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 1989 or later.
- You are a Citizen or Resident of New Zealand (even if you are now living overseas) or you are studying or working lawfully 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 Delivery Requirements, Technical Requirements and Legal Requirements (see below).
- A completed and signed Entry Form.
- All necessary Release Forms and Licences
Once your film has been received you will be sent an email containing a link to a brief online questionnaire about your experience of making a film for The Outlook for Someday.
You will need to complete the questionnaire in order for your film to be eligible as an entry to the film challenge.
How and Where Do I Send My Entry?
You can send your film and paperwork by post, courier and online.
The address for sending by post or CourierPost (via your local PostShop) is:
The Outlook for Someday
PO Box 78121
Grey Lynn
Auckland 1245
The address for sending by another courier company is:
Connected Media
137 Richmond Road
Grey Lynn
Auckland 1021
If you would like to send your film online you can use one of these two services:
- Dropbox
If you have a Dropbox account you can put the video file into a Dropbox folder and then email thePULBIC LINK for the file to delivery@connectedmedia.org
Dropbox has instructions for doing that.
NB please email us the PUBLIC LINK for the video file in the Dropbox folder rather than sharing the folder with us. - Wetransfer.com
You can use this free service to send files up to 2GB in size.
Navigate to the website, upload your video file and send it to delivery@connectedmedia.org
Please feel free to contact us for any help or advice about delivering your entry.
What Are The Delivery Requirements?
- Your film will preferably be sent as a video file.
Please refer to the Film Export Guides for advice on exporting your edited film to a video file. There are instructions there for making the best possible video file for entering The Outlook for Someday depending on what editing programme you are using.
You can also contact us for help or advice about this. And feel free to post a question about it in the Forum. - The video file can be sent on a USB drive or a DVD disc (or a CD disc if the video file will fit onto it).
If you send your film on a USB drive and you want it to be returned to you then you must include a stamped self-addressed envelope. - Alternatively the video file can be sent online using Dropbox or Wetransfer.com
Please refer to the instructions above (under ‘How and Where To Send’) if you wish to use either of those two services to send your film. - Films can also be sent on MiniDV tape.
- Films will NOT be accepted as DVDs that are made to play on DVD
players. Instead you need to burn your video file as data on the disc.
NB Video data files don’t tend to play smoothly direct from the disc they have been burned to. To check the file on the disc is OK copy it back to your computer and play the file from there. - Your film can be as short as you like but it must be no longer than 5 minutes, including any titles and credits.
- There must be 10 seconds of black before and after your film (so if
your film is 5 minutes long the file or tape will play for 5 minutes 20
seconds including the black).
- If you are sending your film on a disc, a USB drive or a tape it must be labelled with:
- The name of the film
- The name of the film-maker or team who has made the film
- If your film has Te Reo Māori in it – which we encourage for the Whakatipuranga Award – you need to provide a translation so
that all of the judges can understand the film, not just the judges who
speak Te Reo.
The translation needs to be line-by-line for each piece of dialogue or narration.
What Are The Technical Requirements?
Your film must conform to these Technical Requirements:
- Either a film exported at best quality settings for a file no larger than 4GB in one of these video file types:
mov (recommended)
mp4
avi
dv
wmv
Or a film exported to a MiniDV tape - PAL video standard
- 25fps framerate
What Are The Technical Recommendations?
If some or all of the following options are available to you, we recommend them.
- Resolution & Recommended Bitrate:
- 1024 x 576 (Standard Definition 16:9) - 3mbs/3000kbs
- 1280 x 720 (High Definition 16:9) - 6mbs/6000kbs
- 1920 x 1080 (High Definition 16:9) - 8mbs/8000kbs
- Video Bitrate: Variable bit rate encoding no higher than 10mbs (see above for recommendations). Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1.0 (Square Pixels)
- Field Order: Progressive only (or deinterlaced video if it has been filmed as interlaced)
- Video Codec: h.264
- Audio Codec: AAC-LC
- Audio Bitrate: 192kbs
- Audio Sample Rate: 48kHz
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 as 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.
What Are The Requirements For Using Public Domain Or Creative Commons Licensed Material?
If you use material in your film for The Outlook for Someday which is either in the public domain or available for use under a Creative Commons licence, you need to:
- In the credits of your film include the title of the material (eg the name of the archive footage clip, still, music or sound effect which you are using) and the web address of the page where you downloaded the material.
- With your Entry Form include a printed copy of the relevant Creative Commons Deed or the Public Domain Mark.
On that printed page write the title of the material and the web address of the page where you downloaded the material.
Creative Commons Deeds are available online. You can click on ‘View License Deed' for each of the six licences and print a copy of the Deed.
The Public Domain Mark is available online.
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 1989 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.
Does My Film Have To Be Made This Year?
No, it’s OK to enter a film which was made in the past – as long as it conforms to all the entry requirements for The Outlook for Someday.
So if you made a film in the past which you would like to enter into The Outlook for Someday and the film is longer than 5 minutes then you may need to cut it down to a shorter version.
How Large Can My Team Be?
There is no limit to how many members you have in your film-making team.
If you have more team members than the spaces available for them on the second page of the Entry Form then you just need to print more copies of that page so you can provide details for each member of your team.
