Round 1 finalists

Thanks to everyone who voted – from your 20 most popular entries, the judges have selected the following 10 as finalists:

1. The Precinct - by David Blumenstein
2. Space Badger: A Badger in Space - by Claire Orrell and Joe Perkins
3. Junior - by James Cowen
4. Sweet Tooth - by Jin Hien Lau
5. The Catts - by Dave Carter
6. ZEN - by David Monzingo
7. Seven Year Twitch -  by Dave Barton Thomas
8. Oxygon - by  Michael Blanche, Maricar Manalo, Maricor Manalo (these two entrants are twins!) and Sam Ho
9. Birthday Punches - by  Joseph Origlierie
10. The Incredible Koala - by  Paul Mason

All up we received 75 entries from all corners of the globe – from Australia and north America to Taiwan, Belarus, Nepal, India, Ghana, even Trinidad and Tobago.

So what do contestants have to do for round 2?

• Create another 20 second animatic that builds on the story in Round 1
• Continue the compulsory elements – the theme of recovery, and something that is 7-years-old
• Include a NEW element: POINT
• Create a Facebook profile
• Create an online video diary

Entries for Round 2 close at midnight on July 11, AEST. Voting will then take place over the next two days – 5 contestants will be selected to go onto Round 3. Public voting will decide 3 of the finalists and the judges will select 2.

Prizes

Contestants are competing for great prizes: the winner will receive $20,000 to be used as professional development, to post produce their winning entry or to invest in taking the animation to market. They will also win Adobe CS5 Master Collection, valued at $4,344. The 4 finalists will receive Adobe CS5 Production Premium, each valued at $2,840.

The winning entry will also be screened at the GRAPHIC Festival event at the Sydney Opera House on August 8, 2010. To find out more about the GRAPHIC Festival, click here.

About the competition

The GRAPHIC online animation competition is presented by Sydney Opera House in partnership with Screen NSW to celebrate the innovation, creativity, and imagination behind the art form.

Participants are required to create 3 x 20 second animatics that come together to form a 3-part series. All styles of animation will be accepted and can be anything from a story board comic to stop motion to 3D. Live action will not be accepted. An entrant can be an individual or a creative team.

In round 1, entrants had to create a 20 second animatic that included ALL of the following elements:

1. i. Overarching theme: Recovery
2. ii. Characterising element: 7 years old
3. iii. Sound FX: A yawn

In rounds 2 and 3, entrants must build on their initial story and an additional element will need to be included in each animation.

The judging process

Round 1: entries are voted on by the public and from the top 20, our panel of judges select 10 winners to proceed to round 2. The judges’ decision is based on the following criteria:

• Creativity and originality in reinterpreting the original theme/elements (40%)
• Degree of technicality (30%)
• Script (30%).

The winners proceeding to Round 2 must create a Facebook profile and online video diaries to drive audience engagement, encourage a fan base and influence public voting.

Round 2: the most popular 3 entries as voted by the public will proceed to the final round. The judges will also select 2 entrants for the final round.

Round 3: the public will vote on round 3 animations submitted by the 5 finalists and the entry with the most votes will win the “people’s prize”. The judges will decide the winner.

All contestants must accept and comply with the Graphic Online Animation Competition Terms and Conditions.

GRAPHIC ONLINE ANIMATION COMPETITION TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1. Introduction

Sydney Opera House Trust (ABN 69 712 101 035) of Bennelong Point Sydney 2000 NSW Australia (us or we or Sydney Opera House) is conducting an online animation competition known as Graphic (Competition) accessible through graphic.sydneyoperahouse.com (Competition Website). 

Screen NSW (ABN 49 543 612 311) of Level 43, MLC Centre, 19 Martin Place, Sydney 2000 NSW Australia is a presenting partner of the competition and is providing prizes as noted below in clause 9.

Participation in the Competition is subject to the following terms and conditions (the Rules). By entering into the Competition you agree to be bound by these Rules. If you do not accept the Rules, you should immediately withdraw from the Competition.

2. Eligibility

• The competition is open to animation lovers of any age.
• If the winner is under the age of 18 Sydney Opera House will provide an economy return airfare for a legal guardian to accompany the winner to Sydney to attend Graphic Live and show their winning animation.
• To enter the competition you must be available to be in Sydney during the period 7 – 8 August 2010 to participate in the screening of the live event.  If you live overseas, you must have a current passport and obtain any visas necessary for your travel to Sydney.
• The Entrant(s) must be the person/people creating the animation.
• Finalists must be prepared to create a Facebook profile during the course of the Competition.
• Employees of Sydney Opera House (and their related bodies corporate) will not be eligible to proceed beyond Round One.
• Any queries relating to the competition should be sent by email to graphic@sydneyoperahouse.com.
• Each Entry must comply with the Competition Rules and failure to do so will result in disqualification from the Competition and removal of your entry from the Competition Website, at Sydney Opera House’s sole discretion.

3. Submission Guidelines

• It is recommended that you watch the demonstration videos posted on the competition website.

To enter the competition you need to:

• Create a 20 second animation that tells part 1 of a 3 part series.
• Use ALL of the following supplied elements:
  • Overarching theme: Recovery
  • Characterising element: 7 years old
  • Sound FX: a yawn.
• Create an original script that tells a story within the context of the theme. This can be delivered via VO, character script or cartoon captions.
• Any style of animation is eligible eg stop motion, 3D, storyboard comic, however no live action will be accepted.
• Submit your 20 second animation as a single, full body video (your Entry).
• If you are chosen as a finalist in Round Two or Round Three, further terms and conditions may apply which will be provided to you in writing by us before the commencement date of the round.
• The winners proceeding to Round 2 must create a Facebook profile and online video diaries to drive audience engagement, encourage a fan base and influence public voting.

4. Technical criteria

Your Entry must be in a format accepted by Sydney Opera House and must not exceed 100 megabytes in file size. Acceptable video file formats include the following: 3gp, 3gg, 3g2, amc, asf, wmv, avi, dv, mpg, mpeg, mp4, mxf, pbf, mov, m4v.

5. Stages of the Competition
The competition will occur in three rounds:

Round One:
Round one is open to the public worldwide. All submissions must be loaded online at graphic.sydneyoperahouse.com.

Entries will be voted on by the public and from the top 20, the panel of judges (collectively the Judges) will select 10 finalists to move forward into the second round of the competition based on the following criteria:

1. Creativity and originality in reinterpreting the original theme (40%)
2. Degree of technicality (30%)
3. Script (30%)

The ten finalists who the Judges select to go through to the next stages of the Competition will be contacted directly by Sydney Opera House for confirmation of eligibility and to outline the ongoing process and timeframe of participation in Graphic.

Round Two:
In round two the 10 chosen finalists must create a 20 second animatic that tells part 2 of a 3 part series. The public will vote on the ten finalists’ Entries in this round and the 3 with the most votes will proceed to the final round. The judges will select a further 2 entries to proceed to the final round.

Round Three:
The five finalists must create a final animatic (an additional 20 seconds onto their round 2 entry).

The five finalists’ Entries will be voted on by the public and the entry with the most votes will win the “people’s prize”. The judges will decide the final winner.

The decisions made by the Judges in each Round will be final and binding.

Public voting:
There are restrictions on the number of votes allowed per person per day. Members of the public can only vote for a particular animation once per day, however it is possible to vote for more than one animation on any given day.

Dates:
All times referred to in the following table are AEST.

6. Promotion

We may promote the Competition including your Entry in any media during or after the Competition.  Promotional material may include the use of all or part of your Entry, any blog, video diary or Facebook entry you have submitted, your name and place of residence.

7. Intellectual Property

By entering the Competition, you grant us a worldwide, perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-free and transferable license to use, reproduce, segment, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and communicate your Entry in any media. You also grant us the right to sub-license the rights under this licence to any third party deemed appropriate by us

If Sydney Opera House is notified that an Entry infringes a third party's copyright it may be removed from the Competition Website and disqualified from the Competition.

You, to the extent permitted by law, consent to Sydney Opera House doing anything in relation to the Entry or the communication therein that (but for this consent) would otherwise infringe any moral rights or performers’ rights that you might have anywhere in the world.

8. Warranty

You warrant and agree that any Entry you submit, and your participation in this Competition:

a. does not infringe the intellectual property rights of any third party;

b. is not subject to any third party agreements that would conflict with, or limit, the rights granted to Sydney Opera House under these terms and conditions;

c. does not defame or interfere with the privacy of any third party;

d. is your original work;

e. does not (in our opinion) contain any sexually explicit, pornographic, violent, racist, discriminatory or otherwise offensive material;

f. will not damage the reputation of Sydney Opera House or Screen NSW; and

g. is not contrary to any applicable law.

Breach of any of these warranties may result in your immediate disqualification from the Competition and the removal of your Entry from the Competition Website.

9. The Prizes

• The winner will receive $20,000 to be used as professional development, to post produce their winning entry or to invest in taking the animation to market (domestic or international). This will be administered by Screen NSW. The winner will also receive an Adobe software package, Adobe CS5 Master Collection valued at $4,344.00 (incl GST).
• The four round 3 finalists will receive Adobe software, Adobe CS5 Production Premium, valued at $2,840.00 each (incl GST).
• Prizes are not transferable or redeemable for cash or any other substitute prize.
• If the winner does not reside in Sydney, the travel component of the winning prize will be a return economy airfare (or train or bus if the winner so prefers, or lives less than 100km from Sydney). (If the Winner does reside in Sydney, the travel component will not be included in the prize). Accommodation while is Sydney is not provided as part of the Prizes.
• The Winner will be responsible for obtaining his or her own travel and medical insurance.
• Proof of age will be required if the winner is under the age of 18.
• The dates for the live performance (scheduled for 7 and 8 August 2010) are subject to change by Sydney Opera House.
• If the winner is disqualified for any reason, or does not accept the winning prize, the prize will be awarded to the person next in place, as determined by the Judges.

10. Privacy

Any personal information collected by us will be handled in accordance with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW) and our Privacy Policy (available at http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/privacystatement.aspx). 

Information we will collect
If you submit an Entry to the Competition, we will collect information about you including, but not limited to, your name, date of birth, address, email address and country of residence as well as information about your Entry. 
If you vote in the Competition, we will collect information about you and your vote including your name, date of birth, address and email address.

How we will use that information
If you enter the Competition, we will use your information for the purpose of the Competition and as set out in these Rules. In addition, we will share information relating to an Entry with Screen NSW as the Competition Presenting Partner.

If you vote in the Competition, we will use your information to validate the voting process.

We and (and the Presenting Partner) will also use your personal information to keep you informed about events and news which we think may be of interest to you. If you have chosen to receive them, Sydney Opera House will also use your information to provide you email bulletins and other email alerts letting you stay up-to-date.

For more information, the Sydney Opera House Privacy Policy is available at: www.sydneyoperahouse.com/privacystatement.aspx and on the Competition Website.

11. Competition Sponsor

By entering the Competition, you agree that your Entry and your personal information will be shared with the Presenting Partner of the competition.  You also agree that, if offered, you will work with the Presenting Partner for that organisation’s promotional purposes, free of charge and on a one-off basis.  Any further promotional work with the Presenting Partner will be the subject of a separate commercial agreement between you and Screen NSW.

12. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify Sydney Opera House against any claim, loss, damage, liability, cost and expense that may be incurred or sustained by Sydney Opera House in connection with:

a.  your conduct in the course of the Competition; or

b. any breach by you of a warranty given in clause 8.

13. Disclaimer

You acknowledge that you use the Competition Website at your own risk and that Sydney Opera House will not be liable for any loss or damage (whether direct, indirect, incidental or consequential) resulting from your use of, or your inability to use, the Competition Website or your Entry, no matter how caused and whether or not Sydney Opera House was advised of the possibility of such loss or damage.
Sydney Opera House is not responsible for any lost data or technical fault that in any way interferes with an Entry, your ability to access the Competition Website or your ability to participate in the Competition.  Sydney Opera House aims to correct any errors or omissions as soon as possible after being notified of them.
Any interaction with third party websites, will be on the terms and conditions of that website and Sydney Opera House will not be liable for any loss or damage (whether direct, indirect, incidental or consequential) resulting from your use of such third party websites.

14. Cancellation

Sydney Opera House may cancel, modify or suspend the Competition at any time for any reason without notice to you, including because of a force majeure event or any other event beyond Sydney Opera House’s reasonable control.

15. Governing Law

These terms and conditions are governed by the laws of New South Wales and you agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of courts exercising jurisdiction there, and waive any right to claim that those courts are an inconvenient forum

THE JUDGES

Rob Coleman - Dr D Studios

Rob Coleman is an Academy Award nominated Animation Director with an extensive filmography and over 25 years of experience in the art form. He spent 14 years with George Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic and Lucasfilm Animation. While at Lucasfilm Animation, Rob directed five episodes of the animated Star Wars: Clone Wars television series. From 1993 - 2005, Rob worked with George Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic in which he was Animation Director on the Star Wars Prequels: The Phantom Menace (1999), Attack of the Clones (2002), and Revenge of the Sith (2005).

During this time, he was nominated for two Oscars for his work on Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith and two British Academy Awards (BAFTAs) for his work on Men in Black (1997) and The Phantom Menace. He has received two MTV Movie Awards and two Saturn Awards for best visual effects on the Star Wars films.

Rob is currently working with George Miller on the animated feature film Happy Feet 2 at Dr. D Studios.

James Hackett - Hackett Films

James Hackett is an internationally recognised Animation Director constantly sought out for his leading edge in the animation business. His work is underpinned by a considered design philosophy combined with a talent for telling stories in interesting ways. An enthusiast for technology, James is not shy when it comes to mixing the real and the unreal: working with the latest animation and live action techniques in order to achieve his vision.

After 10 years experience learning his craft with leading directors and animators in London, and then in Sydney as an animator for ABC’s Fly TV James decided it was time to open his own studio, Hackett Films in 2003. His recent credits include co-creation of the visual concept design for the 2010 TV Week Logie nominated kids TV series, dirtgirlworld, 2009 Gold and Silver Promax’s for his titles work for Andrew Denton’s Enough Rope, the feature documentary The Burning Season and Channel 10’s Guerilla Gardeners. His character animation oozes personality as seen in the 2010 Royal Easter Show TVC campaign I Wanna Go.

Shaun Tan - Illustrator

Shaun Tan was born in 1974 and grew up in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. In school he became known as the 'good drawer' which partly compensated for always being the shortest kid in every class. He graduated from the University of WA in 1995 with joint honours in Fine Arts and English Literature, and currently works full time as a freelance artist and author in Melbourne.

Shaun began drawing and painting images for science fiction and horror stories in small-press magazines as a teenager, and has since become best known for illustrated books that deal with social, political and historical subjects through surreal, dream-like imagery. Books such as The Rabbits, The Red Tree, The Lost Thing and the acclaimed wordless novel The Arrival have been widely translated throughout Europe, Asia and South America, and enjoyed by readers of all ages. Shaun has also worked as a theatre designer, and worked as a concept artist for the films Horton Hears a Who and Pixar's WALL-E.

Shaun’s latest project is the animated film The Lost Thing, adapted from his picture book of the same name, which won the Yoram Gross Animation Award for best animated short at the 2010 Sydney Film Festival.
 

Jordan Verzar - GRAPHIC Festival co-curator

A lifelong devotee of comic books, literature, film and music, Jordan also runs the touring and management agency Top Shelf, which presents unique artistic events locally and internationally. Top Shelf has grown to its zenith, representing a diverse array of artists from across the globe and nurtures an artistic environment where new ideas, collaborations and creative projects are put to work.

Top Shelf expertise has been commissioned to do programming, consultancy and artistic collaborations by organisations as diverse and respected as the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Festival, The Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, The City of Sydney Council, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, The Sydney Olympics, Woodford Folk Festival, WOMADelaide, and many, many more.

Jordan is co-curator of GRAPHIC along with Virginia Hyam and has been heavily involved in its initial conception, execution and program.

Valerie Allerton - Screen NSW

Valerie Allerton has been responsible for the VFX Placement Scheme and Emerging Filmmakers Fund at Screen NSW since 2005, and through these programs has enabled a connection between emerging talent and the screen industry. She has worked in the arts for over 13 years, including Aspen Music Festival and School, a world-renowned training and performing institution. Valerie has a background in fine arts and creative writing, and is a member of the Sydney chapter of the Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques.

Entries for Round 1 close at midnight on Saturday, June 26 - watch Round 1 entries and vote here.