A multimedia category has been introduced this year. It is separate to the newspaper entry and aims to target students’ and schools’ ability to harness new technologies. School teams are encouraged to create a 1-3 minute news bulletin on video. It can be about any topic of your choice, but should be timely, relevant and of interest to the Herald audience. The video must be written, filmed and narrated by students and preferably edited by them too. Videos will be marked on relevance, content, presentation and film techniques such as framing, balance and sound capture. They will be uploaded onto the Herald website after initial judging.

How to complete your entry

*Videos need to go for 1-3 minutes in total, about 1-3 news stories

*Film video in either mp4, .mov, and Windows Media file formats on a digital camera or video camera or smartphone

*Topic of bulletin must be a news story, not an opinion piece or music video.

*Topic can be something that was written about in the paper entry or a new story

*Student/s must present the information on screen (either standing or seated) looking in to the camera.

*The video must include cutaway or overlay footage to either a location spoken about in the bulletin and/or to a person being interviewed for a quote for the bulletin

*The videos must be edited in-house, that is, by the students with teacher guidance, not professionally

*Make sure it covers the who, what, where, when, why of the topic

*At the end of the video, close by saying “this report was brought to you by…your school name”.

*Resources on filming techniques and examples will be made available online at theherald.com.au

See what schools did last year here: 2014 archive.

Entries must be received by COB Friday, October 9, however schools are welcome to submit their video anytime before this date.

Sending in your entry

Entries must be provided on USB stick, either mailed or dropped into:

Judith Whitfield

The Newcastle Herald

28-30 Bolton St

Newcastle, NSW 2300

(Include a return address so your USB can be mailed back to you)

Judging

Videos will be marked on the following criteria:

Relevance – is the topic timely and of interest to a Herald audience?

Accuracy – is the video balanced and informed, is the information well-structured

Content – is the bulletin well-written and read, does it include location footage and footage of someone being interviewed

Presentation – has the presenter and others onscreen spoken clearly and engaged with the camera

Technique – is the video in focus, is the sound audible, are the people and images balanced within the frame

Length – is it within the 1-3 minute time limit

Prize

A prize of a $500 Domayne voucher will be awarded to the school that creates the best video, supplied by our awesome competition sponsor, the Newcastle Permanent Building Society. This will be announced at the end of year awards ceremony.