Top Ten Ways to Lose the Five Freedoms Contest

October 15, 2009 With the launch of HSBJ’s Five Freedoms PSA Contest, many students and teachers have asked for tips on what the judges look for in a winning entry. Because we receive so many entries that are excellent…except for one glaring problem, we decided to turn the question around and tell you not how to win the contest, but how to lose it.

So here’s our list of the top ten ways to turn a winning entry into a loser.

1. Misrepresent the First Amendment. Contrary to what some believe, the First Amendment doesn’t give you the right to say whatever you want whenever you want. There are limits to free speech. For example, you can’t yell fire in a crowded theatre; you can’t joke about having a bomb when you’re in line at the airport and you can’t tell lies that damage or defame a person or organization. Each year, we disqualify a large number of entries because the PSA demonstrated that the students didn’t understand what Freedom of Speech really means.   

2. Ignore the time limit. A 30-second PSA should run 30 seconds. We typically accept entries between 28-32 seconds, but if it's a lot shorter or longer, it will be disqualified. 

3. Forget the slate. The rules explicitly state that each entry must contain a 10-second, full-screen slate at the beginning of the PSA that includes the names of the producers, the school name and address, the title of the entry and the total running time. Unfortunately, each year we receive many entries that don’t include it.

4. Sacrifice content for technique. Obviously, we want to see PSAs that are both technically proficient and conceptually sound, but if you have to choose one over the other, make sure you get the content right. We’ve seen many well-produced PSAs that didn’t win because the students misstated the Freedom or Freedoms they were trying to illustrate.     

5. Have more than three producers. Each PSA that you submit can have no more than three students on the production team.

6. Produce great video with terrible sound. Sound production is the area where we see most of the technical mistakes. Make sure your microphones are working and your actors are clearly articulating their lines. You won’t win if the judges can’t hear or understand what you’re saying.         

7. Use copyrighted music without permission. Copyright infringement is serious, but some people believe they can use copyrighted work as long as they’re not profiting from it. That’s not true, so don’t use music in your PSA unless you have permission. Best bet: write and play your own on GarageBand (Mac friendly) or Fruity Loops (PC friendly), or find a local musican to help.       

8. Mistake being obnoxious for being funny.  We encourage you to submit PSAs that are funny, but humor is difficult. Using double entendres or cursewords in your PSA isn’t funny and won’t lead to a winning entry. 

9. Mock the First Amendment. We want you to be creative and fun, but we also expect you to take the First Amendment seriously.          

10. Submit your entry after the deadline. Avoid this by getting your entry in on time. Or better yet, get it in early.  We’ll be drawing five names for entries submitted before February 2, 2010. Those selected will win a $100 prize. 

Now that you know how to lose, get to work on a winner. Visit The Five Freedoms PSA Contest for more information.