Comment from Jeff Morris APSSA
Time: March 18, 2009, 6:15 am

Hello Peter,
What a wonderful find! There is so much useful information about AVs and AV competitions on your site.

We have just completed the first national AV salon in South Africa (website above) with PSSA patronage and would like to trouble you with a couple of questions, if we may. We are looking to improve our system and are obviously a long way behind the UK. Any advice and suggestions would be most welcome.

How do your judges score? Are there categories or aspects that you look at specifically with scores for each? It would appear that your judges get only one viewing of each AV and then have to make decisions so there is no chance for a second look at the top scorers.

Your reference to FIAP patronage and 50% acceptances is incomplete to an outsider without the background. Do you advocate more or less than 50% acceptance? We settled on 25%.

With best wishes
Jeff Morris (1st MFFC AV Salon Director)

Comment from AVPeter
Time: March 18, 2009, 10:05 pm

Thanks Jeff for your comments and questions.
Most International AV Competitions are Judged by a team of three to five experienced AV workers. In the UK we do try to ensure that at least one of the Judges is from abroad (more often than not two – one French-speaking and the other German-speaking). You are quite right that there is usually just one chance for them to witness each Sequence although it has been known that Judges ask to see several Sequences again. One or two Events have also sent Sequences to Judges before the day(s) of the Competition so that they could view them privately but, of course, this is very different from seeing them projected on a big screen with an audience and alongside other Judges. Judges, do of course, discuss all the works before making their choices. The Chair of any Jury usually decied the procedure to be followed. My own preference is that each Judge is encouraged to say whether he(she) wishes the Sequence to be considered further for any Award. This makes the task easier towards the end of the Event. Some have Categories; some do not. I think categories are a bit of a waste of time as each category itself would contain such different works making it just as difficult to differentiate as when there are no specific categories. Some Chairs decide to allocate “marks for this that and the other, like images, sound, effects, dissolves, overall effect etc. I do not, as for me it is the overall impression which is the most important. I assume perfection and deduct “marks” for distractions from that “perfection”. This could even mean that a brilliant image detracted from the overall impression if it “interfered” with what the author was trying to “say”.
In my early experiences with FIAP, there was encouragement by awarding a FIAP “Acceptance” to all Sequences entered into an International Event, provided that they met an overall standard required by the Jury. About a decade ago things changed and FIAP decided that a maximum of 50% of entries could be recognised in this way. For me this was a discouragement for many AV workers, particularly those who were just beginning to enter such events. So a number of us, particularly in the UK, opposed this ruling. Our UK RPS International ceased to request FIAP Patronage. The only other International in the UK was the IAC Geoffrey Round International which I moved up from a local event to an International one about a decade ago; this became the world’s first totally digital AV International in 2003; this met with considerable resistance that year and the following one, but has since become the norm. The Geoffrey Round Event persisted with FIAP Patronage in the hope that FIAP would move back to its former rules; it gave up this year and there is now no Western European FIAP-Patronised AV International left. For me, leaving 50% of excellent AVs with no recognition is not the way to encourage our art form. Maybe you concept of 25% with some sort of Award and the rest with a proper recognition could be a way forward. To me it is also important that some record is retained of International works. That was an initial function fulfilled by FIAP. Now there is none. I suspect that Nations may soon make their own rather than retain any hope that FIAP may attempt to reform itself for the good of AV.
Enough!
If there is any way I can help please just ask.
There are 100 of my AVs on http://www.youtube.com under avpeter; if you ever want any of them in a higher definition, just ask and you will receive via http://www.yousendit.com
Are you aware of RPS AV News ? If not type it into Google; there are a number of AV Group web sites including Wilmslow Guild AV Group and Leeds AV Group which might also interest you.
Best wishes,
Peter