The 2010 Herald’s 2 Minute Showdown

Once again the Newcastle Herald challenges short filmmakers from across the Hunter (if not the globe) to come up with a gripping and creative 2 minute micro-movie for The Herald’s 2 Minute Showdown competition.

Not only will aspiring filmmakers have the chance to showcase their talents online, but they could be in the running for $5000 worth of prize money with a top prize of $3,000. The runner-up wins $500 plus a $749 Canon lightweight compact digital video camera from Domayne.

As in previous years, the distinguished panel of Herald judges will choose a winner and a runner-up. While the Herald readers will have a chance to vote online for their favourite micro-movie. The readers’ choice wins $500 plus a Canon digital video camera worth $399.

The Herald 2 Minute Showdown offers a brilliant opportunity for filmmakers to challenge themselves to come up with a strong creative idea and work out a way to engage audiences in just 120 seconds, whether it’s a drama, a comedy, a documentary or something much more abstract.

Micro-movies online are increasingly about the culture of the amateur.

Are you ready to shoot a micro-movie? These are the main competition details:

• Must be made, dubbed and submitted by 5pm, Friday 25th June 2010
• Must be made specifically for The Herald 2 Minute Showdown
• Must be no longer than 2 minutes including titles and credits, otherwise, the movie will be disqualified
• Each movie must contain four of the five items outlined in The Herald 2 Minute Showdown brief published in The Herald from 29/5/10
• Items do NOT have to be prominent; they should be used as creatively as possible
• Movie-makers must supply their own camera and any other equipment for the purposes of making The Herald 2 Minute Showdown movie
• Movies can be shot in sequence, i.e. in a linear manner or rewound, previewed and taped over with drop-in shots
• Movie-makers are allowed to add music, voiceovers or live sound to their Movies
• The Movie-maker of the entered movie must hold copyright for music, voice over, images and performances as the movie could be shown locally, nationally and internationally for an indefinite period from July 3,2010
• The Herald 2 Minute Showdown and Newcastle Newspapers Pty Ltd take no responsibility for any breaches of copyright
• It should be noted that the Movie-maker is the owner of that movie. Any negotiations with third parties will be the responsibility of the Movie-maker

For more information on competition details and how to enter simply go to theherald.com.au.

Follow the Twitter hashtag #2minshowdown to get the latest information from the Newcastle Coffee Morning movie team (Twitter hashtag #newcastlecoffee). Join in and let’s make a movie!

Here are the two showdown 2010 items as published in the Herald:

Monday’s item is Surfboard

Tuesday’s item is Ship

Wednesday’s item is The Herald

Thursday’s item is World Cup

Friday’s item is Guitar