2022 Chinese New Year Vlog Competition: Winners Announced

Over the course of the past few weeks, students (and even some staff) across the College have been documenting their stories through “vlogs”. Vlogging (video logging) is an increasingly popular method of communication. Yet, in addition to being a social media phenomenon, vlogging is considering a valid and important form of non-literary text in the IB Diploma Programme language curriculum. Vlog making is fun and engaging, can motivate students to express themselves, and is a great tool through which our students can develop their public speaking and communication skills. The annual CNY vlog competition is also a catalyst for students to develop their technical skills as they plan, write, film and edit their stories into bite sized vlogs to be submitted for consideration in the competition.

While always centered around a documenting an element of Chinese culture, this year's most popular vlog theme was Chinese food or beautiful locations across China.

This year our students were lucky to receive a visit from accomplished director, Mr Shigeto Sayama, who attended the College to provide students with some final guidance as they polished their projects. Mr Sayama, a passionate story-teller who possesses a distinct ability to bring 'depths and strengths' into a wide range of visual contexts and content, had the following to say about the CNY vlog competition;

“It was a great pleasure to be involved in the vlog competition this year at Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi. I have seen so much talent, and I can feel the student’s passion. I am happy to see their understanding of the visual arts, use of music, and technical skills in manipulating visual effects. I encourage the students to continue exploring different forms visual arts and to gain inspiration from life and nature. I hope the students can find a visual style that speaks to them, and that can reflect and represent them in their truest form. That is the beauty of visual expressions."

Congratulations to all who submitted an entry. The quality and range of submissions was very impressive, making judging the winners a challenging process. And the winners are…

Early Years
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1st Place – Sean F. (Toddlers)
2nd Place – Brian B. (Nursery)
3rd Place – Lawrence W. (Reception)

Primary School
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1st Place – Y1 Alex J. & Emma J.
2nd Place – Y3 Sean Z. [Tied for 2nd]
2nd Place – Y4 Joshua H. [Tied for 2nd]
3rd Place – Y1 William [Tied for 3rd]
3rd Place – Y4 Lucas N. [Tied for 3rd]
3rd Place – Y5 Yanxun & Chris [Tied for 3rd]

Senior School
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Chinese New Year Vlog First Prize

“Dong Nan Xi Bei”
Leona S. (Y8), Ellie L. (Y8)

Finalists 
Aaron K.
Evelyn K., Dora T., Sean B., Tabitha I.
Jenny C.
Nafisa E., ZhenZhu E.
Dora W.
Giana Z.
Esther L., Jemima I.
Jacinda H.

We spoke to some of the participants in this year’s competition to get their reflections on the process:

What challenges did you encounter during this process, and what have you learned?  

Emma 

"I found it was quite challenging. It’s hard to relax in front of the camera, but I didn’t give up, the results turned out to be very good. Also, we had to keep talking louder because of the background noise. Now we have a mini microphone, so background noises won’t be a problem anymore. Trying to memorise the lines was also a challenge."

Ellie 

"We stayed up really late editing the vlog. We had to manage our time well. The vlog needed a lot of work, but it is quite a good experience! Thank you for providing this opportunity! I have learnt about Chinese Culture and what we do to celebrate here in China."

Leona 

"I very much enjoyed the process of making the vlog. I think I learnt that you really need to have time and put in a lot of effort to do a vlog otherwise there isn’t any meaning behind what you are filming. During the process, in some of the restaurants they didn't have the foods we chose to represent the region of China, so we had to find other famous dishes from that region. We needed to be flexible."

Congratulations to everyone who took part in the CNY Vlog Competition 2022. We look forward to seeing even more entries next year. Happy Chinese New Year to everyone!