WELCOME TO THE MODCITYARTS DIGITAL MEDIA CONTEST !

This contest is open to two categories of students: 1. High school CTE students at Beyer, Davis, Downey, Elliot, Enochs, Gregori, Johansen, or Modesto high schools; and 2. Jr high/ middle school students who attend Glick, Hanshaw, Hart-Ransom, La Loma, Mark Twain, Prescott, Roosevelt, Savage, Somerset, Salida, Tuolumne, or Ustach.

HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN DO TO PARTICIPATE: Create digital designs, take photos, make a video, and follow submission guidelines below. High school CTE students must name their CTE teacher and all middle school entrants must list one sponsoring middle school teacher. A "sponsoring teacher" is a teacher at your school who is familiar with your work, knows you are entering this work in the contest, and is available for contact if necessary).

HOW MANY ENTREES CAN I SUBMIT? Students may submit up to six total entries. No more than two entrees per category: two entries for Photography, two entries for Video, and/or two entries for Digital Illustration).

HOW STUDENTS MAY ENTER TOGETHER ON A SINGLE SUBMISSION? One photographer per photo entry, one designer per design entry, teams of up to four per video entry: director(s), producer(s), editor(s).

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES: The window for submissions is April 1-4, 2025. Submit your contest entries during this time period. Check back for submission link.

WHEN ARE WINNERS ANNOUNCED? Students will be notified of any awards by April 21 and invited to The State Theater for an award show with full viewing of award winning videos, photography and graphic arts.

WHEN AND WHERE IS THE AWARD CEREMONY? The award ceremony takes place on Thursday, May 1, 2025, from 6-8pm at The State Theater, 1307 J St., Downtown Modesto. Doors open at 5:30pm.

ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES: 1. Entries must come from students currently enrolled in a CTE class at Beyer, Davis, Downey, Elliot, Enochs, Gregori, Johansen, or Modesto; or attend one of the following middle or junior high schools: Glick, Hanshaw, Hart-Ransom, La Loma, Mark Twain, Prescott, Roosevelt, Savage, Somerset, Salida, Tuolumne, or Ustach. All jr high/middle school students must name a sponsoring teacher at your school (someone who has seen the work, knows you are entering this work, and is available for contact if necessary). 2. All submissions must be created during the current 2024-25 school year. 3. All work must meet Modesto City Schools guidelines and conduct code. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• • • Use of weapons
    • Drugs or alcohol
    • Profanity
    • Sexual references and innuendo
    • Anything else deemed inappropriate
• Any submission that does not meet these guidelines will NOT be considered for judging and will NOT be selected to screen at ModCityArts.

USE OF ORIGINAL WORK: All music, images, titles, footage and other copyrighted material used in your submission MUST be properly licensed. You must have permission and/or the proper rights to all content submitted (the exception is the Music Video category). Other than the remake category, students will be scored on originality. Students who draw upon existing work MUST cite the source of the material in the Google Submission Form.

GRAPHIC DESIGN CATEGORIES (one designer per design entry)
1. Digital Illustration
2. Poster Design
3. Logo Original or Redesign
4. Motion Graphics
5. 3D Modeling

GRAPHIC DESIGN TECHNICAL GUIDELINES:

• All submissions must be digital.
• May submit 2 designs per category.
• All graphic design elements in the submission must be original.
• Designs must meet a minimum of 1000px x 1000px and maximum of 5000px x 5000px.
• Use File Name Convention: LastName_FirstName_SchoolInitials_Project01.jpg
  • EX: JohnDoe_TDHS_Animation01.jpg

PHOTOGRAPHY CATEGORIES (One photographer per photo entry)
1. Candid
2. Sports
3. Nature
4. Portrait
5. Commercial
6. Photo Manipulation (Entries must be based on student’s original photography and/or digital art)
7. Still Life
8. Photo Recreation (Photo must be divided into two parts, original on left, recreation on right)

PHOTO TECHNICAL GUIDELINES

• All submissions must be digital
• May submit 2 photos per category.
• With the exception of basic editing (cropping, color correction, or desaturation) any digitally altered photos will be moved to the Photo Manipulation category.
• Photos must meet a minimum of 1000px x 1000px and maximum of 5000px x 5000px.
• Use File Name Convention: LastName_FirstName_SchoolInitials_01.jpg
  • EX: JohnDoe_TDHS_Sports01.jpg

VIDEO TECHNICAL GUIDELINES: VIDEO CATEGORIES (Teams of up to four per video entry: director(s), producer(s), editor(s))

1. Non-fiction: 1:30-4 min
2. Fiction: 1-6 Min
3. PSA/Commercial/Promo: 1-4 min
4. Movie Trailer/Scene Remake: 1-4 min
5. Animation: 4 min max.
6. Vertical School Promo Reel: 30-1:30 min
7. Music Video: 4 min max

• Your submission’s total run time must NOT exceed the specified time limit for the category you are submitting (See categories and time limits below).
• We strongly recommend that you triple check your audio levels.
• When uploading your submission, you must use the following file naming conventions:
  • FirstNameLastName_SchoolInitials_FilmTitle.mp4
  • Examples:
  • JohnDoe_TDHS_MyMovie.mp4
• We will only accept the .MP4 file format.
• Please submit your film in 1080 HD. Any film files that are larger than 4GBs will not be accepted.
• Films that are accepted into the festival will be screened in 16:9 aspect ratio. If your film is submitted in a different ratio, your film will be letterboxed to display on the 16:9 screen.
• Any film that includes main dialogue that is not English must be submitted with English subtitles. If your film has subtitles please make sure they are "Title Safe." Click here for a detailed explanation of "Title Safe.”

CONTENT GUIDELINES:

• All music, images, titles, footage and other copyrighted material used in your submission MUST be properly licensed. You must have permission and/or the proper rights to all content submitted. (Again, the exception to this is Music Video)
• There are various resources that offer royalty free music and images such as freesound.org, incompetech.com, etc.

DISCLAIMER: By submitting an Entry, each Entrant agrees: (a) to abide by these Terms and the decisions of the Festival, which shall be final and binding in all respects relating to this Contest; (b) to the use of his/her name, voice, performance, photograph/film, image, and/or likeness for programming, advertising, publicity, and promotional purposes in any and all media, now or hereafter known, including without limitation, on the Internet, and in perpetuity by the Festival.