I entered my band in this contest and created some animated 3D visuals because I (accurately) guessed that any other competition would consist of guys strumming acoustic guitars on the couch. I was right:) My idea was to create a 3+ minute commercial for Homer's book. It worked, we won. I believe the video was the biggest selling point. I'm no CG genius, but love to learn. I use Bryce and free models I find online. The guitar was a free model. I made the Shuttle Tank, Boosters, Moon, and other structures from primitives and stock and custom meshes. The live video is from the book's official trailer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwyuAL_-TW8