RULES AND GUIDELINES

1. The competition is open to groups of students currently enrolled in secondary schools in Singapore. A school can send a maximum of 2 entries, one for each category. Category 1 is for Secondary 1 and 2 students while Category 2 is for students in Secondary 3, 4 and 5.
2. Each participating group must consist of at least 3 and no more than 5 members.
3. The digital story must contain recorded narration and at least 2 of these components: music, photographs, drawings and video recording.
4. The digital story must inspire appreciation and respect for the environment and must include a narrative that relates to the theme of the competition: Our Earth: Our Gift, Our Responsibility. The narrative can focus on the simple beauty of everyday surrounding or it can be about a pressing environment problem that is observed and experienced personally by the storytellers.
5. The digital story must be multi-media in composition and should be personal in orientation. The group of storytellers is encouraged to present stories that are their personal interpretation of the competition’s theme. The stories must be an outward creative expression of what the digital storytellers feel and think regarding a specific topic.
6. The digital story should be approximately 2 minutes long and must not exceed 3 minutes. It must be put together, edited and rendered on a DVD as a stand-alone file that does not need any plug-ins or special application to play. The final version to be submitted must be in either QuickTime or Windows Media format and must be in the highest resolution possible.
7. Sections of the digital story that are not in English must be accompanied by subtitles.
8. The digital story must be an original work by secondary school students. Teachers, parents and other adults should not have any direct hand in the creation of the digital stories, which includes but is not limited to researching, scripting, storyboarding, filming, editing and other post-production work.
9. The text for the narration must be original and written by the storytellers themselves. Music and visual media (photos, drawings, videos, etc.) can be an original work by the students or already existing files that are either copy-free or permission for use has been granted by the owners of said materials.
10. Participants must submit their entries on a DVD that is properly labelled for identification. The label must include the name of the school, the title of the digital story and the date of submission.
11. All entries must be postmarked no later than 17th July 2009. The organizers will not be responsible for entries that are late, stolen, lost or damaged in the mail.
12. Entries will be evaluated by a panel of judges who will determine the 10 Finalists. The criteria for judging are the following:

    Content	:	20 marks
    Originality	:	10 marks
    Technical Polish	:	10 marks
    Creative Storytelling Skills	:	10 marks
    Total	:	50 marks

13. The panel of judges invited by the organisers will determine the 10 Finalists that will qualify for the top prizes to be awarded on 11th September at the National Museum. All participating schools will be informed of the results of the qualifying rounds by email on 17th August. The decision of the judges is binding and may not be contested.
14. All submitted entries become the sole property of the National Book Development Council of Singapore and Acropolis English Centre. The two organisations reserve the right to promote, edit, screen, and use otherwise said entries without permission from, notice and compensation to the authors at any given time.
15. By submitting entry/entries to the competition, the participating school agrees to abide by the rules and guidelines stated herein.

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