Rules and Roles

***Due to the uncertainty arising from the COVID-19, the competition is now changed from live performance to video submission. Schools will video-tape their students’ puppet shows and submit their videos to the NET Section.

Please note that with the change of the format, a few related changes have been made to the “Rules and Roles”, as well as the “Adjudication” of the competition, namely:

Schools will record their students’ puppetry shows and submit their videos to the NET Section.
The judging criteria remain the same (please refer to the relevant competition webpage at https://nets.edb.hkedcity.net/page.php?p=495).
With respect to video editing, schools should observe the following guidelines:

There should be no zooming in on the puppets while students’ performance is being video-recorded;
Special effects (see No. 3 of the judging criteria) can only be used during the video-recording of students’ performance; and
The visual and sound quality should be good enough for adjudication purposes.

Remark: If schools do not follow the above rules, there will be a deduction of marks.

Video submission schedules:

Submission date: any time from 1 March to 31 May 2021. Late submission will not be accepted. Further submission details will be announced in March 2021.
Schools will be grouped, with each group composed of 8-10 schools. This will be done by a computerised lucky draw in early June.
The judging will be conducted from 15 June to 18 June 2021 and the competition results will be announced on 25 June 2021.
The prize-giving ceremony will be conducted in early July, date and venue to be confirmed.

(1) Expectations

Schools:

must send the EDB NET and one LET to attend the professional development workshop on puppetry in October 2020 and the cluster meeting in February 2021.

Teachers will need to:

participate fully in all puppetry activities at the professional development workshop;
use what they have learnt to prepare their students for the competition.

Students will need to:

participate fully in any training sessions organised by their teachers in preparation for the competition; and
participate in the competition by staging and performing a 5 to7 minute puppet show. Each team will perform only once.

(2) Conditions of Entry

The ‘Story to Stage’ entry form must be submitted between 25 August and 11 September 2020. Late applications will NOT be accepted.
If the competition is over-subscribed, priority will be given to schools which were accepted in the 2019/2020 school year as the competition was cancelled owing to the COVID-19 outbreak. The rest of the applicants will be selected through a lucky draw.
The story title and the team members’ names will be collected in February, after the cluster meeting.
Certificates of Achievement will be distributed to the schools at the end of the competition.

(3) Student Participants

Each school can enter one team only.
A team consists of 5 puppeteers (performers). The team must be made up of students from Primary 4-6 (KS2). All students involved should play a part in the performance.

(4) Performance

Only one teacher may stay backstage during the performance.
Please note the penalties:

1) 30 marks deduction for an extra teacher or student backstage.

2) 10 marks will be deducted for every minute or part of a minute over or under in performance time.

(5) Preparation

Teams may use commercial and/or hand-made puppets.
Teams should practise setting up to avoid time penalties.
Scripts should be practised, revised and refined prior to the competition.
Time your performance to avoid penalties.
Teams must provide their own music/sound effects.