check your e-mails...i am re-posting all of the instructions, minus the password, here, for your reference...

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Howdy players: My apologies for the delay in e-mail. This is several weeks overdue. But knowing you people as I do, I'm sure that this will not affect the quality of the Challenge.

I have had some pressing family matters that have been absorbing my attention, mostly my best friend and shooting partner, my dog Violet, who has been cycling through the challenges of old age. Usually, I don't have problems juggling everything but the sleep deprivation of attending to her end-of-life issues has kind of pushed me over the edge.

Anyway, here are some instructions. The long-form is slightly different. You will be uploading your videos through the uploader on the front page ofwww.uwolchallenge.com, just click on the "upload your entry" arrow on the front page. Keep in mind that, depending on your modem speed and file size, this can take some time. And for those of you who are very remote, it may take a few attempts, but you will be prompted that your upload is a success upon completion.

Username:
Password:

(see email for these...)

When you name your file, we will be departing from our usual naming convention...use your last name, an underscore, and your project name, another underscore, and the name of our competition so that it looks like this:

Ersoz_FunWithWildlife_UWOLLongForm

That way, we will know whose it is and to which competition it belongs, without having to open the file


When you begin your feedback thread, at that time, you can also upload your other documents, scripts, photos, storyboards, etc to the thread via the DVinfo uploader, straight into the thread. Don't upload these through the UWOL uploader - with 20+ players using a variety of materials, these will be impossible for us to sort on our end. . When you start your feedback thread, you will see the option to upload attachments. For those of you who have not used this function, I recommend cutting and pasting the content of your feedback thread, once you have written it, into a separate file, in case the DVinfo uploader fails -- you will have a back up copy and will not have to feel the frustration of lost text. (I'm not trying to sound alarmist, mostly it works, but just sharing my own experience and trying to help you save yourself from that $%^&* feeling...)

Just be sure that your file fits the DVinfo acceptable file types, listed below. I personally have found uploading via Safari to be a little spotty and have had better luck with Firefox. Your mileage may vary.

Valid file extensions: bbp bmp chf cpf doc gif jpe jpeg jpg mov mpg pdf png psd scn suf tif tiff txt veg wav wma wmv wmx xls zip

If you have additional questions, post them to the "Tales of Wonder and Woe" thread first, and that way, I can try to answer them in the forum, where the group can benefit from the response. If there is an accumulation of questions, I will send around a follow-up e-mail. Keep in mind that this is our first time doing this, and we may have some bugs, so your patience is appreciated.

Good luck --

Meryem

Meryem....

To start I am sure you know that we all here feel and share your concerns and pain regarding Violet. We wish her and you well. Dogs are some of the most special creatures on God's earth for us.

A point needing clarification for me... when we say the "weeks of Feb 16-18" etc... what is the actual drop dead date? Saturday night?

I have had some out of town guests, a job change and helped out on a 48 hour shoot, and am hoping to hear that the week of means then end of the week <g>.

Sending warm thoughts for you in this time...

Chris Swanberg

Thank you, Chris. V-dog and I appreciate the good vibes of all you players.

To answer your question, when I made the rules, I designed them so that even if people went out of town, etc., they could find a window to post their stuff. So I was trying to offer up a three-day window instead of a fixed single day deadline. Just trying to build in a little flexibility. So the official drop dead date would be the 18th, "midnight anywhere in the world."

Because we are scrambling a bit to try something new -- and because I have been a little out of synch -- I am going to try to stay very flexible this first round, while we work out the details. Mat is still working out some of the web support details as well. This is a marathon not a sprint, and none of these materials will be judged, except for your final. So if you feel unclear about the rules and need more time, e-mail me and we will work something out. It would not extend any time beyond this week, however, we will be dropping players from the competition who can't get something up by this week.

Otherwise, the drop dead date is the 18th midnight anywhere in the world. I suggest hitting this as closely as possible, regardless of where you are in the process, with the understanding that it *is* a process and we are here to offer support and guidance, so this first bit may not even resemble your final product, it may just be a step to get you pointed in a viable direction.

The advantage to hitting it as closely as possible, is that you will be moving along in synch with the rest of the group, and will thus be getting feedback in the same window. If you post a late thread, then the early feedbackers, those who jump on the task of offering feedback right away (and these are often some of our best feedbackers because they are by nature conscientious), you might miss out. Which would kind of defeat the purpose, beyond merely staying in the game.

I hope this answers your questions. Now that I am having a bit of stasis -- sleepless stasis, but stasis nonetheless -- I'll try to do a better job of keeping everyone on the same page.