This year’s Shasta County Poetry Out Loud competition will be held online this year to ensure the safety of all participants and volunteers. This competition is in direct association with Poetry Out Loud and further details may be found at https://www.poetryoutloud.org.

Each contestant will need to select two poems found on the Poetry Out Loud website and recite the poems from memory while being video recorded (one video file per poem). Those video files will need to be stored in a Google Drive folder and then will be able to be submitted through this online Google Form.

Students attending the 9th through 12th grades in Shasta County may apply.
The deadline for video submissions is February 5th, 2021.

Any further inquiries may be sent to your Shasta County Poetry Out Loud Coordinator at shastapoetry@gmail.com.

Sign up your student here!

Filming Requirements

– Contestants will need to submit two video recordings, each a different poem selected from the Poetry Out Loud website.
– Each submission’s file size cannot exceed 1 Gigabyte in file size.
– Each submission must be filmed with a horizontal orientation
– The camera needs to capture your head to mid-torso (medium shot).
– Each recitation should be filmed in one single shot from one static angle.
– The sound and picture must be clear.
– Videos cannot be edited. Do not add music, graphics, titles, virtual backgrounds, or computer animation.
– The use of professional recording studios is prohibited.

Helpful Tips

– Save the file to a Google Drive folder prior to submitting your video entries.
– Stand in front of a neutral background and avoid wearing clothing in similar colors to the background.
– Do not place light sources behind you to avoid being backlit.
– Students may look directly into the camera, at a fixed point, or at an imagined audience.
– Make sure you are the only visible and audible person in the video.
– Use a microphone, if possible. If the microphone is on the camera, position the camera close to the performer.
– Start recording a few seconds before the recitation and stop a few seconds after the end.