Guidelines for the Annual AV Competition

There are 2 categories of Audio-Visual presentations:

Photo Harmony • Open

Also, see technical notes below...

Each member will be allowed to enter one AV in each category. AV length should be a maximum of 6 minutes.

For each member, the points awarded to each AV sequence will be added towards the Club’s Worker of the Year Award.

The following guidelines have been agreed between members of WCC Audio Visual Group. However, please note that they are different to MCPF rules regarding running times.

--------  Photo Harmony  --------

  • Photo Harmony is intended to demonstrate skill in the production and visual progression of still images linked to sound. 
  • No words or story with a specific beginning, middle and ending are required. 
  • Video clips, Third Party images and Clip Art downloaded from the internet are not allowed in Photo Harmony sequences.

Techniques in Photo Harmony

  • The purpose is to display a set of the author's own images which integrate and flow with each other, matched to an appropriate and sympathetic sound track.
  • The sequence should be constructed so that images progress harmoniously in terms of content, colour, tone and design in relationship with the sound.
  • The production must be considered as an entity. Therefore, it must be borne in mind that individually outstanding pictures, which have merit as a single image, frequently do not integrate well. Such images can offer too much 'visual weight' and as such detract from the harmonious flow.
  • It is recommended that the sound and the images start and finish together and that the original ending of the music is preserved rather than an arbitrary fade-out or a sudden cut-off.
  • As with all techniques, digital manipulation can easily be overdone and result in an effect which is counter-productive and out of balance for the production.
  • Whatever production techniques are employed, whether visual or in sound they should be carefully matched to the overall concept and objective.

--------  Open AVs  --------

  • Open Audio Visual is a unique combination of photography and sound, blended together to produce a result known as an ‘AV Sequence’ which is limited only by the imagination and skill of the producer.
  • An 'Open AV' frequently includes a 'voice-over' or commentary in a 'documentary style' presentation, where the combination of narration, various sound clips and appropriate music enhance and enrich the production.
  • Video sequences may be included but should not dominate the AV.

Technical notes:

  • Entries should be presented as MP4 files.

MP4 - Intermediate file format for playing across technologies. A file with the MP4 file extension is an abbreviation for an MPEG-4 Video file, which is a compressed file format that can contain not only video, but also audio and subtitles.

  • For both categories, it is recommended the images are cropped to a final size not exceeding 1920 x 1200 pixels. This allows for widescreen sizing (1920 x 1080) as well as larger 3 x 2 sequences (1800 x 1200).
  • Copyright: It is the entrant’s responsibility to ensure that any material recorded on the soundtrack and accompanying imagery, doesn't infringe third party copyright. For information about music copyright see the article on the WCC AV Group webpage referring to this.
  • Entries may be submitted by a file transfer program such as 'WeTransfer', 'Wesendit', 'Dropbox' or similar to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.