Style form |
At a glance
|
|
Specifics
The style form requires the most nuanced technique to complete. The wording of the form can drastically affect the scoring of the items listed; even a team with the best items in the world can lose points with insufficient wording. The form contains 3 major subdivisions.
The first subdivision
The first of the subdivisions are items one and two on the form, which are dictated by the problem. Examples from the year of 2014:
Problem One, Driver’s Test
“Originality of how the membership sign is designed to look like a driver’s license”
“Trash items used in the construction or decoration of the vehicle”
Problem Two, Not So Haunted House
“Originality of the narrator’s appearance”
“Creative use of a trash item in the performance.”
You find these two criteria near the end of the problem document, and it is worthwhile to pay attention to them while creating your solution, as they can lose you a large amount of points if they are forgotten. For example, if a team competing in problem one forgot to make their membership sign look like a driver’s license, they would most likely receive less than 5 out of 10 points. Periodically make sure what you’re working on will meet the requirements dictated by the problem.
How to write the form
The judges know exactly what the problem says, if they should be looking for trash items or visual impact for example. What they don’t necessarily know is which items to judge or where to look. What this means: while writing the forms, the judges don’t want to see the exact wording listed in the problem. They want to know what you want judged specifically. Example:
The criteria could be “Creative use of a material in a team member’s costume”
Instead of writing “Creative use of a material in a team member’s costume”, or even writing “The dinosaur”, you should write something like “The creative use of spoons to effectively convey scales in the dinosaur’s costume.”
By doing this, the judges realize “They have a dinosaur. It has scales. The scales are made of spoons. They are creatively using the spoons to create the impression of scales.”
The judges now know exactly what to judge and how to judge it, instead of wondering what the team means.
How to Maximize score
With the first area, the best way to maximize score is simply to never forget that certain items are being scored. If you put the forms off until the last night like every OotM team ever, you may easily forget you are supposed to have a team member whose costume is made of a creative material. You obviously won’t gain many points for that no matter how you word it.
Problem One, Driver’s Test
“Originality of how the membership sign is designed to look like a driver’s license”
“Trash items used in the construction or decoration of the vehicle”
Problem Two, Not So Haunted House
“Originality of the narrator’s appearance”
“Creative use of a trash item in the performance.”
You find these two criteria near the end of the problem document, and it is worthwhile to pay attention to them while creating your solution, as they can lose you a large amount of points if they are forgotten. For example, if a team competing in problem one forgot to make their membership sign look like a driver’s license, they would most likely receive less than 5 out of 10 points. Periodically make sure what you’re working on will meet the requirements dictated by the problem.
How to write the form
The judges know exactly what the problem says, if they should be looking for trash items or visual impact for example. What they don’t necessarily know is which items to judge or where to look. What this means: while writing the forms, the judges don’t want to see the exact wording listed in the problem. They want to know what you want judged specifically. Example:
The criteria could be “Creative use of a material in a team member’s costume”
Instead of writing “Creative use of a material in a team member’s costume”, or even writing “The dinosaur”, you should write something like “The creative use of spoons to effectively convey scales in the dinosaur’s costume.”
By doing this, the judges realize “They have a dinosaur. It has scales. The scales are made of spoons. They are creatively using the spoons to create the impression of scales.”
The judges now know exactly what to judge and how to judge it, instead of wondering what the team means.
How to Maximize score
With the first area, the best way to maximize score is simply to never forget that certain items are being scored. If you put the forms off until the last night like every OotM team ever, you may easily forget you are supposed to have a team member whose costume is made of a creative material. You obviously won’t gain many points for that no matter how you word it.
The Second subdivision (Free choices)
These two spots allow you to score whatever you want, however you want. Find the very best thing in your performance (that isn’t already being judged for something, no double dipping) and score it.
How to write the form
With the free choice, you have an open reign to say whatever you want; you won’t be restricted like you were in the first subdivision. You should be very specific about what you think is good. Instead of saying “The alien’s costume,” you should say “The artistic quality of the alien’s headdress.” Just like in the first criteria, the judges now know exactly what to look for. USE ADJECTIVES. The effective use of adjectives lets the judges know specifically what to look for. Common adjectives include: Creative, artistic, effective, and so on. Don’t forget, you can write about whatever you want, it doesn’t have to be a physical object. “Creative implementation of puns in the performance to reflect the theme”? Go for it! “Vocal quality of the singer”? That’s dandy! Every single year, Claire’s team used “vocal quality” because she is a professionally trained opera singer and received 10’s every time, even at World Competition. Find whatever the people say “WOW” about with your performance and judge it. Are you super proud of your cape made from woven together pine needles? Score the “creative use of pine needles in the creation of the cape” or the “quality of construction of the cape using only pine needles.”
How to max out scoring
Be as specific as possible and judge the best things in your performance. An important part of the scoring, however, comes after competition. The sticky notes the judges give back give valuable insight into their thoughts on your performance. If several judges say something about a specific prop, that means they want to see that prop scored. Learn from each competition and change your forms accordingly.
How to write the form
With the free choice, you have an open reign to say whatever you want; you won’t be restricted like you were in the first subdivision. You should be very specific about what you think is good. Instead of saying “The alien’s costume,” you should say “The artistic quality of the alien’s headdress.” Just like in the first criteria, the judges now know exactly what to look for. USE ADJECTIVES. The effective use of adjectives lets the judges know specifically what to look for. Common adjectives include: Creative, artistic, effective, and so on. Don’t forget, you can write about whatever you want, it doesn’t have to be a physical object. “Creative implementation of puns in the performance to reflect the theme”? Go for it! “Vocal quality of the singer”? That’s dandy! Every single year, Claire’s team used “vocal quality” because she is a professionally trained opera singer and received 10’s every time, even at World Competition. Find whatever the people say “WOW” about with your performance and judge it. Are you super proud of your cape made from woven together pine needles? Score the “creative use of pine needles in the creation of the cape” or the “quality of construction of the cape using only pine needles.”
How to max out scoring
Be as specific as possible and judge the best things in your performance. An important part of the scoring, however, comes after competition. The sticky notes the judges give back give valuable insight into their thoughts on your performance. If several judges say something about a specific prop, that means they want to see that prop scored. Learn from each competition and change your forms accordingly.
The third subdivision
The final subdivision is the bottom of the page. Some teams use this area to further explain their scored items, however my team has always used it to address the fifth scoring criteria, the “overall effect of the four style elements in the performance.”
How to write the form
Generally you should write a paragraph or so, explaining how the elements make your performance more visually striking, help with the theme of the presentation, etc. To score well on #5, your performance doesn’t have to be extremely influenced by your style choices; you could score a tiny prop and still do well on 5 as long as you explain how it enhances your performance. Write a paragraph explaining how each of the different scored elements impact your performance, whether it’s through the visual impact, the theme, or any other means. Lastly, discuss how all the elements combined effect it.
How to max out scoring
Judges don’t want to read terrible handwriting. Div I teams can have their coaches write what they dictate, div II and III should really spend time making it look good. Happy judges are good scoring judges. Download the word copy at the top of the page to make it look professional.
How to write the form
Generally you should write a paragraph or so, explaining how the elements make your performance more visually striking, help with the theme of the presentation, etc. To score well on #5, your performance doesn’t have to be extremely influenced by your style choices; you could score a tiny prop and still do well on 5 as long as you explain how it enhances your performance. Write a paragraph explaining how each of the different scored elements impact your performance, whether it’s through the visual impact, the theme, or any other means. Lastly, discuss how all the elements combined effect it.
How to max out scoring
Judges don’t want to read terrible handwriting. Div I teams can have their coaches write what they dictate, div II and III should really spend time making it look good. Happy judges are good scoring judges. Download the word copy at the top of the page to make it look professional.