Hi Guys,
It has come to my attention that some people are a little displeased with our top 11 decisions, and who got in despite the rules in place. As Bryan stated, please try to stay calm and not attack anyone else based on the finalists we’ve seen. It is a competition yes, but we need to keep our sport up. If there is an issue, please direct it to a moderator of the forum such as myself, Jaime or Milan. James, no need to point out the rules to us again, we know what they are. In the end, we judged the shortlist based on a number of factors. The regular instructions (minimum of 1920 HD res submission for print and display, with support of the Kreola story in general, and a display of high quality in reference to photo realism, creativity, and uniqueness that brings out an artist’s own style.)
Yes there were some rules that were bent, or some ignored, but we blamed that on ourselves as it was a rocky beginning as many of you have seen. There was confusion to where things were to be posted, what resolutions, aspect ratios, story, and setting. We apologize for that as it should have been really all ironed out at the get go. Due to some circumstances, we tried to remedy that in the support thread, and contacting individual WIP artist threads to point them more in the right direction. Some artists heeded our feedback, some didn’t, but in the end, it’s really the art work that stands up to being in the shortlist, despite some points being off. If it looked good, it looked good, with a general sense of the Kreola spirit in mind.
James, I know you followed the instructions well, but sometimes the rules can be bent in order to create something more unique and powerful in mood. The limitations are there to see what you come up with, and many people did an excellent job in interpreting it in their own vision even though some things we asked to do. We can’t control everyone’s decisions, but if it looks good in the end, then it will work even if it doesn’t include all of the specifications from the beginning (as long as it’s not blatantly wrong).
We have 3 other judges on the competition, and they won’t have the luxury of going through all of the other WIP threads here, and so we compiled the short list for them, a brief set of what the instructions were, the support story, and the base plate to compare the art work to. We really looked at everyone’s final submissions and chose which would be in the top running that best matches a film quality style frame in the end. In a few days time, we hope to find the top 3 in the competition. Not being in the top 3 doesn’t count as a failure in our eyes. Some other judges have already told me how high quality and close in competition these shots that are presented to them. Nice work guys!
As Akim and Bryan stated, you are all winners here. Everyone has learned so much through out the process, forged new friendships, and gathered what can work and what doesn’t in a matte painting as well as create a whole new environment based on what was in Milan’s head. I think that’s pretty amazing to see here in the last few months, and no one should be ashamed of not making it in the top 11, or in the top 3 in the end.
We will be going through, and giving back individual feedback for those who are in the top 11, and those who didn’t that submitted a final before the deadline to show what they did well, and what they can improve upon. This will give you further understanding into how and why we chose what we did.
Richard, I saw your post on FB too, and I hope this message gets to you and gives you more insight into the events leading up to this. You did an excellent job here, so don’t ever think otherwise. You really improved, and so we really want you to keep doing that and participate further by being an active member to gain more knowledge into the matte painting process. Keep it up!!
Again, we apologize for any mix-up in the competition and any conflict of information. If there are any other questions about the top 11, or the top 3 coming up, or about the competition, please direct it to myself, Jaime or Milan in this thread, or in a PM. Thanks guys!