1) Keep your primary submission no longer than 5 to 7 minutes.

2) If you are shooting video at night, be sure to use a camera that can shoot decently at night! Otherwise please stick with strictly a daytime shoot only, since your footage will be effectively useless unless we can see your nice imagery. Dark footage make people squint and get headaches.

3) Keep moving. Get all your images in there, but try not to spend 4 minutes on one thing. 10 seconds on anything is usually more than enough time unless it is an animated prop that takes longer than 10 seconds for it's complete cycle. And even then, you need not record every word that the animatronic is saying to get the full gist of it's effect. Remember, there are over 80 submissions per year these days and that results in over 8 hours of viewing!

4) Resist the temptation to narrate unless it really does need it, but DO tell us who you are and what city or part of the country you are from. We already know that is a pumpkin and this is a ghost, so try to limit narration to only when it is unclear what is in the viewfinder.

5) Try to keep the footage moving quickly if you can. Showing us 3 minutes of nothing but a black wall with kids somewhere behind it screaming will do nothing but make us wish we had seen inside the haunt, so why not go inside?

6) Be aware of how many times you show us the same prop. Usually once and only for a few moments is plenty, as we can use reverse and pause if we need to look it over very closely, which I have done many times myself.

7) Think about the end result of the shoot. If you watch it and imagine seeing it on the 6 O'clock news, would they have moved along at that pace and taken that much time to do the coverage? If not, try to do another run-through, only try picking up the pace. The more exciting and less dragging, the higher your chances will be to win in your category.

8) Submit the cleanest, best possible clarity you can. Send in the master tape if it is analog (digital loses nothing in recording) and include enough postage for it's safe return so the copies the rest of us get to watch will be much more exciting. Always keep a copy for yourself in case the master actually gets lost in the mail.

9) Long, panning, wandering, zooming, walking jerky shots can make people motion sick. Use a tripod whenever possible.

OPTIONAL "Behind the Scenes" submission, limit 5 to 7 minutes;

1) Keep your pace moving at a good clip. Don't allow much "dead air" time. Having a clear plan of what you will be showing and explaining and having props already opened up or clearly displayed in advance will help you keep it quick and interesting.

2) If you are showing us the close-up shots of a very unique linkage mechanism or unusual technique that is rare, spend a moment explaining how you made it do that. Just remember that those who will be watching the behind the scenes technical footage will likely already know how to plug in a motor's power cord into the wall socket, so try to show us how you made that gear motor move something back and forth instead of just 'round and 'round.

3) Typically this will be your "narrated" view of your haunt in the daylight. If you can show animatronics triggering in this light it is all the better, but showing HOW it is set up and HOW it works is what we are really interested in. If you use real beetles on the floor, tell us about and show us that.

4) Try not to spend a lot of time showing us something that everyone on the list already has unless yours does something unusual. Also, we do like seeing your flying ghost fly but just not flying for 45 minutes. Remember, when shows that specialize in "how-to" information, like Gardening By The Yard for instance, show how this sprinkler looks once it is masterfully created they might show as little as one to 6 seconds of footage to fully illustrate the end result!

5) As long as your tape is interesting and the pace is refreshing, take  enough time to show all the curious and creative things you were able to figure out and implement. But when you start repeating yourself, end your tape. Unless you have a LOT to show behind the scenes not covered on your website or anywhere else, your BTS footage should easily stay under 10 minutes. 

Disclaimer!

  To everyone who submits a video, please realize that judging winners and runners-up for any category is a highly subjective undertaking. We must within just a few minutes of video, determine from what little the camera's eye reveals to us, the nuances of each person's type of haunt or display. This makes the submission of precise video of utmost importance that your best images and features are captured and bring us the truest ambiance of your show that you can.

  Shooting angles with your camcorder, lighting, focus and distance from the display can conspire to make an otherwise awe-inspiring submission look like something the 4th grade class put together with egg crates and paste. So if you didn't win and felt you should of, PLEASE don't take it personally, as it is pretty much impossible to find perfect accuracy in the judging. Just submit a better, more comprehensive clip for next year that highlights your show's best stuff and try again next time. No genuinely excellent haunt can go forever unnoticed!

  We remain committed to impartiality and vote with honest opinion on the job *as visually submitted* or *as can be determined*. So you can be sure that regardless of your social standing, your haunt will be judged fairly when you enter the Haunt X Haunter's Video Contest. Good luck to everyone!