Birth Videographer of The Year 2024 Awards Rules + Prizes

GENERAL RULES

• There is 1 overall Birth Videographer of the Year in which there is a winner and 4 finalists.
• Within Birth Videographer of the Year, the following 3 sub-categories (determined by film purpose) can be entered: 
• Full Birth Story- This tells the full story of the birth from start to finish
• Highlight Reel- This shows the best parts of the birth in a concise film edit
• Sizzle Reel- This is a montage of all of your work that displays your diversity and capability in camera and post production
  
• The entrant may submit up to 3 film entries in total. To win, your portfolio should consist of one video in each sub-category 
• Each sub-category will be judged all together with the entrants chosen sub-category announced to the judges.
• The Birth Photographer of the Year will be judged as a completely separate overall awards process, with separate winners, and prizes, and will not contribute to the portfolio of the Birth Videographer of the Year.
• All are welcome to enter.
• Films entered in previous years cannot be entered (applicable from 2022).
• Films must have been fully captured by the entrant.
• Entrants must own the rights to the content within the film and the final film itself, including a music license (able to be produced, if requested).
• Entrants may choose to outsource production as long as this is declared in the submission process. Failure to do so will lead to disqualification.
• All third-party post production MUST have been done under the direct instruction of the videographer/entrant. 
• Consent must be given by all subjects depicted in the film with model releases/proof of consent able to be provided if requested.
• Judges are permitted to enter but will be removed by the panel chair (or must step down) when their own work is being judged.
• Logos, credits or websites that identify the entrant, their business or associates are not permitted. Entries that do not comply will be returned to the entrant to resubmit pending time. If entrant cannot supply a non watermarked version in time, no refunds are given. It is the responsibility of the entrant to submit entries in a timely manner within the timeframes set out by the event organisers. 

ENTRY VETTING

• Each film will be vetted to ensure the authenticity of the production and to ensure they meet the criteria of the rules.
• If films do not meet the rules outlined here, entrants will be notified. Non-responsive submitters will not be refunded.
• Films that do not meet the vetting criteria may be returned to the entrance to fix any issues and be resubmitted pending there is time before the close of entries.
• Exposing Birth reserves the right to disqualify entries during or after the competition if they are found to breach the rules of this competition, (even if they pass the initial vetting process).
• The vetting team reserves the right to ask for raw files to verify the authenticity of the content.

CONTENT & SUB-CATEGORY SPECIFIC RULES

• All scenarios of birth are encouraged to be entered. We want representation, not just inclusivity.
• Films must be an authentic representation of an event that unfolded in front of you without direction or placement. 
• Films of staged model calls, workshops, or mock births are prohibited.
• Portfolio building model calls are permitted as long as the model is legitimately giving birth/labour/postpartum in the film.
• Still images are permitted within an entry.
• Advanced post production is permitted, as long as it is a true and accurate representation of the events depicted.
• Conversion to black and white is permitted.
• All films must include some aspect of process of birth. 
• Films may include scenes from maternity through to post-partum, as well as interviews and supporting footage/b-roll.

• Post-partum is classified as anything up to 6 months from date of birth.
• Submissions may contain family members.
• Submissions may only contain birth workers (e.g. midwives, doctors, doulas etc.) where a written model release has been obtained, staff can confirm their consent if requested (e.g. via email, phone call or other method), or if their identity is unidentifiable.

• Medical facilities (e.g. hospitals and birth centers) are only permitted to be identified so long as filming does not breach organisational policy (e.g. facility clearly states that filming is prohibited) and the film does not compromise the operation of the facility, or its birth workers (e.g. adverse outcomes and stillbirth).
• Medical procedures (e.g. epidural, caesareans, instrumental delivery) may only be depicted where the hospital and/or birth workers are not identified, or written/verbal permission has been granted by the care provider depicted. 

Category Overview

Sizzle Reel (typically up to 90 seconds)– Does the short film convey a message quickly and efficiently. Does it aim to educate, entertain, or inspire its viewer. Was it done well in an exceptionally innovative way that we haven’t seen before?

Highlight Reel (typically up to 3 minutes)– Does the highlight give the viewer the best of the best moments of the film. Does it leave the viewer feeling satisfied and as if they understood all steps that happened even though some may be missing. 

Feature Length Birth Story (typically up to 5 minutes)– Does the feature length birth story give as many details without being too detailed and losing the message of the film. Is it put together in a way that elicits time and emotion in an effective way? Could the point of the story be told in 2 minutes instead of 10 minutes? 

Top 20
Twenty (20) semi-finalists will be chosen to compete for Birth Videographer of the Year following the completion of live-judging. 

Semi-finalists are determined using the aggregate scores (total of achieved by each entrant.) The top 20 entrants with the highest aggregate score become the semi-finalists.

Each participant’s scores will be tallied up out of a max of 5 entries. Those 5 with the highest aggregate scores will be considered the Top 20.

For Example:

Scenario 1-

Lacey enters 4 videos and scores 20 on all 4 images making her aggregate score 80

Sally enters 5 videos and each image scores 20 making her aggregate score 100.

Sally would then proceed to be a semi-finalist pending 19 other participants did not score higher than her aggregate.

Scenario 2-

Lacey enters 4 videos and each image scores 30 making her aggregate score 120

Sally enters 5 videos and each image scores 20 making her aggregate score 100.

Lacey would then proceed to be a semi-finalist pending 19 other participants did not score higher than her aggregate.

How Finalists Are Chosen

To become a finalist you will have been chosen by our previous panel of 5 judges to proceed to the next phase of judging. Our judges are looking for diversity, innovation, visual communication, and impact.

Our panel of judges will then select 5 to proceed to be in the running to win Birth Videographer of the Year

How The Winner is Chosen

Our fresh panel of judges will then judges the final portfolios based on diversity, cohesiveness, innovation, and technical skill. From the 5 there First, Second, and Third Place winners will be announced with the following two submissions being runner-ups.

Judging

Judging criteria is as follows:

Each image will be judged individually based on the skill of the photographer.

• 0-19 Approaching Professional Standard
• 20-29- Professional Standard
• 30-39- Bronze
• 40-44- Silver
• 45-50- Gold

Approaching Professional Standard– The videographer still needs to garner some knowledge on basic video theory and technical skill. With some practice, improvement can easily be made.
Professional Standard- The videographer has displayed a basic understanding of basic camera technique and post production ie lighting, settings, music integration and colour grading). This would be what is expected of any professional videographer.
Bronze– The videographer has displayed above average skill. They have been able to produce a quality film using advanced technical skill, post production and intentional story telling.
Silver– The videographer has displayed superior skill and knowledge in lighting, creativity, and composition. Visual communication and emotive storytelling is apparent.
Gold– The photographer exceeds in technical skill,  innovation, emotional storytelling, and visual communication. Clear intention is executed and communicated in all aspects from filming to production.

How scoring is calculated:

5 judges offer a score between 0-50

Average: each individual judges scores are added up and divided by 5 (the number of judges) to give you your overall score for your image

Aggregate: if you entered multiple images, your individual score for each image will be added up to provide an aggregate score for your portfolio.
The top 20 aggregate scores will become our Top 20 Semi-Finalists

CHALLENGES

A judge may choose to challenge the score of an image only if he or she is more than 10 points off from the final average score of the image.

For example:

• Judge 1 scores 35
• Judge 2 scores 19
• Judge 3 scores 21
• Judge 4 scores 20
• Judge 5 scores 22

This score averages 23.4- Professional Standard 

Judge 1 then has the opportunity to challenge this image and talk to the panel of judges and explain why he/she thinks this is a higher scoring image. A discussion can emerge and judges can then rescore with a new perspective.