Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Enter The Challenge?
You can enter The Outlook for Someday if the following two things are both true about you (and all of your team if it’s a team entry):
- You were born in 1986 or later.
- You are a Citizen or Resident of New Zealand (even if you are now living overseas) or you are lawfully permitted to study or work in New Zealand.
What Do I Need To Send?
To enter The Outlook for Someday you need to send:
- A film which is no more than 5 minutes long, including titles and credits, and which conforms to the Technical Requirements and the Legal Requirements (see below).
- A completed and signed Entry Form.
- All necessary Release Forms and Licences
What Are The Technical Requirements?
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Your film should preferably be sent in PAL video standard, preferably on a MiniDV tape.
If you cannot send a MiniDV tape we will accept your film as an uncompressed best quality DV or AVI file on a DVD or a CD (if the file is small enough).
That’s different from the DVDs you can make to play on a DVD player.
For information about saving your film as a DV or AVI file, refer to the Technical Guide in the Toolkit. You can also contact us for help or advice about this.
- There must be 10 seconds of black before and after your film (so if your film is 5 minutes long the tape or film will play for 5 minutes 20 seconds including the black).
- The tape or disc must be labelled with:
- The name of your film
- The name of the film-maker or team who has made the film.
What Are The Legal Requirements For Performances And Interviews?
You must have the right to use all performances and interviews in your film.
So you need to get anyone who is featured in your film to sign the Individual Release Form.
For anyone who is under 18 you will need to get the parental permission part of the form signed too.
What Are The Legal Requirements For Using Other People's Material (eg Music)?
You must have the right to use all the material in your film so that it can legally be shown anywhere by any means.
That applies to any music, footage, stills, artwork or written material which you haven’t created yourself.
If there is music in your film that isn’t yours you must have permission to use it. You need to show us that you have a licence to use both the composed music and the recording of the music.
If we cannot see that you have permission to use the music in your film – or any other material in your film that you have not created yourself – then your film will not be eligible an entry to The Outlook for Someday.
In previous years we received some films that were ineligible because they contained unlicensed music. That was unfortunate after all the creative effort that had been put into them.
Use the Toolkit to help you ensure that your film is legal. In the Release Forms and Licences section there are forms to get completed and signed to ensure you have permission to use other people’s material, like their music. And in the Using Music section there is advice on what forms to use in different situations. Feel free to ask in the Forum if there is any situation you are unsure about.
Can I Get Help From Anyone Over 24?
In selecting winning films the judges will be looking for films which are evidently made by young people and not made for young people.
Sometimes older people will help a young film-maker to make their film. That is OK.
But if someone over 24 helps a young film-maker or team to make a film for The Outlook for Someday it is important that their help is supportive of the young film-maker or team to make their own creative and editorial decisions. They must not make those decisions on behalf of the young film-maker or team.
Anyone operating the equipment necessary to make a film for The Outlook for Someday (eg the camera or the editing computer) must themselves be eligible to enter the challenge. So if you can't operate the equipment yourself you need to team up with another young person who can. That person can be older than you but, like you, they need to be born in 1986 or later.
How Will My Film Be Judged?
To decide if your film is to be one of the 20 Winning Films, the Judging Team will be asking themselves these questions:
- Is the film relevant to the theme of sustainability and does it show us your 'outlook for someday'?
- Are the idea(s) and/or message(s) clear?
- How well does the visual and audio approach support the idea(s) and/or message(s)?
- How well does the visual and audio quality support the content of the film?
- Is the film original / creative / distinctive / powerful / challenging / inspiring / funny?
- Does the film just grab the judges and demand to be chosen for a reason they can't explain?
That last question is our 'wildcard' question. Sometimes a film is a great film precisely because it doesn't fit with existing ideas, guidelines or formulas. It just stands out. We think the starting point for a film like that is when you decide to make a film about something you really care about.
And finally, if you want to win, remember that quality and content are both important. If your film has great ideas but we can’t see it or hear it properly, then those great ideas are wasted on the Judges. And if it’s a technical masterpiece but a boring imitation of something else, then all those techniques are wasted too.
