ACMI has detailed the top entries for Australia’s only moving image competition for school students.
ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image) has announced the finalists for the annual Screen It competition, Australia’s largest moving image competition for school-aged filmmakers, animators and game makers.
The 2016 Screen It competition attracted an unprecedented 587 entries – a 30% jump on the record entries received in 2015, making it the most competitive year to date to rank as a finalist.
Entries were created by 2,521 budding filmmakers, animators and game designers from across Australia, who responded to the 2016 theme, Mystery. Finalist entries came from schools and independent students in capital cities and regional communities in Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
Commenting on the standard of entries, ACMI Education Manager, Christine Evely said, “We are so very impressed with the inventiveness and quality of entries and congratulate all entrants. We enjoyed discovering the creative ways in which the theme of Mystery ignited imaginative storytelling among a new generation of moving image artists. We wish our finalists the best of luck in the lead up to the announcement of the 2016 winners”.
Each year, Screen It is judged by a pool of esteemed industry professionals. In 2016, judges on the Live Action panel are: Screen It Ambassadors Benjamin Law (The Family Law) and Bethany Whitmore (Girl Asleep); ACMI Director and CEO, Katrina Sedgwick; VCA lecturer and filmmaker, Adrian Holmes; Multimedia Screen Program Producer at Federation Square, Kelli Keating; Little Big Shots Film Festival Artistic Director, Ben Laden; and ACMI Education Manager, Christine Evely.
Judges on the 2016 Animation panel include the Artistic Director of the Melbourne Animation Festival Malcolm Turner; artists Ghostpatrol and animators Leo Baker and Susan Earl, alongside ACMI X Producer Emma Shearman.
For the third year running, the Videogame category is judged by two gurus of the genre – hosts of ABC2’s Good Game and Good Game Spawn Point – Steven “Bajo” O'Donnell and Stephanie “Hex” Bendixsen.
Bajo and Hex will host a dazzling red carpet awards ceremony at 10:30 AM on Friday 18 November, where the announced winners can revel in their hard-earned glory in front of peers, family and industry professionals, as they are presented with a trophy, a Screen It 2016 certificate, and the prize for their winning category.
The 2016 prizes are a Canon Australia HD Camcorder for the Animation category winner; Microsoft products including an Xbox and a selection of games for the Videogame category winner; and a Canon HD Camera plus prize pack with items from Madman and Crumpler for the Live Action category winner. Additionally, finalists and special mentions awarded by the judging panel are recognised with a prize pack of DVDs from Madman Entertainment.
Long after the ceremony is over, winning entries will be exhibited in the recently revamped Kids’ Space within ACMI’s free and permanent exhibition Screen Worlds. Audiences can also view the 2016 finalists and winners on the ACMI website and in the Australian Mediatheque, a view-on-demand facility housed inside ACMI, which is run in conjunction with the National Film and Sound Archive.
The 2016 Screen It competition finalists are:
Junior (Foundation – Year 4) Animation
The Mystery of the Missing Sock; Mentone Grammar School; Mentone, VIC
My Brother’s Bedroom; Table Cape Primary School; Wynyard, TAS
Leaf Detective; Junction Park State School; Annerley, QLD
Wolf Love Animation; Churchlands Primary School; Floreat, WA
The Identity; Preston West Primary School; Preston, VIC
Junior (Foundation – Year 4) Live Action
The Mystery of the Missing Bunnies; Wooranna Park Primary School; Dandenong North, VIC
Amazing Mums; St Anthony’s Primary School; Noble Park, VIC
Screen It Mystery; Essex Heights Primary School; Mt Waverley, VIC
Random; Home School; South Murwillumbah, NSW
The Genie; Cabramatta Public School; Cabramatta, NSW
Middle (Year 5-8) Animation
Grandma’s Gift; Table Cape Primary School; Wynyard, TAS
Escape From the East; Ruby B; Leongatha, VIC
The Black Hood Strikes; The Essington School; Nightcliff, NT
Shadow Man; Doreen Primary School; Doreen, VIC
All Washed Up; Yarraville West Primary School; Yarraville, VIC
The Mystery of the Thylacine; Yarraville West Primary School; Yarraville, VIC
Middle (Year 5-8) Live Action
A Wilted Flower; Blue Mountains Grammar School; Wentworth Falls, NSW
The Professor; Ryan and James T (Home School); Berry, NSW
Dead End; Warracknabeal Secondary College; Warracknabeal, VIC
Take Two; Gleneagles Secondary College; Endeavour Hills, VIC
Flashes; Cecilia C; Yarraville, VIC
Ghosts; Greta L; Subiaco, WA
Middle (Year 5-8) Videogame
End of the Line; Stuart C; Aldgate, SA
Down to Earth; Declan P; Crows Nest, NSW
Day One; Kingswood Primary School; Dingley Village, VIC
Mots’ Mansion; Doreen Primary School; Doreen, VIC
Senior (Year 9-12) Animation
To Be Free; Canterbury College; Waterford, QLD
Soap Opera; North Sydney Girls’ High School; Crows Nest, NSW
The Escape; Alphington Grammar School; Alphington, VIC
Puddle; Narissa A; Mansfield, QLD
The Mysterious Mr E; Tom B; Mansfield, QLD
The Ballerina; Takin N; Doncaster, VIC
Senior (Year 9-12) Live Action
Mr Sandman; Mentone Girls’ Grammar School; Mentone, VIC
The Trouble With Time; Mazenod College; Perth, WA
The Shackles You Cannot See; St Mary’s Anglican Girls’ College; Karrinyup, WA
Extrasensory Perception; St Mary’s Anglican Girls’ College; Karrinyup, WA
Hunger; Bialik College; Hawthorn, VIC
Bumps; Kellyville High School; Kellyville, NSW
Senior (Year 9-12) Videogame
Dark Hours Forgotten Paths; Mansfield State High School; Mansfield, QLD
The Adventures of the Lost Treasure; Bialik College; Hawthorn, VIC
The Chilling Chase; Ursula Frayne Catholic College; Victoria Park, WA
Out of the Darkness; Endeavour College; Salisbury East, SA
For more information you can check the official site.