TOY Seventh Annual Teen Digital Reel Showcase
The Seventh Annual Teen Digital Reel Showcase (7TDR) is an entirely independent,
teen produced, regional event organized to actively support and encourage creative
freedom and skill building challenges in the production of up to 3 minute long
computer-made movies. Its objectives are to build new computer tool mastery,
artistic expression, and increasing digital media access among youth in our
region! We invite high school age youth and their mentors to produce original,
short, artistic, digital “movies” that address compelling societal
and planetary topics. These entries must be submitted by February 21, juried
March 8 , and exhibited April 19 , 2003, at our annual celebrity Showcase event
open to the public at the new Family Life Center venue off
Pocket Road in South Sacramento. The event will give awards for the best produced,
original, digital media creations...a combination of digitally photographed,
and constructed, and or 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 professional artists
and communication media experts from the region.
Who is eligible?
Only youth enrolled as students in the 6 county region’s high schools (Sacramento, Yolo, El Dorado, Placer, Nevada, San Joaquin) are eligible to participate. Youth may enter and produce work from either a school or a bonafide community organization source, but not both. (e.g. sponsorship may come from any public or private school, youth organization, community agency, or business sponsorship)
Content Categories for Showcase Award Competition
The following 6 categories are the designated entry themes and should be used to focus your movie’s message. Each entry must select only one appropriate “Regular” Category from the 5 options, and/ or the Special Category, in relation to which your submitted work will be judged.
The following are the 5 Regular Award Content Categories:
1. PERSPECTIVES ON THE ENVIRONMENT - This category must address issues or viewpoints relating to the quality of the air we breathe, 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 as a species to guard and preserve our environment? What is our obligation to the diversity and sanctity of life on our planet?
2. A PUBLIC SERVICE AD or COMMERCIAL - Productions in this category must highlight a particular social issue or advocacy idea, a business, technology, a product to be “marketed”, or a service being offered, real or imagined. 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 or FUTURE: The content of this category must address an idea from a youth point of view... what does it mean to live with integrity and caring in our society? How do we deal with those things that place youth at risk in this world? What great or awful challenges do we face as human beings and what ideals must youth uphold to each other or to adult society to bring out the best in people? How do youth individually cope with the pressures to conform or compromise to less than our dreams due to influence from the media, the business community, school, governments, our culture, family life, locally or on a 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 innovation, 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, • a middle and • an end. Here’s your chance to do a compelling short tale in digital.
The 2003 SPECIAL CATEGORY is:
6. A DOCUMENTARY - Capturing a non-fictional reality, expos,
or a situation that has great value or importance in our understanding about
life, human relationships, our society, history, truth, and dramatic knowledge
about the “what, how, and why” of our experience is the heart of
all documentaries. The art of selecting and communicating important aspects
of the human experience is a vital skill for all movie makers, citizen activists,
and story tellers.
Digital Production Guidelines
• TWO MEMBER ENTRY TEAM REQUIRED: Each production must be co-produced by two named youth partners, with or without an adult mentor. This constitutes the artistic production “Entry Team” and is eligible for award recognition. More youth involved in the production may be named as supporting the entry team and be shown in the entry credits, to model genuine cooperation and professional production realities.
• ONE “REGULAR” CATEGORY ENTRY ONLY PER TEAM: Each artistic production team (two or more individuals) may only submit one entry in one of the 5 Regular Content categories. There is one exception to this entry limit rule with regard to the “2003 Special Category”. Producers are asked to carefully select which category they enter and make sure that their work accurately speaks to the form and content of the category they choose to enter. The Judges reserve the right to relocate any entry if it “places” better in a category other than the one originally entered. Any lead youth co-producer can only enter and win 1 Regular Category Award and/ or a Special Category award! If a co producer enters more than one entry, the Judges will disqualify the duplicate entry. It is our policy to spread the available awards to as many different entrants as possible.
• SPECIAL CATEGORY AS A FIRST OR A SECOND ENTRY: A single and or second entry may be submitted for the Special Civic Category by any Entry Team, A given producer may only enter and receive an award in one regular category and /or in the Special Category.
• ALL ORIGINAL EVERYTHING: Each completed digital “movie” must include only original produced graphics, images and/or animation, music, 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 cable access television, at least, and exhibited in venues that are non commercial and not for profit. The Tower of Youth reserves the right to market the Annual Showcase program, on cassette, at production cost, to provide the most widespread dissemination of the event. Any infringement on copyright is the sole liability of the entry producers.
• SVHS OR MINI DV ENTRY FORMAT AND COMPLETE ENTRY FORM REQUIRED: All completed entries must be submitted for judging on SVHS video cassettes or Mini DV cassettes. We will not accept Digital8 or CD entry formats. The final digital media entry productions including any assembled video and audio components must be submitted on one of these 2 formats. Entry team members will be responsible for the required format conversion needed which can be obtained from among the many programs in the region able to help generate the SVHS or mini DV final entries.
• ENTRY FORM AND ENTRY FEE: Entrants must fill out and submit a complete Showcase Entry Form attached herewith. There will be a $10 entry fee due with each Showcase Entry. A fee waiver may be granted upon request to Tower of Youth prior to deadline. All entries are due no later than February 21, 2003, 5:00 PM.
•HIGH RESOLUTION ESSENTIAL: We urge you to try and create your work in the highest possible resolution given your equipment. In order to have a full theater screen projected image at the Awards Showcase, the format for the final file entries should be rendered at 720 x 480 pixel size.
• DOCUMENTATION: A written “Technical Production Log”
must be submitted with 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 statement”
must also be submitted briefly expressing the idea and experience of creating
the entry and its intent.
•UP TO 3 MINUTES TOTAL LENGTH: In order to be considered, all
entries must be no shorter than 30 seconds in length and not longer than three
minutes including credits. Entries that do not fit this time window
will be automatically disqualified.
• EXHIBITION & AWARDS: All entries submitted for the Showcase will be exhibited during the April 19th day. Awards will be given for the first, second, and third prize entry teams and will go to each of the two named co-producers (or the production team as a whole) and for the team mentor in each of the Content Categories. In addition, a cash prize of $100 for each of the winners of the First Prize, $50 for the Second Prize and $25 for the Third Prize will be awarded in the 7th Annual Special Category. A $100 cash prize for both co-producers and mentor will be awarded to the Showcase Grand Prize Winner Entry which will be selected by the judges. Additional media prizes will be announced for all the winners the night of the Showcase.
Any exceptions to the above guidelines must be requested prior to the entry deadline by contacting TOY at 916/922-0100!
TRAINING SESSIONS, Creation and Production Process
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 December through mid February, a series of Saturday TOY Training Sessions at University of California, Davis New Media Center, CSUS Communication Studies Dept. and at Cosumnes River College TV and Media Dept and Access Sacramento may be announced (Track our www.towerofyouth.org website!!), An initial educator only training session may be scheduled and announced. Directions to the training sessions can be obtained by seeing the maps to the sites on the Tower of Youth Website. These sessions will be open to up to 40 individuals each. A $5 per youth and $10 per adult fee will be required which will covers the cost of lunch at each day long session.
TOY seeks to promote, monitor and support the creative and learning process
and produce the Seventh Annual Teen Digital Showcase event.
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 www.towerofyouth.org will be continually updated to provide announcements of meetings, trainings, and logistics for the event.
Entry Deadline
All entries for the Seventh AnnualTeen DigitalShowcase Awards event must be
received before 5:00 PM, Friday, February 21, 2003. NO EXCEPTIONS!
Entries received after this time and date, regardless of postmark, will not
be accepted. Entries will be returned to your mentors after the event.
Send Entries with $10 Entry Fee: (Make Checks payable to TOY)
(North Area) 7TDR |
or |
(South Area) 7TDR |
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 5 Regular and 1 Special Categories, to the two youth co-producers and the mentor of the entry team. One Grand Prize Award will be given for overall best of show. Cash prizes will be made for both the Special Category and the Grand Prize winners. The Tower of Youth reserves the right to add additional awards and recognitions at the time of the Showcase event. The decision of the judges will be final. No mechanism exists for appeal of the judge’s decisions.
Winners will be exhibited and announced at the April 19, 2003 Showcase event where the award and prize presentations will occur.
For additional information please contact:
William Bronston, MD,
at
Tower of Youth, 3711 Dell Road, Carmichael, CA 95608
DAY Answering Phones: 916/922-0100, Fax 916/944-0700, Cell# 916/730-6552
e-mail: drmarat@macnexus.org
website: www.towerofyouth.org