Group Events
Film
All Levels
Each school may enter three 5-minute German-language films, all of which should be written and produced by the students. The link to the film should be sent via email to Dr. Bell (tbell@byu.edu) no later than midnight on Friday, April 12th. Content must meet BYU standards: no sexual content or innuendo, immodest clothing, swearing, vulgarity, profanity, etc. An opening credit must identify the school. Scoring criteria include quality of the script, spoken German, production values, and acting. The videos will be shown and judged in the Harman Building Ballroom (HCEB) and may be viewed by all participants. No one from the school needs to be present for the judging of the film, so there will be no conflict with other events.
Submission Instructions
Please send a shareable link to Dr. Bell (tbell@byu.edu) no later than midnight on Friday, April 12th.
Rubric
| Distinguished 4 points | Superior 3 points | Excellent 2 points | Good 1 point | |
| Quality of Script | There is a clear storyline present, complete with foreshadowing, rising action, and a climax. The German sounds authentic. | There is a clear storyline present, with rising action and a climax. Where multiple scenes are present, they work together. The German sounds relatively authentic. | While a storyline is present, it is somewhat unclear. Somewhat inauthentic use of German. | No storyline is present; inauthentic use of German. |
| Spoken German | Clearly understandable, flawless German. | Clearly understandable. Some mistakes are made, but the overall meaning is still easy to understand. | Mostly understandable. Some mistakes inhibit understanding, but overall comprehension is still possible. | Difficult to understand. |
| Production Values | Excellent editing skills, sound and image are clear. | Sound and image are clear. Students clearly took time to edit the film. | Sound and image are mostly clear, with mostly good editing. | Sound and/or image unclear. Poorly edited. |
| Acting | The students imbue their characters with life and emotion. They convincingly portray their respective characters and interact well with each other. | The students take on the role of their character, using appropriate emotion/movement. They interact well with each other. | The students use appropriate emotion/movement for their character. They stay in character for the most part | The students are simply reciting lines. |
Culture Bowl
All Levels
One team of four students per school answers sixteen standard questions plus a harder tie-breaker taken from the Vienna website https://www.wien.gv.at/english/. Questions will come from any of the following topics found on the page. All questions and responses are in English. No spectators are allowed.
Vienna Children's library for world languages
The academic secondary schools in Vienna
Scenes from Plays
Levels II, III+
No more than five participants will present a scene from a legitimate play written originally in German, if possible related to this year’s theme of Vienna. The scene should be about 3-7 minutes in length. Costumes and props are not required and will not influence the rating. Provide a copy of the script to the judge.
Rubric
| Distinguished 4 points | Superior 3 points | Excellent 2 points | Good 1 point | |
| Acting | Students’ acting really makes the characters come alive. | Students use appropriate emotions and movement; their lines are said with emotion and they make good use of the space. | Students mostly use appropriate emotions and movement. In some moments, they may seem to merely be reciting their line, but these moments are rare. | Students lack emotion and movement; they are simply reciting memorized lines. |
| Memorization | All parts are memorized and flow flawlessly with no hiccups. | All parts are memorized. There may be 1 – 2 hesitations, but nothing that distracts from the scene. | There are several hesitations and pauses, but parts are mostly memorized. | Lack of memorization is distracting from the overall scene. |
| German | Flawless pronunciation, flawless German. | Accurate pronunciation and grammar with one or two mistakes. If it is an original scene, the German is correct and makes sense. | Mostly accurate pronunciation and grammar. A few mistakes, but nothing that distracts from the scene. | Mistakes make it difficult to understand what is happening in the scene. |
Skits
Level II, III+
No more than five participants present a skit in German of 3-7 minutes in length. A skit differs from a scene from a play in that a skit is an original work in German written by the students.
Soccer
All Levels
A three vs. three soccer tournament will be held on the lawn east of the CONF. Players must be eligible for the fair (see “Admission Guidelines”) and may be of any gender or age. Each school may enter one-two teams of three students. The team must have a team name in German. Each game in the tournament format will last 5 minutes and by played on a small field with small goals, without a goalkeeper. Normal shoes (sneakers, for example) must be worn. No cleats or bare feet are allowed. We also discourage athletic clothing, as students will be moving between the games and other fair activities for which they must wear normal clothing. No changing facilities will be available.
Our online registration is configured to accept your soccer entrants. The time of the first game will be included in the overall school schedule. After that, winning teams will have to pay attention to the tournament result board by the field for the time of their next game.
In order to participate in soccer, each student must fill out a Liability Waiver. Unless the student is 18 or older, this will need to be signed by a parent with an indication of the student they are signing for. The form may be uploaded digitally or mailed in, but the signed waiver MUST be received before a student can play. Please ensure the document is signed in blue or black ink.
Dancing
All Levels
Any number of students can participate and they will learn an Austrian group dance. The dance instruction will be in German. No preparation necessary.
Choir
All Levels
A choir is defined as a school wide activity for all students. Anyone who is registered for the Fair may participate in the choir competition. In contrast, small groups or individual students may participate in the Vocal Music competition.
A choir will present one live musical selection that will not take longer than 10 minutes total, including set-up. The text of the music must be in German and it is encouraged that the choir find music corresponding to the theme of Bayern. Accompaniment, where used, may be live or recorded. Singing along with recorded voices, lip synching, or merely dancing are not allowed.
One student or teacher will announce their name or school, the title of the song, and the composer. A piano and an audio system are available for the performance. There are no rehearsal facilities.
Rubric
Choir performances will be judged using the following rubric:
| Distinguished 4 points | Superior 3 points | Excellent 2 points | Good 1 point | |
| Pronunciation | Flawless pronunciation; easy to understand. | Good diction; the words are pronounced correctly and understandable. | Mostly good; the words are difficult to understand at some points. | It is difficult to understand what students are singing. |
| Intonation | Students are always in tune. Overall quality of sound is full and resonant. | Students are mostly in tune. There may be one or two places where they are off pitch. Overall quality of sound is full and resonant. | Students are mostly in tune, with several places where they are sharp or flat. Overall quality of sound is mostly full and resonant, though somewhat thin in places. | Students struggle to stay in tune. Overall quality of sound is somewhat thin. |
| Musicality | Excellent use of dynamics. | Good use of dynamics, overall good use of musicality. | The students sing straight through the song with a few dynamic changes. | The students sing straight through, with no change in dynamics. |
| Overall Performance | The students are fully involved in the music and are interesting to watch. | The students are involved in the music. | The students seem somewhat involved. |