More and more clubs are considering not handing out traditional cups or trophies to competition winners or people they wish to honour.
The feeling seems to be that these objects are cumbersome in modern homes, and need to be returned 11 months later to be ready for the next recipient.
The UNICA Awards are mainly medals, but each host nation can provide additional trophies. At least one of the British winners this year had such a trophy posted to them, which arrived in several pieces.
BIAFF has moved towards modestly sized glass trophies which do not have to be returned a year later.
One organisation I know was given a job lot of 16mm silent projectors. Someone mounted each of them on a varnished wooden plinth and they were used as non-returnable awards.
What are the best type?
What is the best type of trophy?
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Dave Watterson
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Brian Saberton
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Re: What is the best type of trophy?
Traditional trophies are a bit of a pain these days and there is always the problem of cleaning them (I've seen silver trophies ruined by people not using the correct cleaning materials) plus some of them can be very valuable with implications for insurance. Also, some people I know just keep them in a cupboard rather than on display. I think the IAC did the right thing by changing to the glass trophies which the makers keep. In Photographic salons, medals and/or ribbons are popular. alternatives
Brian Saberton
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TimStannard
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Re: What is the best type of trophy?
As Brian says, it's the same with all clubs that hold competitions. We had the same issue when I was on the committee of a golf club.
Personally I'd hate to do away with the perpetual trophies. They represent the history of the competition. Where possible (eg where a club has a home) these are best displayed at the club. However, most clubs share their "home" and the IAC, IAC Regions and many filming groups have no "home" so this is not always practical. So what, the winner gets to keep the trophy for 11 months and can display it if able, or stick it in the loft!
The trophies one gets to keep are a different matter. At a club level, I'm more than happy with a certificate. It's easy to put in a file along with judges comments and any other paperwork relevant to the film. I won a regional editing trophy a couple of years back and was pleased to receive a small plaque. On the other hand I have many small club plaques which just reside in a box somewhere. If I won an IAC major award I'd make damn sure I had it on display somewhere!
I think a lot is down to how frequently one might win. If one enters everything going and wins a good few, then bulky trophies are not practical. On the other hand when Sid from Sidmouth wins runner up in the local club's travelogue competition and this is the only time in 60 years of membership he's achieved a placing, he probably wants and deserves to have a big garish trophy.
(Last year we gave club members a choice - certificate or certificate and trophy, I think just less than half plumped for certificate only)
Personally I'd hate to do away with the perpetual trophies. They represent the history of the competition. Where possible (eg where a club has a home) these are best displayed at the club. However, most clubs share their "home" and the IAC, IAC Regions and many filming groups have no "home" so this is not always practical. So what, the winner gets to keep the trophy for 11 months and can display it if able, or stick it in the loft!
The trophies one gets to keep are a different matter. At a club level, I'm more than happy with a certificate. It's easy to put in a file along with judges comments and any other paperwork relevant to the film. I won a regional editing trophy a couple of years back and was pleased to receive a small plaque. On the other hand I have many small club plaques which just reside in a box somewhere. If I won an IAC major award I'd make damn sure I had it on display somewhere!
I think a lot is down to how frequently one might win. If one enters everything going and wins a good few, then bulky trophies are not practical. On the other hand when Sid from Sidmouth wins runner up in the local club's travelogue competition and this is the only time in 60 years of membership he's achieved a placing, he probably wants and deserves to have a big garish trophy.
(Last year we gave club members a choice - certificate or certificate and trophy, I think just less than half plumped for certificate only)
Tim
Proud to be an amateur film maker - I do it for the love of it
Proud to be an amateur film maker - I do it for the love of it
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Michael Slowe
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Re: What is the best type of trophy?
Talking of trophies, the best looking and most appropriate one I ever had was the Kodak Award for best photography in a Ten Best many, many years ago. It consists of a jumbled up reel of 35mm film, beautifully made of silver, resting on a glass cube. Looks wonderful but the devil's own job to clean, and every time I jog my edit desk it tumbles down from its glass cube and knocks me on the head! Consequently its lovely shape and form has become somewhat distorted, not to mention my head. Anyone else out there with this trophy, it must have been awarded for some years? Willy maybe?