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Film Award

FIRSTWA Documentary Film Contest

Enter the Inaugural FIRSTWA Documentary Film contest – The Soul of Our Robot. People and their engineering process: how you designed and built your incredible robot.

Deadlines

All entries must be recieved by FIRSTWA no later than:

  • FIRST Lego League Films: November 30, 2008
  • FIRST Tech Challenge Films: February 15, 2008
  • FIRST Robotics Challenge Films: March 7, 2008

 

Film entries will be judged by a panel including three to five adults familiar with filmmaking. 

Prizes will be awarded in three categories – FLL, FTC, and FRC. Each category will have a Grand Prize and a special Jury Award of merit.  The Jury may award other Recognition of Excellence Awards at their discretion. 

Submissions should be sent to

Richard Tyler
FIRSTWA Film Contest
c/o LexisNexis Applied Discovery
13427 NE 16th Street
Bellevue, WA 98005. 

Questions about delivery in person may be directed to richard.tyler@lexisnexis.com.

Contest Rules

  1. Announcements: Winners in each category will be announced and contacted at their respective state level tournaments. The FLL category will be awarded at the state championship.
  2. The Judge's decisions are final.
  3. Entry Fee: There is no entry fee for registered FIRST teams.
  4. Eligibility: Any Washington state team registered for the 2007-2008 school year may enter a film.  This includes FIRST Lego League, FIRST Tech Challenge, and FIRST Robotics Challenge with a registered team address in the state of Washington.
  5. Adult Involvement: This is a student film competition, and students are expected to do the majority of shooting, writing, direction, editing, narration, and scoring.  Adult mentors may provide support, training, and coaching, but may not be involved in the direct creation of the film.
  6. Releases and Copyrighted Material: Your film may not contain any copyrighted material (music or video, for example).  You must include a statement in writing with your submission asserting that the film does not include copyrighted material. Without this statement the films may not be displayed on the FIRSTWA Website, or exhibited at the tournament.
  7. Prizes: There will be a Grand Prize and a Special Jury Award in each of the FRC, FTC, and FLL categories, for best overall film open to all applicants. The Grand Prizes will be awarded to the films that best capture the process of forming a team and/or a robot. The Special Jury Award will be given to the film that the judges believe has the qualities and circumstances that deserve special attention and merit. Prizes will be awarded at the discretion of the judges: not all prizes have to be awarded in all categories.  No Prize includes cash or other monetary award.
  8. Film Content:  Your film should illustrate what your team did to come together to design and build your robot. Focus your creativity on making a film that recognizes your teamwork and the process you followed. The film should not be focused on what your robot does – although that might be part of the story – but on how you figured out the problem and solution, and built your team.
  9. Film Type: Entries may be scripted or candid, fictionalizations, live video or animation or any combination thereof.
  10. Film Length: All films must have a total running time of 3 minutes or less (not including credits).
  11. Format: All submissions will be on a DVD disk.  Submit FIVE DVD copies of your film.  We will accept your film submission on DVD only, regardless of original shooting format. No films will be returned, so please keep a copy. DVD’s must be playable on US consumer grade DVD players in format playable for Region Code 1 (North America) or Region Code 0 (universal). If you wish to record other digital video formats on your disk, that would be acceptable as long as all versions fit on a single disk and at least one plays on a consumer grade DVD player.  DVDs must not include labels or stickers on the DVD. You may use a printable DVD or a black Sharpie pen to write your  competition name (FLL, FTC, FRC), team number and contact name on the DVD. Foreign language films are acceptable only if subtitled or dubbed in English...do not send English translated scripts with your film.  Send DVDs converted/playable for Region Code 1 (North America) or Region Code 0 (universal).  We reserve the right to ask for resubmissions. Submissions that do not follow these technical requirements will not be judged. 
  12. Permissions for FIRSTWA Use: All entry materials will be kept by FIRSTWA. All entries may be used in whole or in part to promote FIRSTWA and future events. These promotions may include television PSA’s, radio PSA’s, or streaming video on FIRSTWA website or that of one of its partner organizations. By submitting an entry, you give FIRSTWA the right to use your film in this way.
  13. Questions and requests for clarification:  Please direct these via email to Richard Tyler at richard.tyler@lexisnexis.com.