Contests marked “Novice” are open only to students who have not completed a high school video/film/media course.

Novice students may compete in Varsity contests if they wish.

Contests marked “Varsity” are for students who have completed a high school video / film / media course.

Varsity students may not compete in Novice contests.

In contests with less than ten entries, judges do not have to name five award winners (two HMs, 3rd, 2nd and 1st) as they do in events with 10 or more entries. It is the judges' discretion to decide how many awards are given in the smaller contests.

All contest entries must be edited in the PSU Ballroom at your school’s designated tables. Entries edited off site may be disqualified.

Teams can not shoot any on-site contest on the campus of their own high school. 76 hour contests may be shot anywhere unless otherwise specified in the individual contest rules.

All contests will be able to be completed on the campus of Missouri State University. ASB staff does not require or encourage projects to be shot off-site. Students may shoot/record their projects anywhere they wish (including off-site) under the direction and with the permission of their parents and teacher.

SLATE

All video entries must begin with 5 seconds of white text on a black screen featuring the following:

School Code (Not School Name)Title of EntryNames of every student on the entry

The 5 second slate will not be counted as part of the work and will not count against the time limit of the piece. Un-slated entries may be disqualified. Audio entries must begin with an audio slate stating the same information listed above.

FILE NAME REQUIREMENTS

Name your video file according to the following naming convention:

EventCode_SchoolCode_EntryName.mov (or .mp4)

For example, if your entry is for Earlybird Madness and your school code is “55” and your project is called “Cool Film” you would name your file:

EBM_55_CoolFilm.mp4

UPLOADING ENTRIES

All entries will be uploaded to computers we will provide in the 4-State "Control Room."  All entries must be delivered in Quicktime .MOV or .MP4 format (H.264 compression is preferred). The file must be labeled with your school code. Unlabeled uploads may be disqualified and may not be returned to the original owners or schools.

DEADLINES

The clock in the big editing room is the official clock. At each deadline, the official timekeeper will close the contest bin and deliver it to the judges. Once the lid on the bin is closed, the contest is irrevocably closed.

PRE-PRODUCTION

Interviews and story subjects are not to be scheduled ahead of on-site contest start times. For example, it is against the rules to schedule an interview or lock in a story a week before the conference. Contests are intended to be impromptu in nature. Stories found to be planned ahead of time may be disqualified.

On-site contests must be created during the event. Any content created beforehand may disqualify an on-site entry. The only exception to this is non-copyrighted music, sound effects, and graphic templates. Entries that include music or content that the student or school does not have the rights or permission to use may be disqualified.

CONTENT

Entries must meet all the criteria of the entered contest (i.e. themes, formats, category, etc.)

Stock footage and stock photography is not allowed in any contest at 4-State.

Students are reminded to create content that is appropriate for screening in front of an audience of students and teachers. Gratuitous use of profanity, violence, suicide, and/or sexual content may result in disqualification.

Conference officials will not screen any content that crosses the line for a general, student and teacher audience.

TEACHER ASSISTANCE

While ASB allows teachers to advise and teach their students as needed, any teacher seen editing or shooting for their kids may cause that entry to be disqualified.

In other words, during the course of producing a video, teachers can not touch the camera, or the editing software. The only exception to this rule is the Earlybird Madness contest, where teachers can participate in any way they want.

If your students see a teacher shooting or editing, please take a photo and send it to contests@scholasticbroadcasting.com

COPYRIGHT VIOLATIONS

Students must be able to show proof of permission/license if using copyrighted material such as music, sound effects, and graphic templates in their entries. Failure to do so may result in disqualification.

OFF-SITE EDITING

All contest entries must be edited in the PSU Ballroom at your school’s designated tables. Entries edited off site may be disqualified.

The traveling sweepstakes trophy will go to the school that accumulates the most “points” in varsity contests only.

First place is worth 3 points, second is worth 2, and third is worth 1. In the event of a tie, the winner will be determined by which of the schools that tied in points earned the most first place finishes. If that still results in a tie, the winner will be the school that had the highest finish in Spot Feature.

All contests at ASB 4-State Conference (including all contest rules and prompts) are being planned and executed without the assistance of, input from, or inside knowledge of any teacher or student attending the conference. While several attending teachers will be helping to plan the logistics of the non-contest parts of the conference, they will in no way be involved in the planning or judging of contests, or the interpretation of contest rules.

Teachers may ask rules questions and clarifications inside the official 4-State GroupMe.

Students are not allowed to ask rules questions. All rules questions must come from teachers.

The Contest Director will answer rules questions as quickly as possible in the GroupMe. The Contest Director is the only person who can clarify rules or answer rule questions.

In the event of unclear or undefined rules, the 4-State Contest Director’s decision will override any published or assumed rules.