1. The competition opens for entries on Monday 11 January 2010. The deadline for submitting entries is midnight (GMT) on Thursday 1 April 2010.
2. The competition is open only to students enrolled at schools and other educational institutions in the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland). SSAT schools outside of the UK, since these are inspected by OFSTED, are also eligible to enter.
3. We can only accept animations created using one of the following approved packages: Alice, Scratch, Greenfoot, Flash, or Serif. If your school uses some other package, and you wish to use it to create entries for the Competition, please contact us before starting work on your animations.
4. A special note about Flash. If you submit a Flash .swf file, that file must have been authored using Adobe Flash or Serif. We cannot accept swf files have been created using other authoring systems. If you use Adobe Flash/Serif, it is acceptable to use any other programs to create assets that are later imported into Adobe Flash/Serif, provided that Adobe Flash/Serif is used to structure, compose, and author the final animation in swf format. It is not acceptable to use Adobe Flash/Serif merely as a method of importing and converting a complete pre-existing animation, created using arbitrary other software, into swf format.
5. A special note about stop-frame animation. Animations which comprise 100% stop-frame techniques are not eligible for the Competition. However, it is permissible to use stop-frame techniques if they are used as part of an animation created using other computer animation techniques.
6. We cannot accept animations which are interactive. In other words, the animation must run, standalone, without any user input. In particular, interactive games are not eligible. We have nothing against interactive animations but we have to impose a time limit on each animation in order to make the judging process manageable and interactive entries do not fit within such a structure.
7. Entries can only be accepted if submitted on-line using the official competition entry form webpage, which will be open when the competition launches.
8. Your animation can be about anything you want, with one constraint: it must be inspired by material from the taught curriculum. It might tell a story, or explain or demonstrate something - the only limit is your imagination!
9. Entries must be original works created by the individual or team submitting the entry. However we do realise that it is entirely appropriate that children entering may receive professional support from teachers/classroom assistants, as part of the usual teaching and learning process.
10. The duration of an entry must be no more than 1 minute. There is no minimum length.
11. There is no restriction on the number of separate entries an individual or team may make. However, if an individual or team submits multiple entries, the content of each entry must be substantially different.
12. If your entry incorporates music, sound samples, text, or images, you must own the rights to use that material, and you will be asked, during the submission process, to confirm that you own the rights. For ideas about sources of freely-usable music, this article from The Guardian has lots of pointers.
13. The University of Manchester reserves the right to reject any entry which, in its view, contains inappropriate material.
14. When you submit an entry you grant The University of Manchester permission to make unrestricted use of the entry in future, for educational or publicity purposes. In such use, the University will ensure that the author/school is clearly acknowledged.
15. Submitted entries may be exhibited at the annual Animation Festival, and displayed on webpages hosted by The University of Manchester, which will also contain entrants' and schools' names (but no further contact details).
16. The University of Manchester will keep your contact data confidential and will not release it to any other parties.

 

Judging criteria

Entries will be judged within their category. There are 8 categories:

• Age 7-11 (Key Stage 2) - individual or team
• Age 11-14 (Key Stage 3) - individual or team
• Age 14-16 (Key Stage 4) - individual or team
• Age 16-19 (studying in sixth form/college) - individual or team

Each entry will be reviewed by a panel of judges. The judges will not know the entrants' names or their schools' names. The judges will award points for each of the following:

1. Originality
2. Creativity
3. Technical quality, use of animation software features
4. Relevance to the taught curriculum
5. Overall directorial quality as a movie

In each category there will be one Winner, and one Runner-Up, each of which will receive a prize. Within each category, the judges may also identify a number of entries as "Highly Commended" or "Commended" for their quality. Other prizes may also be awarded, at the judges' discretion. All winning entries will be exhibited at the annual Animation Festival, and displayed on the web.

All entrants will receive a certificate acknowledging their entry to the competition.

The decisions of the judging panel are final, and no correspondence will be entered into.