A film submitted to the Music & Performing Arts category should be a film that tells a story or conveys a message through an original dance, vocal, or instrumental performance (no more than 7 minutes in length, not including credits).

Music & Performing Arts

Judging of all films will be conducted by an outside third party, and the linked rubric above will be used to score each film, based on the following description.

Judging Information - Content and Impact portion criteria:

Story - Tells a compelling story with a clear, complete plot.

Plots should be clear for the audience, allowing them to easily discern the direction of the story. Student filmmakers should consider how they will introduce the audience to the world of the film (exposition), begin the conflict, generate rising action, and culminate the action with a climactic event.
Student filmmakers should spend time deciding how they can use music or performing arts to tell a story. Do the lyrics explain the action that is happening in the story? Does the instrumental piece change as the mood of the story changes? Do the movements of the dance tell a story to the audience? Is there a clear beginning and end?

Originality - Tells an original story, displaying creativity and/or imagination.

Student filmmakers should strive to submit films that have a great deal of originality, avoiding the reproduction of videos that have been submitted in the past or other well-known productions.
Although it can be difficult to completely avoid common motifs and tropes, student filmmakers can still express their creativity and imagination through their own spin on characters and scenarios. Films that display this degree of originality will score higher than films that seem to "copy and paste" these elements from other sources.

Performance - Displays clear evidence of performance rehearsal and connection to the story.

The original performance should be free of errors, showing evidence of rehearsal. Filmmakers should rerecord any aspects of the performance that contain errors or use editing to correct any issues.

BEFORE YOU SUBMIT

Use this checklist to be sure you have completed all requirements:

1) Was my film created AFTER last year's Film Festival submission date of March 14, 2025?

2) Is this the only film I'm submitting to THIS category?

3) Does my film meet the time limit requirements for THIS category (not including credits)?

4) Is my film appropriate for a K-12 school event?

5) Did I, or another student, do ALL the work on this film (brainstorming the idea, determining the structure, recording each shot, and editing the final product)?

Note: For K-2 students, teachers may offer direct guidance with these tasks; however, ultimately, the students are responsible for completing them.

6) Am I submitting my film to the correct category and division?

7) Did I include ALL required information in the film's credits (writer, director, actors, videographer, editor, cite all music and images, editing program)?

8) Did I verify none of the music I used in my film is copyrighted?

9) Does my film adhere to the Film Festival's AI policy?

If you answered "No" to any of the above questions, you should revisit that section before submitting, otherwise your film is subject to disqualification.