Pocketcine Mobile Video Contest

Create a 2D or 3D animated video for cell phones. The theme is wide open. It can be fantasy, romance, humor, crime, mystery—any style of story, or even a gag. The only restrictions are that it can be no more than 4 minutes long and it has to be delivered in 320x240 pixel video resolution !

Theme
Are you good at entertaining people with a short story using video? Mobile stories on the cell phone is going to be the next great medium for talented artists. Experiment early by creating a mobile video for great prizes and chance to work with Pocketcine on mobile video projects. You are to create a 2D or 3D animated video for cell phones. The theme is wide open. It can be fantasy, romance, humor, crime, mystery and so on, just about any style of story, or even a gag, is acceptable. The only restrictions are that it can be no more than 4 minutes long and it has to be delivered in 320x240 pixel video resolution .

The world’s most successful viral video, “the Annoying Thing” is a very good example of a video playing within the restrictions of a small screen, with limited bandwidth, and playing to an audience that is “snacking” on video rather than hunkering down on a couch to become immersed in a half-hour TV show or 3 hour movie. Is it created to be shared on a portable screen among friends at a restaurant? A home movie? A mini-documentary? You can find other outstanding examples of mobile video and how they are made on the Pocketcine website.

We want you to help define what is most compelling in the new mobile video medium. Is it a comedic short? A short music video? A 30-second animated short like the Annoying Thing?

Copyright
This must be an original piece of work that you created or have the rights to, including visuals, sounds and storyline. You must provide Pocket Cine Inc. with the right to use the videos you submit for promotional purposes.

Technical

• Style: 2D or 3D animation or mixed (2D or 3D plus live action video)
• Resolution: 320x240 pixel resolution
• Duration: 30 secs minimum in length, 4 minutes maximum
• Maximum file size: 10MB
• Deliver in one of these video formats:. mov, avi, wmv, mpg, .mp4 or 3gp

Judges
Barry Ward, President, Bardel Entertainment, an award-winning animation production company, with many Hollywood and television productions to their credit.
Dr. David Vogt, Executive Director, MobileMuse.ca, Robitaille Professor, Learning Technologies, University of British Columbia, Director, Digital Learning Projects, University of British Columbia
Philip Shaddock, Pocket Cine Inc., author of three books for digital artists, producer of interactive content for museums around the world, founder and President of Pocket Cine, a mobile video publishing company.

Early Feedback and Judging Criterias Entrants may post their work on the WIP forum of Pocketcine.com for critique and evaluation by the judges and other people. This is a great way to get early feedback on your ideas. (It also gets you noticed by our judges). Work will be judged according to the following criteria in descending order: Creative use of the medium (fits well within the restrictions of a 2 inch screen of a mobile phone used in noisy environments) Visual and audio quality (good technical use of the medium) Great story or gag or viral hook, something that makes it memorable Has potential to form a series (see below)

Tutorials and Help
A series of tutorials on how to make viral videos can be found at Pocketcine.com and at the Pocketcine blog att www.mobilemuse.ca.

General Contest Rules:

• Style: 2D or 3D animation or mixed (2D or 3D plus live action video)
• Resolution: 320x240 pixel resolution
• Duration: 30 secs minimum in length, 4 minutes maximum
• Maximum file size: 10MB (compressed to .mp4 or .3gp format)
• Deliver in one of these video formats:. mov, avi, wmv, mpg, .mp4 or 3gp
• Animation file. (Renderosity will be hosting the files)
• Thumbnail Image: up to 100x100 pixels
• Full Image (still image): 320x240 pixels