2008 West Virginia
Flash Animation Festival
Call For Entries

Event Date: Thursday, April 24, 2008 - 7:00 PM

Where: West Liberty State College, West Liberty, West Virginia

Who: College students currently enrolled in institutions of higher education throughout West Virginia and all bordering states including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, and Kentucky. You may enter as an individual, or a team of two people may collaborate on a project.

High School students in the six states may also enter the High School Entry category this year.

Cost to enter: Free

Can I win money? - Best of show wins $250. Category first prizes win $100 each. Runners-up win $50. Details below...

boxerEntry deadline: Entries will begin to be accepted after March 1, 2008. Entry deadline is Tuesday, April 15 at midnight.

Winners: Winners do not need to be present at the awards ceremony. Those who can't attend will be able to participate live via a live webcast.

History: This is the eighth annual juried West Virginia web animation event to be held at West Liberty State College. The festival was initiated as a means for student web animators in our region to gain recognition and notoriety for their work. Students from twenty-one colleges and universities from throughout WV, PA, OH, KY, VA, and MD participated in the 2007 event. View the animations from the most recent festivals: 2006 Festival | 2007 Festival

Posters: If you would like some posters to advertise the festival on your campus, drop an email with your address to the festival director with your request. We appreciate your help getting the word out.

Entry requirements: To enter the festival you must be a college student (or high school student for the high school entry) in either West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, or Kentucky. You may submit two (maximum) Flash or Shockwave submissions in the following categories:

Category
First Place
Cash Prize
Runner-Up
Comedy Short Animation (Approximately 5 minutes or less) - An original linear webisode. Will be judged on originality, artistic merit, humor, and professionalism.
$100
$50
Dramatic Short Animation (Approximately 5 minutes or less) - An original dramatic webisode. Will be judged on originality, artistic merit, dramatic presentation, and professionalism.
$100
$50
Personal resume - An interactive personal resume. Will be judged on originality, interactivity, content, artistic merit, and professionalism.

$100
$50
Professional website (real or fictitious) - An interactive professional website. Will be judged on originality, interactivity, content, artistic merit, and professionalism.

$100
$50
Advertisement - Web advertisements for real or imagined products. The advertisements can be of any dimension (height and width), should load quickly and will be judged on their creativity, style and function. Traditional web banners, or innovative forms of advertising, such as games or comedic pieces, will be accepted in this category.

$100
$50

Experimental - The experimental category is wide open. Winning entries will push the envelope in terms of programming, interactivity and/or graphic experimentation.
$100
$50

Artistic Installation - These looping stand-alone animations will be judged on originality, artistic merit and professional execution.
$100
$50

Flash Video - Original video must be shot by the student and imported into Flash to produce a swf file, or Flash files may be manipulated with video editing software such as After Effects or Premiere. Will be judged on originality, editing, artistic merit, and professionalism.
$100
$50

Interactive Game - Flash games will be judged on on original concept, interactivity, artistic merit, and professionalism.
$100
$50
Educational - Entries may include informational tools, such as interactive maps and timelines, or educational projects that include testing and user tracking. Judging will be based upon original concept, interactivity, content, and professionalism.
$100
$50

High School Entry- This category is only open to high school students. This is the only category that high schoolers may enter. The subject matter is completely up to the student. Judging will be based upon original concept, interactivity, content, and professional execution of the concept.
$150
$100

In addition to the category prizes there will be a $250 Best of Show Prize awarded. The $250 award is guaranteed. The other cash prizes are contingent upon sponsor donations. For the past 8 years we have paid out the full amount of projected prize money. boxer2

Note: Since this is an educational festival open to the public, all entries should be suitable for a general PG audience. Keep in mind that winning entries will be showcased online, so make sure your files are not too large for reasonable downloads. Also, preloaders are essential for any file over 300K.

Entry Requirements:

To submit your entry you must do the following:

1. Wait until after March 1, 2008 to submit your entry.
2. Create your animation or website at a maximum size of 955 x 600 in order to fit into the festival site template.
2. Name the files using your first and last name like this: johndoe.swf
3. Upload your files to your website.
4. Make sure your files play directly from your website URL.
5. CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR ENTRIES.

6. If your swf file requires additional files to play your complete animation, you must ALSO mail a CD of all of your files to the festival director. The CD must be received by Friday, April 18. Mail to:

James Haizlett
WV Flash Festival Director
Box 125, Hall of Fine Arts
Campus Service Center
West Liberty State College
West Liberty, WV 26074

Only two entries per student or group of two students.

Any questions about entry requirements may be directed to the festival director:
James Haizlett, Division of Art, West Liberty State College.

Winners will be announced at the Festival event on Thursday, April 24, 2008. All are welcome to attend the festival. Admission is free and refreshments will be served. Details for the live webcast participation will be forthcoming.

Winning animations will be posted on this website by April 30, 2008.

Click here for directions to West Liberty State College.

AIGA logoWhere does the prize money come from? Individuals and businesses interested in supporting the arts in this region are providing the cash prizes for the festival. Sponsors for the 2008 festival include Apple Computer, AIGA - (Pittsburgh Chapter), Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel, and the West Liberty State College Department of Arts and Communications. If you have an interest in supporting the festival, please contact the festival director.

SturmJuror: We are pleased to announce that our juror for the 2008 festival is Nancy K. Sturm, Educational Technology Advisor to the Governor of West Virginia. She has served as the Executive Director of Challenger Learning Center; Wheeling Jesuit University, and has authored and developed many online learning experiences, including "Classroom Sims" and "E-missions." She is the project manager for West Virginia's government portal website, and has briefed the White House on education technology programs.