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Post by Lala on Dec 19, 2010 19:38:14 GMT -5
"A Story to Set us Free - 2010"
Update: This contest has reached it's deadline. I will post the results of the entries when I see fit.
Calling all music-makers! I have a bit of a challenge for you all! I do this in the hopes that you will all have fun in the process. Be sure to read all of the criteria before entering the contest. Entry details are below. Failure to follow protocol will result in a disqualification. We don't want that, right?
My challenge to you is simple: Make an original song.
Wow, that doesn't sound too tough, right? Well then, it's not a challenge if it's not tough.
Here's the catch: Your song MUST have a distinct story behind it.
I am looking for anything from tragedy to comedy, terror to tranquility, and anything in between. I ask that this story be written out. Now, it doesn't even have to be that long, I am not expecting more than a paragraph. If you can tell a story in one sentence, go for it. If you are not a good writer, dont worry, you don't have to be! I am looking for THOUGHT in this, not who can use the fanciest vocabulary.
Here are some technical things to keep in mind.
Entries: I ask that all entries be posted on YouTube, and that you send me a link to it. This way, everyone can take home some sort of message from this. I will be looking through comments as well to see how others interpret your story. In the description, you need to post "A Story to Set Us Free, 2010", the name of your story, and your story. You can choose what to call your video.
Song length: I don't really care how long your song is, but it needs to be able to upload to YouTube. Picture: I will not be judging the picture(s) that are in the video, so please do not worry too much about them. However, visual appeal is nice.
Story length: Your story can be as long (or short) as you want. I love long stories, so if you tend to rant, you will be welcome! Short stories are good too. YOUR CHOICE.
How I will judge:
I will be using a 300 point system for judging. Each category is split into 100 points. I will not disclose exactly how I award points, but I can tell you a bit about each category.
Music: I am specifically grading the song in this category. I am looking for how enjoyable the song is to listen to.
Story: I will specifically look at the quality of the story. Length does not affect score unless it affects the quality of the story.
Combination: This is where I look at how the two pieces, song and story, coincide with each other.
Entries will be due by January 1st, giving you almost 2 weeks to finish this. The winner will be announced the day after.
Point values will not be posted publicly but you will receive your total score out of 300 in a PM on YouTube.
Ready to get involved? Get started now! Be sure to PM me letting me know you are participating, and once your video is uploaded on YouTube, send me a link so I can start judging! I really hope a lot of you will get involved with this! If you have any questions, please post them here and I will answer them as best I can. Good luck!
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Post by Maestro Triplet (Larx) on Dec 19, 2010 19:47:11 GMT -5
I'm definitely in. I'm an avid writer, so this should be fun.
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Post by Lala on Dec 19, 2010 22:11:21 GMT -5
I am glad you could hop in on the fun Larx! I am excited to see what will happen with this!
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Post by almightyarceus on Dec 20, 2010 0:46:59 GMT -5
Count me in too! What's awesome is that I'm in the middle of my first OC ever right now AND I was making concept art/ a story line for it anyways!!!!! Perfect timing! Count me in! I will have my entry in pretty quickly!
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Post by Dasgust on Dec 20, 2010 1:03:35 GMT -5
I think I could try even though I'm a horrible writer.
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Post by tobinus on Dec 20, 2010 2:59:43 GMT -5
Your interest for English and music collide! I like to write, I like to compose, so this should go hand in hand ;D I usually try to put a thought or story in my music, but I haven't written it down and followed it 100% before. EDIT: I don't really care how long your song is, but it needs to be able to upload to YouTube. So, no limit then xD
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Post by pokemoneinstein on Dec 20, 2010 14:28:43 GMT -5
Is a lyrical interpretation on an existing song acceptable, or does it have to be original? I would assume the latter, but I've got an idea going for a lyrical version of my Lavender Lullaby, so I was thinking I could do maybe a two birds with one stone type thing.
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Post by almightyarceus on Dec 20, 2010 18:50:16 GMT -5
So here's my finished entry, with the story for anyone who wanted to read it! It's called Electopolis! I am not sure why I am fond of the big cities. Perhaps it is because I was raised in one. There’s always too much happening at once. Too much around me; too much to win, too much to lose. As one person hit’s the bulls-eye, another hits himself in the foot. Entire communities crash under the weight of another’s unruly success. Once the building limit has been exceeded, something’s bound to give out. I must be fond of them for the variety, for all of the things that show their beauty, or how homely they are. As I stood atop the musty balcony--dawn approaching rather quickly as the sun tried to break through the smog before it suffocated it; H-cars flying in irregular patterns across the early morning sky; factories constantly rumbling as their electronic slaves worked literally endless shifts powering the city, each monolithic structure shaking under the pressure from within--I knew that’s what attracted me so hopelessly to this unsanitary god of the earth. It is quite strange how one sticks with a body so vile for so long--but perhaps that same body is the only thing that can keep its counterpart alive…or vice versa. I jumped off the balcony. That was just the first layer of it all. Soaring down from the Overgrowth factory district, I plummeted right through the Canopy commercial district. Endless Vines of electronic rail lights lined the sky, in flashing neon colors, as the H-cars followed the bleakly lit pathways of their lives, attached to the Vine like metallic blooms upon a RoboChia. SkyHawks patrolled ominously from their perches; the aged, towering stores, clubs, restaurants, cinemas--just about anything you could ever think of. Flashing lights and signs were upon each and every building, attempting to attract even more attention to themselves than the store next to them, until the entire district was a blinding, epileptic disaster. The Undergrowings--where most of the humanoid residents lived--came next in my terminal descent. Mossy, uniform structures of the blandest gray stood side by side along the aerial avenues. The SkyHawks were readily present around this neighborhood, driving aside nearly each humanoid H-car and making sure they stayed on course with the Vine. EVERY house was the same on that avenue--or at least, it seemed that way, for it was not so. At the top of each MegAparatment there stood an extravagant penthouse, each with luxuries the people below couldn’t dream of affording. Such was the strata of society. Finally came the Floor, or what many people called Dirt Town. This is where all the filth of the city started and ended. It was where all the androids, cyborgs, and robots lived, where they were built, where they were destroyed and then recycled into a brand new slave. Mountains of trash were piled around the massive sewage pipes that drained straight to the “ocean” (though it was quite apparent that much of this ended up in the fountains and drinking water of the Overgrowth. The poorest of the poor made houses out of dirt, trash, and scrap metal underneath the intimidating towers of the upper levels thousands of feet above them. These were not a hungry people; so much wasted food came down from the top that they nearly had a feast of grime every day. Perhaps they were the most fortunate, for they had the least to worry about and the most to gain. I didn’t fall all the way. I had jumped thousands of feet to get back to my home in the Undergrowings. I merely kicked my feet and immediately my jet suit activated, flying me on autopilot to my home. The Floor People gawked at me; they had every reason to. For I was caught within an electropolis; each molecule of me was becoming more and more synthetic, until I would no longer be a humanoid. I would merely be another slave; another piece of scrap metal used to shelter the dregs of society from ever dying out. Of course, it wasn’t all bad. For every bad thing within our lives, there is always something else to compromise for it. Such was the way with my electropolis. Every type of technology available--from the latest model of H-cars, state of the art androids, teleportation devices; to food in a can, holograms, and virtual reality modems. For every level about Dirt Town, every resource was available easily; every single necessity could be instantly provided. No one would starve; yet most were starved for the number one necessity of them all--happiness. It may be cliché, but truly that which is cliché holds stronger to society than that which is an obscurity. I was not one to neglect the hungers of my happiness. Instead of heading home, I flew for hours around the city. I basked in each and every glorifying activity possible; going to every club, eating at many restaurants, chatting with associates, etc. I flew in zig-zags across the Vine’s traffic patterns, setting off some of the Sky Hawks to go into chase mode. Hell did I care. That just added to the fun. Swerving around building after building, calling after each new drone that locked onto me to “Try and catch me!!!” There were near 100 of them on me now. I figured I should give up the chase, but I couldn’t let them catch me. I just realized what a dangerous situation I had put myself in; if I let myself get caught, with that many drones on my tail, I’d either get life in Dirt Town or blown to bits by the taser rifles on the SkyHawks. No, I had to keep going. Besides, this would only add to the fun. I decided to bait them. I flew all around the commercial district, landing in front of each and every plasmoid sign so that they would grab a ghost image of my silhouette. I saw the SkyHawks encroaching on the avenue I was on, so I hid within one of the clubs. Outside, the SkyHawks went for the signs; each came to close to the signs to divert themselves from their course, and so crashed into each. Explosions atop every building on the aerial avenue lit up the streets to a light so blinding that not even the SkyHawks could see where they were going. Dozens crashed into civilians, others into themselves, until the Vine became one big robotic mess. I knew I wouldn’t have long; I jumped out into the smoke that choked the avenue to make my escape. It grabbed me. The lone SkyHawk who had begun the chase with me had been waiting outside the club the entire time. Crowds of people watched as my suit was deactivated and I was dropped towards Dirt Town. I didn’t even have time to say a single syllable. The people watching--they didn’t care. Nobody could care, for this sort of thing was only too natural. There went another person down to the dregs to become a part of the Floor which held the upper levels in place. Falling, falling. Such is the process in an electropolis. Lol I feel like I'm in Steinbeck mode (perhaps because I'm reading East of Eden.) Also, I say perhaps a lot. lol Well I hope yall liked it!
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Post by Lala on Dec 20, 2010 19:36:48 GMT -5
Is a lyrical interpretation on an existing song acceptable, or does it have to be original? I would assume the latter, but I've got an idea going for a lyrical version of my Lavender Lullaby, so I was thinking I could do maybe a two birds with one stone type thing. Unfortunately, I ask that you create an original composition solely for this contest. However, I am so interested in seeing what you will do with this Lavender Lullaby, so I encourage you to still make it, but it can't be entered in this contest. Sorry!
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Post by pokemoneinstein on Dec 21, 2010 9:28:05 GMT -5
That's fine. I'm kinda swamped with things right now, so I'll enter this if I can.
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Post by Maestro Triplet (Larx) on Dec 22, 2010 12:23:34 GMT -5
I have a question... Can we do something like this: and then base it off of the scene? (If you can't tell, that's an excerpt from Harry Potter. )
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Post by Lala on Dec 25, 2010 22:36:20 GMT -5
I have a question... Can we do something like this: and then base it off of the scene? (If you can't tell, that's an excerpt from Harry Potter. ) Ooooh, you won't be too happy with me, but unfortunately no. I am hoping for an original work of writing. Even something describing your inspiration behind your music. Nothing CRAZY elaborate. Sorry
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Post by WherewolfTherewolf on Dec 25, 2010 22:48:02 GMT -5
Hmmm there's still time, I may enter this
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Post by Maestro Triplet (Larx) on Dec 25, 2010 22:58:18 GMT -5
I have a question... Can we do something like this: and then base it off of the scene? (If you can't tell, that's an excerpt from Harry Potter. ) Ooooh, you won't be too happy with me, but unfortunately no. I am hoping for an original work of writing. Even something describing your inspiration behind your music. Nothing CRAZY elaborate. Sorry I mean, not taking an excerpt from an actual story, but can we write it in that style? Like... something with dialog and base it off of the scene we wrote?
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Post by Lala on Dec 26, 2010 11:25:31 GMT -5
Ooooh, you won't be too happy with me, but unfortunately no. I am hoping for an original work of writing. Even something describing your inspiration behind your music. Nothing CRAZY elaborate. Sorry I mean, not taking an excerpt from an actual story, but can we write it in that style? Like... something with dialog and base it off of the scene we wrote? Oh! Yeah! I love that style! Something like that would be okay. Like you said, original!
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