2026 MCPSS Film Festival

The 2026 MCPSS Film Festival will offer the following categories

Animation
An original film created using motion graphics, stop-motion animation, or hand-drawn/illustrated visuals.

Commercial/PSA
A short film that promotes an existing or fictional product, organization, cause, concept, or perspective.

Comedy
A fictional film intended to entertain and amuse the audience through humor, satire, or lighthearted storytelling.

Documentary
A non-fiction film that provides the audience with insight into real events, people, or issues.

Drama
A fictional film that explores emotional themes, character development, or serious subject matter in a compelling way.

How-To
A practical film designed to teach the audience how to learn a new skill, complete a project, or perform a specific task.

Music/Performing Arts
A film that tells a story or conveys a message through an original dance, vocal, or instrumental performance.

Short Film
A fictional film that presents an original and engaging story within a short runtime.

All categories will be open to all divisions.

If there is confusion on which category a particular film should be submitted, please reach out to Joseph Sikes (jsikes@mcpss.com).

Judging Criteria for all Categories:

Cinematography and Technical Quality (All Categories)

All films will be judged based on the following criteria in the Cinematography and Technical Quality portion of every rubric.

Camera Work - Displays usage of various camera angles, good framing, smooth and steady movement, and good lighting.

- - Encourage your students to film using a variety of camera shots and angles (wide, extreme close up, high, low, Dutch, etc.). These help the audience stay engaged and can even express and enhance meaning in the film.
  - Using the Rule of Thirds involves dividing your video frame into 9 equal parts with 2 horizontal and 2 vertical lines and placing points of interest on the intersections of the lines. All cameras should have an option in the settings to turn on grid lines. Use these to help frame shots and place subjects or points of interest using the Rule of Thirds.
  - For lighting, our student filmmakers should be focused on making sure that the subjects and/or actions in each shot can be seen clearly. If a character enters a dark room and picks up an object, the audience still needs to see that, so some lighting will need to be used. Although there are times that a pitch black scene could be effective, don't let the darkness hinder the audience's understanding of what is happening.

Audio - Contains clear and easy to understand audio, balanced sound levels, and appropriate music and sound effects.

- - Filmmakers should do their best to use external microphones with their cameras to capture clear audio, especially of dialogue. If an external microphone is not used, audio could be difficult for the audience to understand. If no external microphone is available, the built-in microphone on the camera can be used; however, filmmakers must remember that sound travels through the air from the subject to the camera.
  - When incorporating multiple sounds at a time, filmmakers should balance the multiple audio levels, ensuring that the most important audio can be heard over the secondary audio. For example, if music is being played at the same time as dialogue, the filmmaker should lower the volume of the music so that the dialogue can be easily understood by the audience. When the dialogue is complete, the music volume can be increased for a more immersive experience.
  - The music and sound effects selected by the filmmaker should enhance the audience's experience with the film, not distract from it. Accompanying music should fit the current mood in the film, and sound effects should "fit" well with both timing and mood. Also, the inclusion of too much music or too many sound effects can get tiring for the audience. The student filmmaker must judge the proper balance in applying these.

Pacing and Continuity - Contains appropriate pacing and maintains accurate continuity.

Pacing refers to controlling each camera shot's duration in the film. Lingering on one camera shot for too long can cause the audience to be bored and lose interest; however, camera shots that don't last long enough can prevent the audience from picking up on important details. Student filmmakers should seek to strike a balance in shot durations, changing between multiple camera shots per scene, keeping the audience engaged.
Continuity refers to the elements in a shot being in their proper place when switching to a new shot, keeping the details consistent (or continuous). Student filmmakers should begin to take notice of continuity as they begin to incorporate more cuts into their films.

Effects, Images, & Titles - Uses effects and transitions effectively and appropriately and includes relevant images & titles.

Special effects refers to any additional effects added to the film through the editing software, such as chroma key (green screen), cropping, scaling, key frames, etc. When using these, student filmmakers should be diligent in adjusting settings to find the best incorporation of the effects with minimal distractions.
Titles refers to the addition of text to the film through editing software. All films should include a credits sequence with titles. When using titles, filmmakers should ensure that the titles have correct spelling, capitalization, and punctuation. In addition, the formatting of the titles should be consistent and appropriate for the film (consistent font size, alignment, etc.).
Graphics refers to the addition of images to the film through editing software. Any additional graphics should be formatted correctly to fit the frame of the video. If a video is filmed in (horizontal widescreen but the filmmaker wants to include a vertical picture taken on a phone, steps should be taken to ensure that the sides of the video frame aren't just black bars. The filmmaker could opt to scale the picture to fill the frame, place several vertical pictures side by side to fill the frame, etc.
The Transitions criterion refers to how the film displays changes in location or the passage of time. Typically, filmmakers will use a hard cut between shots within the same location, within the same time frame; however, they may opt for a cross dissolve or fade when changing locations and time. Special effect transitions (cross dissolve, dip to black, blinds, etc.) are neat to see but aren't pleasant when they are overused. Student filmmakers need to judge when it is appropriate to use these and how often to use them.

*NOTE: Films will also be judged based on the Content and Impact criteria, specific to the individual category, which can be found on the category's page.