Durham Region Contest Rules

Durham Region Contest Rules
Durham Region Contest Rules2020-01-20T03:28:51+00:00
GENERAL GUIDELINES
 
  • All entrants must be secondary school students (grades 9-12) from Durham District School Board, Durham Catholic District School Board, Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board and Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board.
  • Entries should represent students’ interpretation of the theme: “Creating Safe Spaces: Countering Racism and Discrimination” (click here for more on the theme).
  • All entries must be submitted no later than April 13th, 2020.
  • All entries must include a fully completed and signed entry form, co-signed by a parent or legal guardian (click here for the entry form).
  • No work should contain any material that is libelous, defamatory, profane or obscene.
  • Winning entries are based on grade-appropriate skills and creativity and will be judged on message and content. The decisions of the judges are final.
  • Entrants will continue to own the rights of their works, but by entering the Creative Minds Youth Contest Durham they agree that their works may be reproduced, printed and showcased, for non-commercial purposes, with their names and grades, by Intercultural Dialogue Institute GTA and the partner school boards.

GUIDELINES FOR ESSAY SUBMISSIONS

  • Essays may be one of the following four types: persuasive essay, informative essay, narrative story or true story.
  • Essays must be original, unpublished, and written by one student, and must not exceed 1000 words.
  • Essays must be written on 8.5 x 11 (letter size) paper and submitted in a format editable in MS Word.
  • Students may only submit one (1) essay within the Essay contest.  Students who submit an essay are still permitted to enter one (1) submission in the Art category, one (1) submission in the Video category and one (1) submission in the Social Project category.
  • Each sponsoring teacher must submit no more than ten (10) essays in total.

GUIDELINES FOR ARTWORK SUBMISSIONS

  • Artworks can be submitted in any two or three-dimensional media including the following: drawing, painting, collage, photography, graphic design.
  • Artwork submitted must be original, unpublished and created/authored by one person.
  • Students may only submit one (1) piece of artwork (in any medium) within the Art contest. Students who submit artwork are still permitted to enter one (1) submission in the Essay category, one (1) submission in the Video category one (1) submission in the Social Project category.
  • All entries must include a brief (100 words maximum) explanation of the artwork.
  • General art submissions (except photography and graphic design) must be two-dimensional artworks up to 36” x 36” in size.
  • Photography submissions: Photography work includes colour and black & white works. Please do not frame and do not mount photography submissions.
  • Graphic design submissions: Graphic design work is defined as the use of computer media and innovative computer applications in art. Please do not frame and do not mount graphic design works.

GUIDELINES FOR VIDEO SUBMISSIONS

  • Entrants must submit an original video which explores the contest theme.
  • People appearing in the video do not have to be youth. However, the videos must reflect the students’ opinions or reflections about the theme.
  • The video should be 4 minutes or less in length including title and end credits.
  • The type of video submitted is up to the discretion of the entrant. It may be a live performance, an edited piece, narrative, non-narrative or any combination thereof.
  • Multiple students may work together to make one video, as long as all members of the group are high school (grades 9-12) students from the same school board.
  • Videos should not contain any material that is libelous, defamatory, profane or obscene.
  • Entrants must get the consent of everyone appearing in their videos if their faces are recognizable.
  • Entrants must get the consent of everyone whose copyrighted, patented, or trademarked material appears in their videos.
  • Entrants must get the consent of everyone whose music is used in their videos unless consent is not needed (due to lack of copyright etc.).
  • If the English language is not used in the video, English subtitles or a transcript must be provided.

Content Formatting

Videos

Motion video should be captured to or supplied in standard .MPG files meeting the following standards:

  • Frame Size: 720p, 1080p, 1080i
  • Actual Screen size (540px X 300px)
  • Audio: Stereo Audio if required.

Images

  • Please note: if the image data is line drawings, rather than photos, .png will provide the best image quality.
  • Image Width: 540
  • Image Height: 300
  • Colour Depth: 16 bit or 24 bit

Animations

Flash files should be generated using the following details:

  • Image: 720p, or 1080p
  • Note: While flash content will be scaled to full screen, certain element types should be considered using the full screen size listed above. Develop content with an actual playback size of 540×300 in mind. Please do not loop.

Music

  • There are many options for music to accompany your video. For this contest we are only accepting original music or royalty-free music.
  • Original music: An original music score, one that you or you and your team have composed. This is a big undertaking; however you own the music and are not restricted in how you use it.
  • Royalty-free music: There are many online sites that offer royalty-free music. This type of music doesn’t require you to pay a licensing fee in order to use it.
  • Music that requires a licensing fee will not be accepted.

SOCIAL PROJECT SUBMISSIONS

  • A Project Proposal (a.k.a. project charter) is used to convince the evaluation committee of the rationale, benefits, and feasibility of funding the project. 
  • A Project Proposal should have an executive summary, a checklist of goals, a time plan, a cost plan, a community engagement plan, and risk plan as outlined in the social project resource.
  • The length of the proposal should not exceed 1000 words
  • Implementation of the project is not a requirement for participating in this category. Submissions in this category will be evaluated on the following qualities of the project proposal: presentation quality, content quality, organization/communication quality, and merit of the project.
  • Although implementation is not a requirement, there will be some funding available for winners in this category in case they wish to implement their projects. Funding for the project is up to the discretion of IDI and may be awarded if the project is shown to be exceedingly successful and necessary, so please ensure that your proposal is as close to reality as possible.
  • The social project must be original and the cost plan must not exceed $1000 limit.
  • Projects must have a start and end date and duration that must not exceed 3 months

If you have further questions about submissions contact your school administration or your school board’s representative for the contest (click here for contacts).