Welcome to the fourth biennial MODE Fest, celebrating the work of students and emerging motion designers who are creating some of the most interesting, imaginative, and well-crafted motion design work today.

MODE Fest invites students, recent grads, and institutions to submit their best student motion work across several different categories. All submissions will be reviewed by renowned industry professionals and respected academics. Finalists will be screened at MODE Fest, as well as included on MODE Fest's ongoing Vimeo channel. Monetary prizes for each category will be awarded live at the event including the coveted "Best in Show."

Entries tackling social, political, and climate issues will be given special consideration. Following several years of global turmoil that included a pandemic, civil unrest, violence and the wide-spread effects of climate change, MODE is looking forward to a festival that will reframe our perspective in 2023 and beyond.

Submission to the festival also gets each student all access to the corresponding Motion Design Education Summit, 8–10 June 2023, at Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

MODE Summit is a 3-day event bringing together educators from different areas of expertise to present work and discuss motion design and how it enhances, effects, changes messages, meaning, and communication. Motion design is a shifting and evolving sphere—it encompasses a broad range of related fields: human computer interaction, design, journalism, film, television, animation, art, dance, theater, and more.

To find more detailed information about the summit, please visit our website, http://www.modesummit.com.

To view the 2021 award winners visit https://vimeo.com/channels/modefest2021.

Awards & Prizes

APPLICATION CATEGORIES:

$500 \\ Best in Show Award
overall highest rated project, which can be from any of the following categories

$350 \\ Branding/Promotional
short form project promoting or advertising a brand, event, product, or service

$350 \\ Title Sequence
title sequence for film, tv, game, or event

$350 \\ Informational or Persuasive
short form explanatory or informational project with the goal of influencing an opinion

$350 \\ Interactive/Experiential
UX/UI: motion design in the context of a user interface for a game, application, or website
AR/VR: motion design in the context of an augmented reality or virtual reality experience
Experiential: motion design in the context of an installation, projection, or location-based experience (interactivity is optional)

$350 \\ Open Format Personal Project
Narrative: short form project with a narrative emphasis
Experimental: short form project exploring aesthetics, production techniques and/or technologies

Rules & Terms

Please read carefully the following terms and conditions regarding any submissions you make to MODE Fest. You must accept these terms and conditions before your entry can be considered.

ELIGIBILITY
Students and Emerging Professionals. The work must have been produced in the last two years.

HOW TO SUBMIT
We only accept online submissions for review through FilmFreeway.

Entrants must upload their student ID or faculty ID (if submitting on the behalf of students), use their school email address, and provide what school they attend to be considered a valid entry. (To upload a student ID, Go to 'My Projects' > 'View', then use the 'Files & Attachments' tool toward the lower right side of your Project Page to upload a copy of your student ID.)

Include a very brief synopsis of the project, the name of your faculty mentor, course title, and school. You may also choose to provide stills if you have them for promotional purposes.

Provide a link to the downloadable video on Vimeo and/or upload the video file. After notification of possible acceptance, we may request a higher-resolution copy of the video than was submitted for review. If one is not provided, the festival may screen the lower-resolution copy that was submitted, or cut the video from the program at its discretion. Once accepted, the applicant will be informed of the desired specific file formats.

FILE FORMATS
Most major codecs are accepted, but H.264 video with AAC audio is recommended for best streaming results. HD Resolution: 1920×1080 (1080p, 16:9 aspect ratio) or 1280×720 (720p, 16:9 aspect ratio). Vimeo and YouTube support MP4, MOV, WMV, AVI, FLV. Note that the Vimeo Basic Plan file size limit is up to 500mb per week.

ADDITIONAL ENTRY DISCOUNT
Additional entries are encouraged by each entrant, but will be treated as separate submissions. If you are submitting additional entries, email modefest23@gmail.com after proof of your first submission to receive a waiver code for 50% off an additional entry. This waiver cannot be shared and must be used by the same submitter. Please allow time for an email response.

INSTITUTIONAL RATE
Unlimited submissions from one institution for any and all categories. Submit the first entry using your institution's email address, then email the MODE Fest Chair for your waiver at modefest23@gmail.com. Please allow time for email response. Once you receive your waiver, you or your students can submit unlimited entries in any category using your school email address.

CURRENCY
Entry fees are in U.S. dollars, per video entry and are non-refundable.

LANGUAGE
We invite films from all countries. However, it is recommended entries be in English or subtitled in English.

PERMISSIONS
By submitting to the festival, the applicant agrees to allow their video to be screened by the festival during the festival run and parts or all of the festival may be screened/streamed on Vimeo.

MODE is hereby granted the right to use the applicant’s name and utilize an excerpt or image from any video submitted and accepted for exhibition at the festival for promotional purposes.

The applicant agrees to indemnify and hold harmless MODE, from and against any and all claims, liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney's fees, and costs of the court) which may be incurred by reason of any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits, publicity, screening, and loss of or damage to the screening videos entered.

The submitted video remains the sole property of the author.

The committee of MODE reserves the right to modify these terms due to any unforeseen circumstances.