Rules and Roles

Schedule for video submission and adjudication:

•Video submission: any time from 6 February to 22 April 2024. Late submission will NOT be accepted.

•Schools will be grouped for adjudication through a computerised lottery system.

•The judging will be conducted from late April to May 2024. Participating schools will be informed of their results by email, and a letter will be sent to the Principal of the winning schools. All competition results will be available on the e-platform.

•The first prize winner of each session will be invited to participate in the Story to Stage Championship of Hong Kong, which will be held in person in late June.

Submission of the video:

Step 1

The video should be in MP4 format.

Step 2

Title the video, e.g. ABC Primary School_The Three Little Pigs.

Step 3

Upload your school’s video to a folder in your school’s Google Drive.

Step 4

Submit the Google Drive link via NET Section’s Google Form. (to be provided later)

Step 5

Please make sure that the link you shared is set to “anyone with the link”.

Adjudication:

Rules for video editing:

There should be no zooming in on the puppets while students’ performance is being video-recorded; the camera should be in a fixed position for the duration of the show.
Sound effects can only be used during the video-recording of students’ performance and not added afterwards.
The visual and sound quality should be good enough for adjudication purposes.
No post production editing or addition of special effect/sound effects is permitted. Entries should be one shot with no cuts or edits. (The video entry is supposed to represent a ‘live’ puppet show.)
Backdrops should be ‘real’ . ‘Virtual’ backdrops, e.g. using a projector or green screen, are NOT permitted.

Remark: If schools do not follow the above rules, marks will be deducted.

Reminders:

Use the puppetry tent with real backdrops and props.
The tent may be borrowed from the NET Section (https://nets.edb.hkedcity.net/page.php?p=434) or your school may purchase one.
As one of the activities in support of the Campaign on “Promoting Positive Values and Attitudes through English Sayings of Wisdom 2023/24”, the puppetry competition this year encourages participating schools to incorporate into their puppetry performance the campaign’s overarching theme of “In Love We Share, In Love We Grow” with “Love Nature”, “Love Myself”, “Love Learning”, “Love Our Country”, “Love the Community” and “Love Our Family and Friends” as sub-themes.
For samples of the final product of the winners’ videos, please refer to this link: https://nets.edb.hkedcity.net/page.php?p=466
Please take a photo of the performing students with their puppets on their hands and the two teacher coordinators.
The photograph should be shot right after the video shooting and submitted with the video in the link.
Please refer to the above link for winners’ photos.

(1) Expectations

Schools:

must send the EDB NET and one LET to attend the professional development workshop on puppetry in October 2023 and the cluster meeting in December 2023.

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 to 7-minute puppet show.

(2) Conditions of Entry

The Story to Stage Puppetry Competition entry form must be submitted by 15 November 2023. Late applications will NOT be accepted.
Certificates of Appreciation will be distributed to the schools at the end of the competition.

(3) Student Participants

Each school can enter multiple teams, but each entry should be unique, featuring different storyline, set of characters and other distingushing elements.
If our judges consider that two entries from the same school are too similar (same characters/same storyline/similar storyline with small adjustments), both entries will be invalidated.
The decision of the adjudicators will be considered final.
The team must be made up of 3-5 students. All students involved should play a part in the performance.

(4) Performance

Only one teacher may stay backstage during the performance.
Please note the penalty: 10 marks will be deducted for every minute or part of a minute over in performance time.

(5) Preparation

Teams may use commercial and/or hand-made puppets.
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.