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Call for Entries

July 1, 2002

Roll tape! The 16th Annual Videomaker/Panasonic Short Video Contest is in full swing. Once again, it’s time for you to send us your best videos. We have a great set of prizes to present to the winners.

Have you used your consumer gear to produce a short video that inspires, dazzles and excites your viewers? Do you pride yourself in your camera techniques, snappy editing or your use of special effects, music and lighting? Send in your video–it could be a prizewinner.

We encourage video entries of all genres by video-graphers of all ages. Whether it’s your first project or you are a video veteran, if you’re proud of your project, show it to us. Your entries must be five minutes in length or less.

Our Grand Prize is a 3-CCD Panasonic PV-DV952 Mini DV camcorder, valued at $2,299. In addition, we have awards slated for Best Music Video, Best Drama/Action Video, Best Comedy and Best Documentary. And, we will offer two bonus awards: Young Videographer, and DVD-Video.

To enter, fill out the 2002 contest entry form on page 51 and send it along with your best short-length consumer-formatted video (see the Entry Guidelines for a list of accepted video formats). We must receive your entry by Sept. 30, 2002. Please read the Entry Guidelines carefully and follow all instructions.

Our team of judges will evaluate each movie for content and creativity, technical proficiency in camera work, lighting, sound, edit pacing and overall production quality. (See the Judging Criteria sidebar for details.)

We’ll announce the winners in a future issue of Videomaker, and we’ll post all winning videos to Videomaker’s Web site.

We look forward to seeing your work.

Entry Guidelines

The 2002 Videomaker/Panasonic Short Video Contest is open to all videographers unaffiliated with Videomaker or any of the contest sponsors.

Submit your short entry (five minutes or less) on one of these NTSC consumer video formats: VHS, VHS-C, S-VHS, S-VHS-C, 8mm, Hi8, Mini DV or DVD. Please do not submit on Digital8. Entries may also be submitted on CD-ROM or DVD-ROM at 640×480 and 30 frames per second in the following formats: MPEG-1, .rm, .asf, .mov and .avi.

Entries submitted in any form other than those listed above will be disqualified, as will those that cannot be viewed due to equipment or format incompatibility.

Entries must be five minutes or less in length, and include an equipment list showing the original list price for each component used in the production. Equipment must total no more than $20,000. The cost of equipment will be taken into consideration in the final judging.

Written proof of copyright must be included with the entry for all materials, audio and video, used in the production. Written proof must be a document signed by the copyright holder giving the videographer, by name, explicit permission to use the specific material. In the case of royalty-free music, the videographer must list the name of the music library and track used.

Enter as many times as you like, but send each entry on its own individual tape or disc.

Entry fee for the 2002 Videomaker/Panasonic Short Video Contest is $10. If you wish to have your tape returned to you, include an additional $5 for shipping and handling.

Entries must be received by Sept. 30, 2002. Tapes received after this date will be disqualified.

Winners will be announced in a future issue of Videomaker. Except those returned, all submissions become property of Videomaker. All contestants consent to Videomaker’s use of entries for promotional and/or editorial purposes.

Winners are responsible for any state, federal or other taxes resulting from the receipt of prizes.

How to Enter

Fill out the entry form completely. If you are sending more than one entry, photocopy and fill out a separate entry form for each.

For each submission, enclose a list describing all equipment used in the production. Give the dollar value (new) of each piece of equipment.

Enclose a declaration of copyright release for all music, photography, film or video used in each submission.

Enclose $10 entry fee for each submission. If you want your submission returned to you, enclose an additional $5 per submission ($15 total per submission). Send check or money order only, please. Make payable to Videomaker.

Enclose your submission(s), entry form(s), list(s), release(s) and payment and send to:

The Videomaker/Panasonic Short Video Contest 2002

P.O. Box 4591

Chico, CA 95927

Judging Criteria

Production quality

Shot composition, camera work, lighting and shot variety

Post-production quality

Editing, pacing, continuity, titles, transitions and flow

Content

Quality of script, storyline and talent

Image

Color, lighting, focus, etc.

Sound

Clarity, quality, consistency of audio levels and lack of noise

Check Out Past Winners

See streaming samples of the 2001 Contest winners at http://www.videomaker.com/scripts/contest_winners.cfm?year=01.

Grand Prize

Value: $2,299

Panasonic PV-DV952 Mini DV Camcorder

www.panasonic.com

(800) 211-PANA

First Prize

Value: $1,699

Avid Xpress DV 3.0 Video Editing Software (laptop not included)

www.avid.com

(800) 949-AVID

Second Prize

Value: $1,299

AIST MoviePack eXtreme 4.0 Editing, Compositing and Motion Graphics Software

(866) 924-2478

Best Music Video

Value: $999

Pinnacle Pro-ONE Capture Card

www.pinnaclesys.com

(650) 526-1600

Best Drama/Action Video

Value: $900

Ulead MediaStudio Pro 6.5 Video Editing Software and DVD Workshop DVD Authoring Software

www.ulead.com

(310) 896-6388

Best Comedy

Value: $825

Azden 500 LT Microphone System

www.azdencorp.com

(516) 328-7500

Best Documentary

Value: $777

VariZoom VariZoom Lens Controls and Studio Style Kit

www.varizoom.com

(888) 826-3399

Young Videographer Bonus

Value: $330

ADS Pyro PlatinumDV FireWire Card

www.adstechsystems.com

(800) 888-5244

DVD-Video Bonus

Value: $305

Photoflex SilverDome Softbox, Connector and CD

www.photoflex.com

(800) 486-2674