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Word Festival

Fall 2024 Word Festival

CITL, along with campus and community partners, will host the ninth annual Fall 2024 Word Festival throughout the month of October. See below to read guidelines, submit entries and see last year's winners.

About Word Festival

The Word Festival contest involves students making short, live-action videos (20 seconds or less) in which they express the meaning of a particular word to the viewer. Words must be derived from an archived list of the New York Times Word Of The Day [PDF], and definitions must be derived and cited from Merriam-Webster Online, Cambridge Dictionary Online, or Dictionary.com.

In addition, there are Foreign Language and Medical categories for classes seeking discipline-specific words. Students participating in those areas can use one of the resources listed below, or other authoritative source. Rules are the same, see guidelines below for specifics and an example video. Students in both tiers can choose to participate in the main category or the foreign language category:

Guidelines and Submission

Participation guidelines are below, they are short and simple - READ CAREFULLY!

  1. Videos must be no more than 20 seconds
  2. Video must be original and live-action (can have additional elements).
  3. Each word must be displayed, pronounced and defined, and the part of speech given.
  4. For words in a language other than English: the language should be given and the word should be displayed and pronounced in the language. Provide an English translation of the definition (subtitles may be used).
  5. If there are several definitions, the first one is fine (though a second or third definition could be used as well).
  6. Use your imagination. You can act the word out, dramatize it, use puppets, draw, sing a song, create a dance, write a skit, incorporate photographs, use claymation, stop-motion, or anything else that will help viewers understand and learn your word.
  7. Commercially produced media and stock footage are not permitted.
  8. Videos must be uploaded to YouTube.com to be considered (participants will provide the URL in the submission form, MAKE SURE it is viewable). You can make your upload 'unlisted' so that only those w/ the URL can see it. ALSO: submissions should be regular HD video, NOT a YouTube Short.
  9. Go to online Submission Form

Fall 2023 Awards

Elementary division

Best Film: (TIE) Killjoy by Auggie
Best Film: (TIE) Lugubrious by Harper
Runner-Up: Eccentricity by Ella

Best Creativity: Scenario by Sophia
Best Creativity Runner-Up: Diversion by Codie and AJ

Best Acting: Ragamuffin by Juliette
Best Acting Runner-Up: Eccentricity by Ella

Intermediate Division

Best Film: Bait by Pace Prioleau and Tyrell Brown
Best Film Runner-Up (tie): Goad by Kaniah and Caedan
Best Film Runner-Up (tie): Reek by TJ, Ellis and Carter

Best Use Of Effects: Potion by Reagan, Jillian and James
Best Use Of Effects Runner-Up: Blare by Si’yana, Roxy and Breanna

High School Division

Best Film: Delete by Kaitlyn McMurray, Kennedy Fender and Rebekah Schindler
Best Film Runner-Up (tie): Bait by Owen Greene
Best Film Third Place: Vendor by Liam Foster, Oliver Morries and Abriel-Kalob Bondurant
Honorable Mention: Cupidity by Alyssa Calfee
Honorable Mention: Embezzlement by JD Gubb and Miles Goff
Honorable Mention: Niggle by Hunter Crist and Lillian Dunn

Best Creativity: Gusto by Luke Gaither and Jill Grim
Best Creativity Runner-Up: Casual by Essiq Williams and Lillian Dunn

Best Use Of Effects: Pyromaniac by Adilene Mar-Valenzuela and Madeleine Boyd
Best Use Of Effects Runner-Up: Discount by Luciano Pugliese and Kenzi Hamilton

Best Dancing: Buffoonery by Ben Harvey, Jacob Davidson and William Hoff
Best Dancing Runner-Up: Amphitheater by Corineah Austin-Pleasant, Jerimiah Holmes and Bradley Viars

Radford University Division

Sweep Award*: Clairvoyant by Austin Tuggle

Best Film Runner-Up: Flounder by William Tyler Barrett
Best Film Third Place: Insomnia by Jenna May Repass
Best Film Honorable Mention: Cringe by Dajon James, Coni Sandoval and Kris Isquith
Best Film Honorable Mention: Shard by Isabella Walsh

* the Sweep Award is given on occasions when an entry takes top honors in all categories: Best Film, Best Acting, Best Use of Effects, Best Creativity, etc.

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