Submission Rules & Regulations
VisionFest is open to the work of all students completed no earlier than January 1, 2007. All entries must be postmarked on or before July 28, 2010.
Please read the guidelines carefully in order to comply with the technical requirements outlined below.
Festival Overview
VisionFest’s mission is to create an environment of imagination, inspiration and education between emerging student talent and established industry leaders.
VisionFest is organized by the Indiana University School of Informatics at Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) to acknowledge, showcase and encourage excellence in media arts.
Eligibility
Submissions are open to high school, undergraduate and graduate students from across the globe in the following categories:
- Animation
- Games / Interactive Arts
Each category is divided into three levels of competition distinguishing high school, undergraduate and graduate students.
Proof of student status must be submitted with entries. Accepted documentation include a copy of a current student ID or a letter from the student’s department chair on school letterhead.
Submissions cannot have been broadcast or distributed commercially in the United States prior to the festival.
Only works completed after January 1, 2007 will be accepted.
Submission Deadline
All entries must be postmarked on or before July 28, 2010. Works postmarked after that date will not be accepted. Finalists will be notified by the end of September.
Technical Requirements
Animation
Entries will be accepted in NTSC format only. Entries must be submitted on CD-ROM or DVD. Files must be in AVI/MOV formats at no less than 1024 x 768 pixels resolution.
Animation shorts shall be no longer than seven minutes. Longer works will not be considered. Menus and packaging will not be judged—do not include them. Non-English films must be subtitled or dubbed in English.
Games/Interactive Arts
Game files are to be submitted in the following manner:
- Flash: If your game is Flash-based, you may send the main SWF file and any accompanying AS files that support it as long as they are in one fully labeled folder. Games will also be accepted through either a Mac or PC projector file.
- 3D: In the case of a 3D game, as in the case of an UT3 UPK file, all files must be named and organized in an easily accessible folder.
- Other: For games created with Java, C++, Python, etc., provide what is needed to view and run the game. All game files must be organized and labeled in a folder. Please indicate the name of the master/index file of your game for easy viewing. Disorganized files will not be considered.
- OR, you may submit an URL for your game. This URL may take the viewer to your website or to a game portal such as NewGrounds.com or JayIsGames.com where the game is hosted.
Jury
A jury of nationally respected industry leaders will review the ‘blind’ copies of all accepted entries. Adjudicators will not know the names of the person submitting the work or the institution they represent.
Jurors will submit written comments for all works meeting submission requirements as well as assign a numerical value to the work according to specific criteria. A festival delegate will tabulate results to determine the festival’s top entries for screening during the festival. Winners will be juried in final competition during the festival.
The festival reserves the right to move a submission between categories as deemed appropriate. Written comments of the jury will be provided to students upon close of the festival.
Selected Works
Selected finalists will be notified by the end of September 2010. VisionFest encourages finalists to attend the festival and awards ceremony on the evening of October 23.
Festival Prizes
Recognition will be given to winners in each category at each level within the competition. An Audience Choice Award will also be awarded for each submission category. A cash prize will be awarded to best in category winners.
Students may also request their entry be for consideration of a caption award in sound design.
At its discretion, the jury reserves the right to award additional special merit prizes as well as the right to withhold awards in any category where no entries meet its standards for recognition. The decisions of the jury are final.
Mentions
The producers of award-winning entries agree to include the VisionFest name, prize won and year of the award in the credits of their film and related documentation.
Permissions/Distribution/Promotional Use of Works
Entrants will be asked to sign their entry form, certifying that they meet eligibility requirements, hold all necessary rights for their submission and accept the regulations of VisionFest. The entrant agrees to allow VisionFest, the Indiana University School of Informatics and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) the right to use all materials submitted for publicity and educational purposes.
Submission Instructions
There is no limit in the number of works submitted per entrant school. A separate entry form is required for each work. Students may submit no more than three works to the festival.
Submit two electronic copies per entry - one copy without credits (blind) to be submitted for judging, and one copy complete with credits. NOTE: It is mandatory that a blind copy be submitted. No works identifying the student or their school will be accepted to the juried process.
Works that are unfinished or in-progress will not be considered.
All entries must include three still images from the work and a photograph and short biography of the student director. Electronic images should be saved in .pict, .tiff, or .eps format at a resolution of 300 ppi or screen captures at 640 x480. Files are not to exceed 2MB.
Entrants are responsible for transportation costs, insurance charges and any customs fees incurred when shipping to the festival. VisionFest is not responsible for materials damaged or lost in transit. Works submitted will be returned after the close of the festival. Please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope for this purpose. No entered material may be returned or loaned before or during the festival.