Brandon can go back to editing.
- Now that that's out of the way,
there's literally one hour remaining.
- Contestants need to put their final videos
inside this box or else they will be eliminated.
Contestants, you have 10 minutes remaining.
Everyone is exporting their videos except Sofian.
He's still editing.
Five minutes left.
I'm getting stressed for them.
- Export is done.
(dramatic music)
- Made it.
- [Zach] There is two minutes left.
- Okay, 10 seconds.
Eject, eject, eject. Go, go, go, go.
(intense music)
That was almost gonna be it.
- [Zach] 10 seconds, Sofian.
- Yes.
- You made it.
I thought for a second you weren't gonna get it.
Congratulations on getting your guys' videos finished
and in the boxes.
I'll see you guys up at the premiere.
(contestants applaud)
To help me judge these videos,
I've brought in some celebrity guests.
I've got Ren from Corridor Digital,
Adam Savage, and Happy Kelli.
First up, we have Brandon.
- Hey, I'm Brandon B and this is my Google
auto complete interview.
Is Brandon a super fan of Zach King?
Yeah, Zach is my inspiration,
favorite creator out there.
Is Brandon stealing from Zach King?
I dunno what you're talking about.
I've never stolen any of Zach's ideas.
So did a Brandon commit identity fraud
stealing Zach King's personal details to make a purchase
on the 12th of April of over $50,000?
It's a set up. No.
- [Agent] We have you surrounded.
(sirens blaring)
(audience applauds)
- At first, I was about to make fun of you
for pandering to this guy over here.
But then I saw that that was the point
and I fell in love with it.
The visual effects.
Snappy, classic Zach King style, and I liked 'em.
It was well done.
- Thank you. Thanks. (audience applauds)
- A lot of people think that jump cuts
are the easiest tricks to do,
but the fact that you've shot that alone,
like I never do my jump cuts alone anymore.
It's impossible to make 'em look good.
So props to you.
(audience applauds)
Next up, we have Eva.
(warped sound effect)
(Eva knocking)
(stone crumbles)
- Hey Siri.
Video call Ryan.
- Hey Eva.
- Hey Ryan, great timing.
- Hey, where are you?
- I'm right behind you.
- What? Wow, you're here.
- Hey, how's it going?
- Good.
- Let's head out.
- Let's do it.
(audience applauds)
- I love the ambition.
The idea of someone from inside a phone
moving the icons felt like a totally natural extension
that had never occurred to me.
And I love you coming out at the end of the FaceTime.
That's a great idea. - Thank you.
- Eva, I'm a big sucker for any kind of UI tricks,
and I love that it solves a storytelling problem.
Like if you got stuck in a phone, how do you get out?
And then you FaceTime a friend and then use their frame.
So it's just really creative all around, so good job.
- Thanks, Zach. (audience applauds)
- [Zach] Finally, we have Sofian.
- We all knew that mirror can cause a reflection.
(knife taps)
But sometimes, mirrors give me more than reflection.
(knife taps)
It gives me cake.
So delicious.
(audience cheers)
- I loved that video so much.
Unlike these guys, I didn't know
where you were going with it.
But I was like on the edge of my seat
waiting for what was gonna happen next,
and the cake thing blew my mind.
I don't know how you did that.
Did you bake a cake?
- No.
- [Kelli] Okay, okay.
- I'm so impressed, Sofian.
I love your storytelling and your visual effects,
and that combined is like a huge superpower.
So I'm just excited for you to keep creating in the future.
- Thank you. (audience cheers)
- [Zach] Now it's time for the judges to cast
their final votes.
And the winner of the Ultimate Magic Maker's competition is
Sofian. (audience cheers)
- I'm really grateful.
My feet is shaking right now.
Thank you so much.
- Congratulations to our winner, Sofian.
Thanks to the celebrity judges.
Again, thanks to Nomatic for sponsoring.
And if you enjoy it, like and subscribe.
(crowd cheers)