The Internet Revealed

introduction

Several Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) in Europe that are members of Euro-IX have taken the initiative to organise a film-competition in an effort to clearly tell the story of 'How the Internet (core -infrastructure) works' from an end-user to end-user perspective. This story should be designed for the widest audience possible and should be careful to deliver the message of 'What an IXP is!' and 'What is peering'.

          
Screen shots from Warriors of the Net, the inspiration for this film competition

the competition

The competition will have two stages:

1. All contestants will pitch their ideas to the film-committee. The format of your pitch is totally up to you, it could be story-boards, a trailer, a video of the pitch, whatever you think is the most efficient and effective way of convincing us!
2. 10 contestants will be chosen to take part in the final where you will be asked to develop the full film.

One of the fully developed films will be chosen as the winner, however second and third prizes will also be awarded.

oh yeah, prizes!

The first prize will be EUR 25.000, the second prize EUR 5.000 and the third EUR 2.000!

so what is an IXP?

The Internet. The network of networks. I connect mine to yours, you connect yours to theirs, they connect theirs to another, and so on and so on. In just a few hops I can communicate with anyone, anywhere, anytime. Sounds simple enough.

But how does it really work? If I have to sign a 15-page agreement just to install software on my PC, how is it that I can traverse the globe from my desktop and only pay a small monthly fee to my local Internet Service Provider?

...... read more.

                    
Download a video of interviews with some people that operate IXPs around the world:

what your message must include

Be sure to study up and find out what an IXP is, use the internet as your resource, but be sure that your message includes at least the following points:

• What is an IXP?
• What is peering?
• The resilience of the Internet ("The traffic will find its way if an IXP fails")
• The internet isn't just a network of computers, it's a network of people.

some more resources

To help you on your way we have put togther a list of 'some' resources that are out there to help you put together a complete and accurate story.

All contestants will also be placed on our competetion mailing list which will act as a forum and FAQ for all competitors.

how long should the film be?

The film must not be more than 5 minutes long.

what about film format?

There are no specific rules about the format, be it post-production animation, flash-animation, short-film, a combination or other techniques used. Anything goes as long as the story is told.

The final product should be provided and converted into one of several formats fit for distribution over the Internet and other electronic communications devices, which include Quicktime, WMV, MPEG-4, MPEG-2/H.264, Xvid, etc. Final product should be of DVD or stand-alone quality.

who can compete?

The film competition is open to all who are willing to participate. More than one film submission is permissible.

judging

The judging will be done by a panel of Euro-IX affilaited IXP representatives. The winner will be the submission that tells the story of "what IXP is" the best and most clearly, no matter how this is done! If you can get the message across, we can transfer the prize money to you.

some rules

Language:If a spoken language is used in your film, then it must be (very clearly spoken) English. If you wish to use text in your film, then this must be written in English.

Credits: Minimal credits are allowed - limited to 10 seconds - at the end of the film.

legal stuff

All contestants are required to print off, sign and post or fax the Copyright Agreement and License

Terms of use notice: Films must include a "Terms of Use" notice after the credits. The notice should read as follows:

The authors/creators of the videos retain copyright to their productions. Permission is granted for educational, noncommercial uses of these files, provided that each is identified as being an entry in the Euro-IX Film competition.

submissions

Registrations for first round submissions has now been closed! Those that have been accepted through to the final round will now have until the 30th of April 2009 to submit their final film!

where will my film end up?

The films are intended for educating purposes and will eventually be published on the web. This not only goes for the winning entries, but all film competition submissions.

Euro-IX reserves the right to edit any of the film competition submissions.

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