Meridian Arts and Sciences

Judging Guidelines

(Updated January 2001)

Overview: The purpose of this article is to give judges some guidelines on judging arts and sciences competition entries in the SCA. The guidelines mention the losing and gaining of points. This is an abbreviated way of describing how to assess the entry in a particular area. The system described here can be used for any competition where documentation is required, and can be modified for those in which it is not. It was written specifically for the rules we use at Kingdom Arts & Sciences Faire in Meridies. Each piece entered is judged on a scale of 1-5 in four areas: documentation, authenticity, execution, and complexity.

  1. In General
    1. Timing: the judging process should never take longer than 15 minutes of discussion. It is not necessary to discuss every line of documentation or every nook and cranny of an item with the other judges. Most judges are busy, as are the people in charge of the contest. Do your job and move on.
    2. Cooperation with other judges: generally there will be at least one other judge.
      1. Three or fewer judges: each judge should make their own determination independently, then compare notes and come to a consensus. Each judge should write brief comments.
      2. Four or more judges: each judge should make comments to the group that they believe are most pertinent. Then the group should come to a consensus on a score and assign someone to write the comments.
  2. Static Entries
    1. Look at the entry.
      1. Make a judgment about the type of item and the time and place in which it is set.
      2. Look at the quality of the workmanship, materials, techniques, etc.
      3. Take no more than 2 minutes with this step.
    2. Read the documentation. Documentation should give you a feel for the artisan's overall knowledge of the subject matter.
      1. Look for a type of item, time and place in the documentation; every entry should have a location and a time in history (e.g. 14th century Italian painting or 12th century Norman shoe.)
        1. Is the time and place listed? [If not, points are lost.]
        2. Does the documentation describe the item correctly as to time and place. [If not, points are lost.]
      2. Look for a description of the materials , techniques , tools , styles, etc. Are these things listed? [If not, points are lost.]
        1. Are they listed correctly? [If not, points are lost.]
        2. Where they differ from those in period, those the entrant explain the difference? [If not, points are lost.]
      3. Read the bibliography .
        1. Are the sources good? [If yes, points are gained.]
        2. Were primary sources used? [If yes, points are gained.]
        3. Are there obvious problems with the sources? [If yes, points are lost. Make sure that you put this in your comments.]
      4. This step should take no longer than 5 minutes in most cases.
    3. Look at the entry again.
      1. Does the entry agree with the documentation? [If not, points are lost.]
      2. What is the quality of the item?
      3. How period is the item? Did the artisan try as much as possible to use period materials, techniques, styles, colors, motifs, etc., and where the entrant varied from period there was an explanation for it?
      4. How difficult to make and/or research was the item? Sometimes very simple items to make are very difficult to research. Be careful that your assessments of difficulty take into account research time.
      5. How unusual/creative is the piece? Items that are unusual (not many people have done them) or are a particularly difficult to research period or place, or are in some other way unique, deserve extra consideration for these qualities.
      6. Did the artisan make some of his/her own tools to produce the item? [If yes, points are gained.]
      7. Is the item a project "from the ground up"? [If yes, and each step is well executed then extra points should be given.]
      8. This step should not take more than 3 minutes.
    4. Score the item and write comments.
      1. Based on your evaluation, give the entry a score that is appropriate within the scoring system that you are using. This should take no more than 1 minute.
      2. Write comments. This should be based on the good and bad points that you have already noted while judging. This is extremely important to the entrants - do not take it lightly.
      3. Always start with something positive.
      4. Be constructive, not critical. Say "You might want to work on your technique" instead of "Your technique is sloppy".
      5. Never say anything you can't defend. If you tell someone that their sources were bad, you better be able to give some good ones.
      6. Don't shoot the bull or guess if you don't know something. It's not a crime if the entrant knows more about something than you do.
      7. This step should take no longer than 3 minutes.
  3. Brewing and Vintning
    The system for static entries will apply except for the following:
    1. The judging sheets will be different.
    2. The steward may have input into final scores and writing comments.
    3. No points are lost for using modern sanitary methods of sterilization and production.

 

  1. Live Entries (Performing Arts, Costume Revue, Hairdressing and Cosmetics)
    1. Glance at the documentation to get a feel for what the person will be doing and what they know. It will also help you to formulate questions for the entrant. This step should take no longer than 2 minutes.
    2. Listen to the entrant's introduction, if there is one.
      1. What do they know about the work? Do they set it in a time and place?
      2. Is the entrant confident in their information about the entry?
    3. Observe the entry -- Performing Arts
      1. Come to a determination about the time and place of the performance and whether this matches what the entrant has told you.
      2. Come to a determination about the quality of the performance.
      3. Come to a determination about how authentic the piece is.
        1. If it is an historical extant piece, this should be easy.
        2. If it is an original piece, look at the type, genre, and style. Are they period?
      4. Come to a determination about how authentic the performance is.
        1. Was the piece done in a period performing style?
        2. Were props, sets, costumes, etc. in a period style appropriate to the performance?
      5. Come to a determination on how difficult the piece is.
        1. An original piece that is well documented will generally earn more points.
        2. A piece that is difficult to research will generally earn more points.
        3. A piece that is more difficult to perform will generally earn more points.
    4. Observe the entry -- Costume Revue, Hairdressing & Cosmetics
      1. Come to a determination about the time and place of the piece.
      2. Look at the piece carefully, observing the quality of work, materials, colors, motifs, techniques, etc. (See II.C. above)
    5. Ask the entrant questions. Based on your observations and the documentation, ask the entrant any question that you think is necessary in making a final determination about the entry.
      1. Questions should be non-judgmental.
      2. How much does the entrant know about the piece?
      3. This process should take no more than 5 minutes (not including performance time).
    6. Look at the documentation in more detail. (See II.B. above) This should take no more than 5 minutes.
    7. Score the piece and write comments. (See II.D. above)

    Entries shall be judged on their own merit and not compared to any other entries.

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