4TDR TEEN DIGITAL REEL AWARDS March 12, 2000 6:00 - 8:30pm Davis Veteran's Memorial Auditorium Click here to see the Awards Ceremony! Don't miss the Crocker Art Museum's exhibition of the award winners! The show runs from April 4 through April 30 Reception for the event is Sunday, April 16 from 1:00 to 3:30pm

 

March 12, 2000

The Teen Digital Awards Showcase is produced by the Tower of Youth New Media Source (TOY/NMS), a regional membership network of young people, educators and commercial digital professionals. It invites high school age youth and their mentors to produce original, short, artistic digital "movies" that address compelling societal and planetary topics. These will be gathered, juried and exhibited March 12, 2000, at an annual Showcase event open to the public and the media at the Davis Veteran's MemorialAuditorium, 6:00 - 8:30 PM. The 2000 Fourth Annual Teen Digital Showcase event will give awards for the best produced, original, digital media creations...a combination of photographed, constructed, and animated computer derived images, developed by Sacramento valley and Sierra foothill regional high school youth. All works submitted will be judged and awards designated by a panel of distinguished artists and communication media experts from the region.

Fourth Annual Digital Showcase continues to be an entirely independent event with dramatically more creative freedom in our production guidelines for the purpose of building skills and competencies, increasing access and creativity among youth in this region!

The following are the 5 Regular Content Categories:

1. The Environment 2000 - This category addresses issues relating to the quality of the air we breath, the water we drink, energy sources we use, or how the earth can be preserved and enhanced for future generations or that which threatens or despoils our physical reality. Beyond this...Do humans own the earth? What is our role has a species? What is our obligation to the diversity and sanctity of life on the planet?

2. A PUBLIC SERVICE AD or COMMERCIAL - Productions in this category can highlight a particular social issue or advocacy idea, a business, technology, a product that is being sold, or a service being offered. This category should be used to demonstrate and "sell" what youth feel bring value to our lives similar to any formal PSA or commercial advertisement.

3. THE ART OF LIVING - A TIME OF REFLECTION - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE - As a young person, what does it mean to live in our society? What challenges do we face and what challenges must we send to each other or society at large? How do we individually cope with the pressures from the media, the business community, school, governments, our culture, family life, locally or on any worldwide scale?

4. EXPERIENCING THE WONDER OF BEAUTY - What inspires awe and art? What are the "AHAs" that we encounter? What provokes inspiration, passion, amazement, commitment in the world in which we live? How do we capture inovation, experimentation, and breakthrough imagery?

5. A SHORT STORY - A professional job portfolio for graphic/movie making artists demands being able to tell an interesting story well and originally with a beginning, middle and end. Here's your chance to do a compelling tale in digital.

The Year 2000 Special Civic Category is:

6. "IMAGINE SCHOOLING 2000" - The life and growth of youth emerges from formal, required learning in

societally created school environments. The experience of this personal transformation is often not embraced by young people especially as independent feelings, ideas, and values mature. The new millenium, Y2K, offers us an invitation to dream of an entirely better way for "schooling" to be organized and delivered. Rethinking changes due to new technology, the world situation and imagining truly ideal ways to learn is the purpose of this subject category. Ho wcan our schools show their essential contribution in advancing quality of life, motivating youth to self discovery and human excellence and building the ground of a truly democratic world? What blueprint can youth offer to reshape all education? What should future schools be like?

Digital Production Guidelines

• Each production must be co-produced by at least two named youth with or without a mentor who will constitute an entry team and be eligible for award recognition. More youth may be involved as named support to the entry team to model genuine cooperation and professional movie production realities.
• Each artistic production team may only submit one entry to the Showcase selecting one of the 5 Regular Content categories may be submitted to the Special Civic Category this year, "Imagine Schooling 2000" For explanation see "Content Categories" above.
• The final digital media productions including any assembled video and audio components must be submitted preferably on SVHS video format. We will accept CD format submissions but only if conversion through assistance by regional resources able to generate the SVHS format can not be obtained and The Tower of Youth has been notified one week prior to the deadlline, and has given express permission.
• Each completed digital "movie" must include only original graphics, images and/or animation and sound. These images may include any computer generated imagery, original digital graphics, digital produced or converted sounds or digitized video segments. The decision to include any copyright materials must be accompanied by formal permission waivers obtained by the producers from their sources. The TDR works will be broadcast on at least cable television and exhibited in venues that are non commercial and not for profit. The Annual Showcase program may be marketed, on casette, at production cost, to provide the most widespread dissemination of the event. Any infringement on copyright is the sole liability of the entry producers.
• All entries must be no shorter than 30 seconds in length and not longer than three minutes. These will be compared by the judges within the submitted content category, irrespective of length.
• In order to have a full screen projected image at the Awards Showcase, the format for the final file entries should be rendered at 720 x 486 pixel size at high quality resolution using Quicktime 2.5 or later. However, we will accept 640 x 480 pixel size and adjust the exhibition projection technology accordingly. One of the following CODECS (Compression Decompression Scheme) should be used:
  • VIDEO (Comes with Quicktime)
  • SORENSON VIDEO (Comes with QT 3)
  • AVID MEDIA COMPOSER (This will be available for download at our site)
  We are aware that not all production sites are capable of this format production. However, there are a number sites in the region where files can be brought for completion and for final rendering. We will identify these and the list will be made available on the Tower of Youth web site (see below) by early December. Information can be obtained immediately at Studio E-3 at San Juan Unified District digital video production lab from Joe Parente. The Phone # is 916/971-5156. The website address is www.sanjuan.edu/studioe3/students
• All completed entries must be submitted for judging on SVHS video casettes or CD ROM and must run independently of the application that was used to create the product. Entrants must fill out and submit a complete Entry Form attached herewith. There will be a $10 entry fee due with the Showcase Entry. Scholarship entries fees may be available upon request to Tower of Youth.
• A written "technical production log" must be subnnitted on the Entry Form, to accompany each entry, describing in detail, the software and hardware used for the process of production and explaining how the work was created and where technical applications and image handling were accomplished. A one paragraph "artist statment" must also be submited briefly expressing the idea and experience of creating the entry and its intent.
• Prizes shall consist of the 2000 Annual TOY Teen Digital Reel glass award for each of the two co-producers and for the mentor in each team for the first, second and third prize entries in each of the Regular Content Categories. A $300 cash prize will be awarded to the Grand Prize Winner which will be selected from all the entries by the judges. In addition this year, a cash prize of $100 for the First Prize, $50 Second Prize and $25 Third Prize will be awarded in the Special Civic Category, " Schooling 2000".

The knowledge and skill challenges of this new and creative digital graphic technology are very real. Most youth and teachers will be faced with a steep learning curve mastering new software, hardware, and a bag of creative approaches to "movie" making.

Throughout the production period, from mid November through ealy February, a series of Saturday Training Sessions at University of California, Davis New Media Center or at Cosumnes River College Communications Department Lab will be held, Educator only Training Sessions will be scheduled for November 13 and 20. Youth and educator sessions will be held , December 4 and 11; January 15 and 22nd; and February 5th. Directions to the training sessions can be obtained by calling UCD New Media Center 530/754-8885 or seeing the map on the Tower of Youth Website. These sessions will be open to up to 40 individuals each and be provided at no charge. Lunch will be on a no host basis.

Further dates and places will be announced on our web site to promote, monitor and support the creative and learning process and produce the Fourth Annual Teen Digital Showcase event. A group of professional digital graphics "Wizards" will be posted and available to help youth and mentors alike in preparing their works similar to the process used in the first three annual Teen Digital Awards Showcases, 1997, 1998 and 1999. We are very committed, through cooperation and collaboration, to achieve quality and excellence, to push everyone higher and higher in developing their artistry and technology.

The Tower of Youth Website

Our Web site will be continually updated to provide announcements of meetings, trainings, and logistics for the event. Hopefully we will be able to organize a "Wizard" chat room or interactive means of connecting each other on a daily basis. Stay informed about who is involved and what is happening along the way so no one gets lost!

Judging Entries and Awards

Entries will be judged on the basis of ·overall message strength, ·technical production quality, ·creativity and originality, and ·overall impression. Three recognition awards, first, second, and third place, will be given for each of the six categories, to each youth co-producer and the mentor of the production team. One Grand Prize Award will be given for best of show, and a special recogntion will be given for the Use of Digital Technology in Building Community. (See attached Rating Form). The Tower of Youth reserves the right to add additonal awards and recognitions at the time of the Showcase event.

Winners will be exhibited and announced at the March 12, 2000 Showcase event where the award and prize presentations will occur.