Welcome to Student Nature Vids!
Save the Date!
Nature Fair & Film Festival
Lory Student Center, West Courtyard and Theatre
May 2, 2024
12 – 1:15 p.m. Film Viewing | 1:30-3:30 p.m. Festival
A University-wide student video competition showcasing beautiful vistas, wildlife, and outdoor adventure with a chance to earn recognition (including CA$H prizes) for creativity and love for nature.
DJ / MUSIC
PRIZES
FREE PIZZA (First Come, First Serve)
GAMES
NETWORKING
NATURE-BASED ORGANIZATIONS (See sponsors at bottom of page)
Event Program
Submissions are CLOSED
for the 2023-2024 competition!
Deadline: Feb. 28, 2024.
Category Overviews
Filmmakers must self-select the category they feel best fits their short video. Footage can be raw or purposely edited and must be below 2GB in size and < 3 min in length. The winner in each category will receive a prize of $1,000!!
Videos which emphasize humans enjoying the outdoors. Examples include:
- Cultural tourism (e.g., food, study tours, performing arts, festivals/cultural events, ethnic/indigenous tourism, sites and monuments, folklore/art, pilgrimages, etc.)
- Extreme sports/adaptive extreme sports
- Canoeing/kayaking
- Camping / hiking
- Ecotourism
- Skiing / snowboarding
- World travel (e.g., international adventure, cultural exchange, etc.; this category reminds us that humans are part of nature, not separated from it)
- Climbing
Videos which emphasize the natural world, including human effort to protect it. Examples include:
- Sustainability (e.g., climate change mitigation)
- Nature conservation
- Protected areas (e.g., National Parks)
- Flora / fauna
- Landscapes / seascapes
- Environmental communication (e.g., outdoor educational programs, interpretive signage, etc.)
Videos which emphasize any occurrence in nature giving us a chuckle. These can be prepared in advance or random occurrences, and human involvement is optional. Examples include:
- Gaffes
- Surprises
- Satire
- Singing/Dance routines
- Jokes
Note: Any video at odds with CSU’s Code of Student Conduct will not be released for viewing, nor considered as a viable entry for the Film Festival competition.
Judging Criteria
Video submissions for each category will be reviewed in the Spring by a neutral committee of WCNR students and faculty not participating in the competition. Did we mention that the winner in each category will receive $1,000!?!?!
The judging criteria includes:
- Sizzle (overall “wow” factor based on what the judge / viewer / audience experiences while viewing; i.e., is it interesting?)
- Production quality (sound, imagery, lighting, etc.; i.e., is it technically/aesthetically intact?)
- Impact (measures what the judge / viewer / audience is thinking and feeling while interacting with the story, setting, “characters” – e.g., wildlife, plants, people; etc. – and overall message of the video; i.e., is it inspiring?)
FAQs
- Do I have to be a HDNR student or a WCNR student? No, this is open to all CSU students!
- Can I form a team? Yes, but we can’t rip the $1,000 winning check into parts, so you as a team will have to divvy up the winnings amongst yourselves!
- Will there be another Film Festival? Yes, we are still finalizing the details, but it’ll be during Warner’s Natural Resource Days in April!
Disclaimer
- Organizers of this film festival reserve the right to cancel competition categories and or require that entrants re-assign their submissions to other categories as needed (e.g., if the number of submissions for a particular category is insufficient to include that category in the final competition).
Presenting Sponsors
Major Sponsors
