Terms & Conditions

Competition Rules 2020

Competition Rules

General

1. By entering the competition you agree to these competition rules which apply to your participation in the competition.
2. The competition is being run by Bournemouth University Higher Education Corporation (“BU”/ “we”/ “us’”/ “our”) of Poole House, Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole BH12 5BB.
3. The opening date for application to enter the competition is 13 January 2020 09.00 and the closing date is 23 March 2020 12 noon and entries received after that date and time will be considered only in exceptional circumstances at the discretion of BU.
4. The competition is free to enter.

Eligibility

5. You must be part of a team of 5. Teams must be formed at the time of entry, and no substitutes will be allowed.
6. Applications from individuals or teams of less than or more than 5 will not be considered.
7. The competition is open to all UK, EU and international residents aged 18 years or over.
8. You must be:
   1. currently undertaking graduate or postgraduate studies at a UK University; or
   2. have graduated from or be studying at a UK University or UK College of Further Education within the last 2 years and have 3 or more team members who fulfil the requirement at 8.a. above; and
9. You must not:
   1. have more than a total 8 months’ full time relevant work experience within the last 3 years (consecutive or otherwise); and / or
   2. be currently employed in the VFX, Animation or games/interactive entertainment industries.

Internships or placements undertaken during study will not be construed as “relevant work experience” for the purposes of this clause.

10. No more than 2 team members out of 5 can be previous BFX competitors.
11. You will be responsible for your own visa arrangements, if applicable.
12. By entering the competition, you confirm that you are eligible to do so and eligible to claim any stipend and other competition benefits including any prize you may win. BU may require you to provide proof that you are eligible to enter the competition.
13. If you are found to not to meet the criteria, BU reserves the right to disqualify you, or take such other steps it considers appropriate.

Application and selection

1. Teams must apply for entry to the competition by submitting the application form available on the BFX website including attaching their individual team member showreels.
2. A judging panel will select and determine which teams have been successful in their application to enter the competition and their decision will be final.
3. The panel will include members of BU staff from the BFX team, x4 charities (BU’s chosen charities for the BFX 2020 competition to be announced 27 January 2020), Kingston Smith (the main BFX sponsor for 2020) and the group of industry mentors selected by BU.
4. The selection process will involve a review of the applications received, from which applicants will be shortlisted. Those shortlisted may be required to attend an online interview via Skype, after which final selections will be made.
5. All materials submitted as part of your application must be original and must not infringe any existing intellectual property rights. If any materials are subsequently found to be infringing, BU reserves the right to disqualify you and / or your team.
6. BU does not accept responsibility for the return of any materials.
7. If successful you will be provided with a welcome pack containing these rules and other practical details relating to the competition to confirm the basis of your participation in the competition.

The competition

8. This section along with the Mentoring, Prizes, Judging and Assignment of Intellectual Property sections only apply to successful individuals whose team has been selected for participation in the competition (referred to as “competitors” and each a “competitor”).
9. There will be 8 teams of 5 competitors selected to take part in the competition working to produce a 30-second film. The teams will have 7 weeks to produce a proposal, including animatic, character/environment design, storyboard, creative and technical treatment, Gantt chart and team member profiles/showreels.
10. The competition will be hosted at BU at our address as set out above in Bournemouth, Dorset, England, between 13 July and 28 August 2020 or at such other location and such other dates that BU acting reasonably shall decide. BU will provide competitors with their schedule at the start of the competition. Competitors are expected to attend all appointments on their schedule.
11. Teams will be required to work on the competition at BU premises or at another location as specified by BU acting reasonably for a minimum of 35 hours per week between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday from 13 July – 28 August 2020 (“official opening hours”).
12. All competitors will be required to attend BU premises or another location specified by BU for compulsory meetings or group sessions on dates to be specified by BU.
13. Facilities may be available outside the official opening hours, but we would encourage work to take place during the official opening hours. If competitors wish to work additional hours, they should inform the Festival Director or Coordinator in advance.
14. Competitors will not be allowed time off during this period except under exceptional circumstances.
15. Competitors will only be allowed to participate in paid work outside the competition during the period of the competition with the written approval of BU and their team members.
16. Competitors will need to make their own travel arrangements to and from competition locations, and will need to arrive at BU by 9am on 13 July 2020.
17. BU will provide accommodation at its Talbot Campus student accommodation (The Student Village) and a one off stipend of £350 per competitor will be provided to cover expenses for the 7 weeks. BU reserves the right to provide alternative accommodation to competitors if required. If a competitor leaves the competition early for any reason, BU reserves the right to claim back the stipend on a pro rata basis and make a reasonable charge for accommodation.
18. Competitors are reminded that they must treat all facilities and accommodation in an appropriate fashion, and will be liable for any damage or losses caused.
19. BU will not be liable to competitors for loss or damage to their personal belongings or work, and are encouraged to obtain personal insurance.
20. Competitors are not expected to bring assets with them. Use of assets created by competitors before the competition will be at the discretion of BU.
21. Teams must submit their final 30-second film by 12:00 (noon) on 28 August 2020 as an upload. Instructions on how to do this will be provided to candidates nearer the time. Any film received after that date and time will be considered only in exceptional circumstances at BU’s absolute discretion.

Mentoring

22. BU will arrange competition mentors (individuals from the industry with relevant experience) to assist teams during the competition.
23. It is anticipated that competition mentors will spend 3 full days in Bournemouth and work across all teams as well as using an online forum providing feedback.
24. BU will ask each mentor to provide feedback to all of the teams as opposed to having one designated mentor per team.

Prizes

25. The competition ends with an Awards Ceremony Event at the BFX Festival on the 3 October 2020 (or such other date as specified by BU).
26. All competitors must attend the Awards Ceremony Event.
27. There are awards for the best film for each charity.
28. Other awards may include:
    1. Best Visual Development
    2. Best Character
    3. Best Environment
    4. Best Animation
    5. Best Cinematography
    6. Best Editing
    7. Best Rendering and Shading
    8. Best FX
    9. Best Rigging
    10. The BFX Mentors Best Film

29. The prizes for each award will be confirmed during the Awards Ceremony Event.
30. All prizes are non-exchangeable, non-transferable and no cash alternatives will be offered.
31. BU reserves the right to substitute prizes with another prize of equal or higher value if circumstances beyond our control make it necessary to do so.
32. BU’s use of particular brands as prizes does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement of such brands.

Judging

33. The judging panel will select and determine the winning teams for each award category based on consideration of:
    1. character and environment modelling;
    2. compositing;
    3. animation;
    4. lighting;
    5. rigging; and
    6. rendering.

The panel will also be looking at group organisation and how well team members listen to and implement feedback.

34. All materials submitted as part of the competition must be original and must not infringe any existing intellectual property rights. If any materials are subsequently found to be infringing, BU reserves the right to disqualify the whole team unless BU in our absolute discretion determine otherwise.
35. BU has the right to reject any materials submitted which BU feels do not meet the competition criteria or these rules, or which BU feels are derogatory, immoral and or inappropriate.
36. BU does not accept responsibility for the return of any materials.
37. The decision of the judges is final and no correspondence will be entered into about it.

Assignment of Intellectual Property

38. By submitting your competition entry, you agree to assign to the charity for which you were tasked to produce a film as part of the competition, your intellectual property rights contained in the finished film (the “Film”). You also agree to waive your moral rights in copyright in the Film.The above assignment takes effect as a present assignment of future rights and will apply immediately on your team’s submission of the Film as its final competition entry. You must execute all documentation necessary to evidence the intellectual property assignment if requested to do so by BU or the charity.
39. The charity will be required to grant a licence to you to use the Film in your portfolio for academic or research purposes, or for job interview or career advancement.
40. While BU makes every effort to credit competitors as the creators of the work, including in any reproductions, we cannot guarantee this, nor can we guarantee that the selected charities will do this. Media and third parties will be allowed to record and publish the works free of charge for the purpose of promoting the competition and BU will not have control over how they use it.
41. Competitors may be required to take part in the making of a documentary film relating to the competition, to be used at BU’s discretion. Competitors hereby agree to assign all performance rights in the resulting sound and visual recording to BU and agree to waive all moral rights in their performance in the recording.

Other

42. BU reserves the right to cancel the competition or amend these rules at any time, without prior notice.
43. In the event of any dispute regarding these rules, conduct, results, and all other matters relating to the competition, the decision of BU and/or the competition judging panel will be final, and no correspondence will be entered into.
44. While BU will use reasonable endeavours to arrange the competition, it does not accept any liability in circumstances where the competition may be cancelled or amended in any way.
45. BU reserves the right to disqualify you and or your team if it has reasonable grounds to believe you have breached any of these rules.
46. All work must be generated by you and your team members on the designated competition site during the 7 week competition.
47. BU expects the competitors to create everything on site during the 7 week competition. BU has the right to ask for verification of the provenance of all elements submitted as part of your team’s final sequence.

Limitation of Liability

48. BU does not accept any liability for any damage, loss, injury or disappointment suffered by any entrants as a result of either participating in the competition or being selected for a prize, save that BU does not exclude its liability for death or personal injury as a result of its own negligence.

Jurisdiction

49. The competition and these rules will be governed by English Law and any disputes will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

Data Protection

50. Your personal data will be collected and used in the following ways:

Applicant stage

1. 1. The information you provide to us when you enter the competition, including your name and contact details, will be used by BU for the purposes of managing and administering the competition.
   2. We will provide your name to the judging panel so that they can select and determine which teams have been successful in their application to enter the competition.

Competitor stage

1. 3. We will provide your name to the judging panel so that they can select and determine the winning teams for each award category.
   4. We will arrange for our marketing department to take photographs of the teams during the competition. There may also be occasions when competitors are filmed during the competition and interviewed as part of a film. If you provide your consent below, we may use such photographs/footage on our website, social media pages and YouTube account for marketing purposes.
   5. We may publish your name and the institution you are studying at in association with the competition, if you provide your consent below.
   6. We publish team photos and team names in the Competition Awards Brochure that is handed out during the Awards Ceremony Event.
   7. We are likely to take (or arrange for subcontractors to take) photographs at the Awards Ceremony Event, which may be published on our website and social media pages for marketing purposes. If you have any concerns about this, please let us know ahead of the event.

51. The legal basis for our processing of your personal data in 50(a), 50(b) and 50(c) above is that this processing is necessary for the performance of the contract between you and BU (i.e. the contractual arrangements dealing with your participation in the competition).
52. The legal basis for our processing of your personal data in 50(d) and 50(e) is consent. You can choose to withdraw your consent to this processing, except that once the final edit of any film has been signed off and has entered the public domain, you will no longer be able to withdraw your consent at that stage.
53. The legal basis for our processing of your personal data in 50(f) and 50(g) is that this is necessary for legitimate interests pursued by BU, i.e. increasing awareness of our activities and sharing information of interest to the public.
54. For further data protection information, please see our Prize Draw and Competition Privacy Notice, accessible at:

https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/about/governance/access-information/data-protection-privacy