2021 Videography Awards Rules, Categories & FAQs

SCHEDULE 2021

30 September 2021 – Closing date for videography heat 1
30 December 2021 – Closing date for videography heat 2 & 3 (combined)

FAQs

Can photographer members enter videography heats?

Yes. Both photography and videography heats are open to all full members.

Where can I find my Awards Login details?

You will have received an email from Carmel David (info@ippva.com) with your account details.

If you cannot find your login details, please contact info@ippva.com straight away.

You could also try the “Lost Your Password” link, but if you cannot remember your account’s email, please email info@ippva.com so as not to lock yourself out with failed attempts.

Please make sure you log in to the system several days in advance in case there is a problem. Support is not available 24/7 so do not wait until 23:55 on the closing date to log in for the first time.

Note: the IPPVA Awards Website is separate from the IPPVA website and may have different email addresses and passwords set up.

OVERVIEW OF AWARDS PROGRAMME

Three categories: Wedding, Commercial and Open Creative.
Real-Time Judging: Having watched the first 60 seconds of all entries independently, the judges will meet online to discuss and judge videos that any one judge believes is award-worthy. This will allow for discussion of the videos which have potential to win awards. This session will be recorded and available to members to watch later.
Membership benefit: 1 free award entry per heat (€75 value).
Heat Schedule will be announced in advance for the year. 3 Heats for 2021.
Judge’s score: Judges will award a single score for each video they judge. The average score will dictate the award level, if relevant.
Eligible period for entry: You can enter videos shot and edited from 1 January 2018 onwards.
Judges: A list of the judges will be published.
Entry fee: €25 per video, with the first entry free. 3 entries allowed per heat in total.
Entries are open to IPPVA members only. All full members of the association are eligible to enter the photography and videography awards.

SUBMITTING YOUR VIDEOS

Login in at IPPVA Competition System.

Click the ‘more information’ button on the current heat.
Click ‘Enter Competition’ and accept the Terms and Conditions
You will be presented with the categories and upload buttons
Upload your entries
Confirm your entries look right and once you are happy with everything then hit the Pay Now button at the foot of the page

We strongly suggest that you make all your submissions before paying to keep the process simple. Once your entry is paid it will be valid. No other steps are required.

IPPVA Awards System // Login

COSTS

NEW MEMBERSHIP BENEFIT: In each heat, you may enter 1 video free of charge!

2nd and subsequent videos in a heat: €25.

AWARD LEVELS

Three levels of award available:

GOLD – videos which score 90+
SILVER – videos which score 80+
BRONZE – videos which score 70+

JUDGING CRITERIA

Judging criteria

We will advise judges of the following guidance for scoring:

96-100: Exceptional video
90-95: Superior video
80-89: High quality image
70-79: Above average video
65-69: Average video
51-64: Below average video
<= 50: Not an award standard video

In scoring a video, judges will be encouraged to consider impact, creativity and the technical aspects of the work. Technical aspects include editing, use of sound, quality of the image, composition, use of light, storytelling etc.

There is no guarantee that any particular award level will be granted in any category in any heat. This is not a “best video wins” programme. Each video is judged on its own merits and the granting of awards is at the discretion of judges.

DURATION OF ENTRIES

While entrants are encouraged to enter short/highlight videos rather than full-length features, videos may be of any duration. However, judges will only be required to watch the first 60 seconds of the video. Judges may, at their discretion, watch beyond this point, but each judge will only guarantee to watch the first 60 seconds of videos they are judging.

It is expected that a video that is deemed to be worthy of an award will be watched further, and in particular, judges will need to satisfy themselves as they see fit of the consistency and quality of the full video for awarding silver and gold awards. This may mean they watch the full video, that they scrub through it, or that they watch sections of it. Judges are human and don’t have unlimited attention spans, so entering shorter more impactful, and creative videos is likely to be a more successful strategy for entrants.

JUDGING PROCESS

Judges will watch videos independently of each other and will be asked to shortlist videos they believe are award-worthy. Judges for each category will then meet via Zoom to briefly discuss their shortlists, and to score each video that has made its way to any shortlist. Judges may talk up or down videos in this collaborative judging session if they have strong views on the merit of the video achieving a particular award or no award, before a final award/no award decision is made.

Zoom judging session will be recorded and made available to IPPVA members to watch back.

Judges will be encouraged to give constructive criticism about the videos they discuss.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

Videos are uploaded by the system to a private IPPVA Vimeo account, so videos which are compatible with Vimeo’s upload requirements will be accepted by the system. See this page for Vimeo’s recommended settings. Judges will view and score videos via the awards site, which will stream videos from Vimeo at the highest possible resolution and quality.
Videos may be of any duration, but judges are asked to judge the first 60 seconds of each entry, and beyond that at their discretion (e.g. to determine an award level or satisfy themselves of the award-worthiness of a video.

Please note that part of the T&C’s of entry is that videos entered into the awards competition are promotable and only videos that may be used in promotion should be entered.

Additionally, the awards system is not intended to be a mentoring system, so please enter only your best work. This means making sure videos are the best possible in ALL aspects.

RULES – Videography

Videos must have been filmed and edited on/after 1 January 2018 and not won awards in any other IPPVA competition.
There is a maximum of 3 entries per category, with a total submission per heat not exceeding 3 entries in total.
The videos must be anonymous and no identifying marks/watermarks/logos are permitted.
Videos entered to wedding and commercial categories must be client-commissioned videos. In the case of the wedding category, the video must be from a real wedding. Personal projects, styled shoots etc. may be entered in the Open Creative category.
It’s a condition of entry that award winning videos may be used for IPPVA publicity and promotion and shared on our social media. Only videos for which you have permission for such use should be entered.
Videos must use legally licensed music/sound. Videos which breach this will be disqualified. The judges may seek proof of usage rights where a doubt exists.
Use of third party stock footage is not permitted. All footage must be original footage. The entrant may re-use their own footage shot for other videos.
Videos which are primarily or significantly slideshows of still images will be disqualified. Still images should be entered into the photography awards. Occasional use of a still image as part of a video is permitted as long as it’s not the dominant material in the video.
Entrants must undertake that the work being entered by a videographer/studio is the product of that videographer/studio using the typical process that the videographer/studio employs for client work. The workflow and personnel used by the videographer/studio should be consistent with the typical workflow and personnel used day to day.