The 1st Annual Falcon Film Fest

February 22nd at 6pm in Penn Science Building, Room 100

All new or updated information is highlighted in red.

PLEASE NOTE: The deadline for film submissions has been extended to Monday, February 19th at Noon.

The 1st Annual Falcon Film Fest is an event where students are invited to engage in some fun, some self-expression, and the beginning of great things by creating and entering their own short films. Guidelines for the Falcon Film Fest are below. Falcon Film Fest is sponsored by the Office of Inclusion and International Student Services, please direct all questions to Case Bell at Case_Bell@Friends.Edu. While not a requirement for participation, if you are interested in participating, we would appreciate it if you would start by sending in an Interest Form by clicking on this link.

Guidelines for all films:

All current Friends students, undergraduate or graduate, are eligible to submit a film. Faculty, staff, and other community members are eligible to participate in student films as requested, but submissions and prizes are considered to belong to the students.
With the exception of Masterpiece Theater, all submissions should be five minutes or under. Submissions for the Masterpiece Theater category are limited to 10 minutes.
Submissions should honor the Friends University Community Life Standards contained in the Student Handbook. Drug use, alcohol use, gambling, excessive violence, overt sexual behavior/innuendo, and vulgar language are prohibited without prior approval. Exceptions can be made on a case-by-case basis when the prohibited activity or behavior uniquely contributes to the narrative or artistic expression. All submissions will be screened for compliance with competition guidelines. Exceptions to this guideline should be requested when submitting the film.
Films should not portray Friends University in such a way that would be considered demeaning or derogatory.
Films should be submitted by 5pm on February 19th at Noon. Films can be submitted by sending the film via sharing from a cloud database, upload through a to-be-provided Dropbox, or by providing the Office of Inclusion and International Student Services with a thumb drive.
All films will be edited for sound clarity and comfort of the audience.
It is requested, but NOT REQUIRED, that you fill out an interest form on the website for planning purposes. Interest form can be found HERE.

Submission Instructions

Films must be submitted in either the .MOV or .MP4 file format in one of three ways:

By delivering it on a thumb drive to my office,
Using a file sharing website where you send me a link to the file, or
(this option is still pending) submit via a provided Dropbox upload link.

When you submit a film, please use the following file format:

(Student Name)-(Film Title)-(Film Category).MP4/MOV

For example, if the student submitting the film or the student the group has selected as the point of contact for the group is named Jason Brown, the title of the film is “the Jason Smith Project,” and the film is being submitted for the “For the Laughs” category, the file name would look like this:

Jason Brown – the Jason Smith Project – For the Laughs.MP4

Once you submit a file, expect an email from me to your Friends email address confirming your information.

Submission Categories

All categories are competitive unless otherwise noted.

Masterpiece Theater

Submissions for this category are to be story-based with a deliberate narrative.
- Some examples of genre of story might include:
  - Drama
  - Comedy
  - Romance
  - Romance-Comedy
  - Suspense
Submissions are limited to 10 minutes.

This is Me

Submissions for this category are to be a self-portrayal without a fictional narrative.
- Some examples might include:
  - A film tour of your home, country/town of origin, your family, or social group.
  - A film interview of yourself or someone formative in your life.
  - An autobiographical retelling of your obstacles and academic accomplishments at Friends.
  - A story, either told verbally, cinematically, or through music, from your life, such as a testimonial or family tradition.
Submissions for this category are limited to 5 minutes.

For the Laughs

Submissions for this category are to be comedy-based, though there are no structural or thematic requirements.
- Some examples might include:
  - A filmed and edited stand-up routine.
  - A parody of a TV show, movie, or music film.
  - An original, funny or silly scripted scene similar to Tik Tok or Vines.
Submissions for this category are limited to 5 minutes.

Non-competitive Submissions (for fun)

Non-competitive submissions are films submitted that do not fit within the three competitive categories.
Non-competitive submissions are not bound by a thematic category, but must still be under 5 minutes and abide by general submission guidelines.

Prizes:

All films by students within the three competitive categories are eligible to win a prize.
- Staff and faculty are eligible to participate in student films at the request of students, but are not eligible for prizes.
Winners for each category will be determined by a panel of judges, the same panel will judge all three competitive categories.
- Judges will judge the films on a partly unique set of selection criteria per category (criteria are subject to change):
  - Masterpiece Theater
    - Quality of Script
    - Quality of acting
    - Use of music, film editing, and/or audio editing
    - X-Factor
    - Overall execution
  - This is Me
    - Filmography
    - Use of music, film editing, and/or audio editing
    - Genuinness
    - Thought provoking
    - Overall execution
  - For the Laughs
    - Comedic delivery
    - Quality of script
    - Originality
    - Audience reaction
    - Overall execution
- Judges will be announced at a future date/time.
The prizes for each category will be given in the form of a gift basket with contents equaling set monetary value.
- 1^st place – $200
- 2^nd place – $100
- 3rd place – $50
- The values and number of prizes are the same for all three categories.