Chicago College Film Fest

OPEN TO STUDENTS OR RECENT GRADUATES (6 MONTHS) OF COLLEGIATE PROGRAMS WITHIN 100 MILES OF CHICAGO CITY CENTER. PLEASE SUBMIT SCHOOL NAME AND TOWN ALONG WITH YOUR FILM.

A. TIMES
• The Festival (FESTIVAL) will occur June 1-4 2014.
• Submitting Student must fully and successfully deliver, online or in person, the completed film and paperwork to designated FESTIVAL address by the submission deadline.
• Only works that meet the deadline will be considered for acceptance into festival.
• Meeting the deadline does not guarantee acceptance into the festival.
• All accepted films will be notified by May 5th, 2014, be screened during Festival, and be eligible for jury awards on final night of Festival.

G. CREW

All submissions should be submitted by one person (Submitting Student). If a group of students jointly submit a film (i.e. if they form their own student production company), one student must be chosen as Submitting Student, but production company name may be co-credited. We encourage that as much crew as possible should be students of Submitting Student’s school, in keeping with the spirit of the competition.

H. CAMERAS

Any type of video or film camera may be used. There is no limit to the number of cameras.

I. MUSIC RIGHTS

Participating groups are encouraged to work with a local composer and/or musicians to write and record music for the films. It is permissible for a participating group to use pre-recorded music; however the participating group must have the rights to any music used in its film. As with music, pre-recorded sound effects are allowed, but you must have rights to use them.

J. SONG PARODIES

Song parodies (i.e., use of identifiable pre-existing compositions with new or altered lyrics or music) may not be included in the video. This rule applies without regard to whether the song parody arguably constitutes "fair use" under US or international copyright law.

K. TOTAL RUNNING TIME

Finished feature films (graduate level) must be a minimum of 60 minutes in duration, and a maximum of 86 minutes in duration—not including end credits. In other words, the official running time begins after the required Festival slates and ends prior to the end credits. The required slates and the end credits do not count towards the minimum time of 60 minutes. The film story may not be longer than 86 minutes.

Finished short films (undergraduate) must be a minimum of 3 minutes in duration, and a maximum of 7 minutes in duration—not including end credits. In other words, the official running time begins after the required Festival slates and ends prior to the end credits. The required slates and the end credits do not count towards the minimum time of 3 minutes. The film story may not be longer than 7 minutes.

L. FILM STRUCTURE

Before your film begins, the media should have:
• 5 seconds of black
• A title card with: Submitting Student name and, if applicable, their Production company name, most recently completed grade level of Submitting Student (i.e. freshman, sophomore, 2nd year graduate, etc.), title, school.
• 2 seconds of black

Your film follows this. This is where the 86 minute time limit begins.

M. CREDITS

Opening Credits: After the 2 seconds of black, some films start with opening credits. These opening credits are considered to be part of the film, and therefore count against the 86 minute maximum.

End Credits: Credits at the end of each film are limited to a maximum of 120 seconds. The 120 seconds is considered additional to the length of the film, as stated in Rule K. (That is, a film may be 86 minutes long, with an additional 120 seconds of credits, for a total running time of 88 minutes.)

N. REQUIRED MEDIA FORMATS

Official selections must provide the full film in one of the below formats within 3 days of notification of acceptance -

Specified media:
• a USB flash drive (preferred), or a data DVD

o High Definition: An H.264 encoded (.MP4) file that is 1920 x 1080p 24fps (also called 23.976fps).

o Standard Definition: A self-contained SD (720 x 480) Quicktime file (.MOV) or

Windows (.AVI) file with no proprietary codecs.

AND

• a playable DVD, or playable Blu-ray

If your film does not conform to the submission requirements, it may be disqualified.

FESTIVAL reserves the right to down convert HD content to SD, if necessary, for judging, screening or playback purposes.

O. SUBMISSION NOTES

• We recommend that you make sound levels relatively even throughout your video. (If your video has uneven sound or sound that peaks, it may be modified to protect the playback equipment.)

P. PRODUCTION DOCUMENTS

Each student should secure releases for talent, crew, music and locations (and any other applicable releases) for the film team, as they must attest to having gotten all necessary rights and licenses to anything seen and heard in the film, on the Student Agreement Form.

Q. ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible for the Festival, Submissions must be the original work of the Student; must not infringe third-party's rights; must be suitable for publication (i.e., may not be obscene or indecent); must not contain obscene or pornographic material; may not contain defamatory statements about any person, company, organization or entity; may not invade privacy or other rights of any person, company or entity; may not in any other way violate applicable laws and regulations; and may not contain any copyrighted elements (other than as owned by the Student).

Festival is open to graduate and undergraduate students at higher institutions within a 100 mile radius of Chicago city center. 65% of the film must have been shot during the submitting student's college career. Students who have graduated during the last 6 months may apply.

Submissions containing prohibited or inappropriate content as determined by the Festival, in its sole discretion, to be inappropriate will be disqualified. Festival reserves the right to make the final determination as to which Submissions are eligible. Festival also reserves the right to refuse to screen a video or to make an announcement at the screening regarding the content of the video.

R. OFFICIAL FESTIVAL FILM

To be certified as an "Official Festival Film", each participating Student's film production must follow all rules herein. The Festival Organizers reserve the right to screen only certified "Official Festival Films."

S. NO RETURNS

No Submissions (media or documents) will be returned.

T. DISQUALIFICATION

Judges and Festival Organizers may, in their sole discretion, disqualify Submissions deemed to be inappropriate or otherwise non-compliant.

U. JUDGING

All scores, and awards determined by the judges, will be based on the following criteria:

• Quality of Photography: 40%
• Story: 40%
• Performances: 20%

V. AMENDMENTS

The Festival Organizers may add to or amend these rules at any time to ensure a fair competition.