CALL FOR SHORT SCI-FI FILMS

The Department of Mass Communication and the Common Reader Program at SHSU invite you to submit a short film to the "1st Annual SHSU Common Reader Film Festival: Sci-Fi". Inspired by this year's Common Reader book "An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth" by Col. Chris Hadfield, we would like to encourage all students to produce short Sci-Fi films and submit them to the very first edition of our thematic film festival. This call is open to any currently enrolled SHSU student.

Event Date: November 2, 2016
Event Time: 6PM
Event Location: LSC Theater
Open for submissions: September 19, 2016
Deadline for submissions: October 27, 2016 (11:59PM CDT)
Announce official selection: October 30, 2016

TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

All filmmakers submitting to the "1st SHSU Common Reader Film Festival: Sci-Fi" accept and agree to comply with the following Terms and Conditions:
1. Films must be of the Sci-Fi genre. Live action or Animated films are accepted.
2. To participate of the festival you must complete this form online and submit by the deadline.
3. We accept films in any language. However, films not made in English must have English subtitles.
4. The person submitting the film agrees that it may be screened at the Festival if selected.
5. You own the copyright to your film as its author and represent and warrant that you have (and will continue to have during the duration of the Festival and thereafter) all necessary licenses, rights, consents, and permissions we need to use your film and you will provide evidence of such on our reasonable request.
6. The film is under 15 minutes and must have been produced by SHSU students. You may receive help from non-SHSU students for your film production, however, a SHSU student must be the director, producer, writer, and/or editor of the film.
7. Upon your submission, you must send a downloadable link to your film and password (if applicable). Vimeo or Youtube links accepted, as long as they are downloadable.
8. You may submit a work in progress, but the film should be completed enough to be publicly screened.
9. It is at the sole discretion of the Festival Director which films will be screened.
10. NASA has downloadable footage that may be used in your films. Read the disclaimer below:

"Most NASA images and videos are in the public domain and can be used for non-commercial use without any special copyright permissions, unless a specific item is otherwise marked with information for a third-party copyright holder. Per the NASA Media Usage Guidelines (http://www.nasa.gov/ multimedia/guidelines/index. html):
 
Still Images, Audio Recordings, Video, and Related Computer Files for Non-Commercial Use
NASA content - images, audio, video, and computer files used in the rendition of 3-dimensional models, such as texture maps and polygon data in any format - generally are not copyrighted. You may use this material for educational or informational purposes, including photo collections, textbooks, public exhibits, computer graphical simulations and Internet Web pages. This general permission extends to personal Web pages.

News outlets, schools, and text-book authors may use NASA content without needing explicit permission. NASA content used in a factual manner that does not imply endorsement may be used without needing explicit permission. NASA should be acknowledged as the source of the material. NASA occasionally uses copyrighted material by permission on its website. Those images will be marked copyright with the name of the copyright holder. NASA's use does not convey any rights to others to use the same material. Those wishing to use copyrighted material must contact the copyright holder directly.

NASA has extensive image and video  galleries online, including historic images, current missions, astronomy pictures, and ways to search for NASA images. Generally, each mission and program has a video and image collection on the topic page. For example, space station videos can be found at https://www.nasa.gov/ mission_pages/station/videos/ index.html. Content can also be found on our extensive social media channels.  
 
Link to download footage: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/downloadable-video-page/#.V8xFB5MrJE5"


AWARD CATEGORIES:

Best Film
An award to film director, certificate to all group members.
A jury composed of SHSU faculty will choose the best film in the competition. This award will go to the film that tells the most compelling story first and foremost. Other technical aspects will also be taken into consideration.

Honorable Mention
An award to film director, certificate to all group members.
A jury composed of SHSU faculty will grant one film an "Honorable Mention" award for the hard work, dedication, and passion demonstrated in the film.

Special Award
An award to film director, certificate to all group members
A jury composed of SHSU faculty will grant the "Special Award" to the film that most closely incorporates the themes of the book "An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth".

Contact the Festival Director Prof. Elisa Herrmann at (936) 294-1352 or elisa.herrmann@shsu.edu for more information.