Accreditation Submission Guidelines

The Accreditation committee looks for a good cross section of your range of work. As cinematographers have such a varying mix of work, it is impossible to make a definitive list of what to submit with your application but please use the following suggestions as a guide:

  • If you only shoot Feature films then three complete features should suffice.
  • If you only shoot TV Drama then a few examples, at least 4 shows to 6. 
  • If you work in various areas then say one Feature followed by your other work, say, a TV Drama or two, maybe a Documentary, a few Music Clips and say a few Commercials.
  • If your background is only Documentaries, then a few examples, say 4 – 6.
  • If you shoot Commercials only, then you should present at least 12 finished commercials, or if you only shoot Music Clips then 8 – 10 clips, or if you shot both Music Clips & TVC’s then say 3 or 4 clips and say 8 Commercials. Please note: showreel montages are not accepted.
  • If your background is factual television acquisition – News, News Magazine, Current Affairs, etc, the committee look for your ability to tell the story, your creative use of light, whether it be artificial or the light available to you in the situation. Successful applicants in this area have shown an uncanny ability to use the surroundings available to them, both in light and composition for a creative result. In these genres probably 6 – 8 examples should suffice.
  • The overall recommendation is “less is more”. Do not put in everything you have ever shot. Submit what you have been the most happiest with. Only enter the BEST OF YOUR BEST work. If you have doubt about a piece then you probably shouldn’t enter it.
  • The submitted work needs to demonstrate more than just professional competence. Creativity and aesthetic innovation are some of the qualities sought by the panellists.
  • Accreditation submissions from financial, Full members, will only be accepted between September 1 to September 21. Assesments occur only once a year, usually in October.
  • An Accredited President or Accredited Member of the Branch should screen and discuss the submission with the applicant. It may be suggested the submission should be strengthened, changed or they may even suggest waiting for another year before submitting. Once confirmed all material has been shot by the applicant and it is considered to be of a high enough standard to be submitted for Accreditation, the signed submission with a hard drive of the applicant’s work and the application fee is sent by their Branch addressed to the Accreditation Committee chair to ACS National Headquarters for the next round of assessments which are held in October.

Work Submission Requirements

Accreditation submissions of your range of work will be accepted in the following formats. Deliver physical files to ACS National HQ.

  1. Data video files delivered on hard drives formatted to MacOS or ExFAT are preferred. ACS recommends high quality codecs that will play easily such as ProRes422 or DNxHD, h264 (5 -10 Mbps bitrate), HEVC (h265) or MPEG4. Resolution should be no greater than 2k (2048×1080). 1920×1080 is preferred.
  2. Commercially produced DVDs or BluRay IMPORTANT: self-authored disks will NOT be accepted.
  3. Streamed VOD. This method should only be used when all other methods are not possible. This must be a common, Australian-based platform. Note that a stream which fails for any reason, will result in the video not being accepted or judged. Applicants will not be contacted to remedy the stream.
  4. Links to professional Vimeo accounts. In certain circumstances, applicants may not have access other than on a secure server at Vimeo (or similar). Only when this is the case may this option be chosen. Again, if the link fails, the clip will not be accepted or judged.

16:9 monitors are used for judging, therefore all entries to be submitted 16:9 full height anamorphic.
4:3 and 9:16 (vertical) entries should be pillar boxed.
Widescreen entries to be letterboxed.

If you have questions regarding your submission please contact your Branch President, an ACS Accredited Member or the Chair of the Accreditation Committee.

Email the Accreditation Committee Chair, Ernie Clark ACS »

Intending to apply for ACS Accreditation?

If you are applying for ACS Accreditation, please review the following checklist.

  1. I am a current financial member of the Australian Cinematographers Society. Members with fees in arrears may not apply.
  2. I have been a Full member of the ACS for the last three years and have been a professional cinematographer for at least eight years.
  3. I will contact my Branch in sufficient time to obtain assessment of the suitability of my submission prior to completing my Application for Accreditation within the prescribed dates.
  4. I will submit all my material within the prescribed dates and understand that material submitted after the deadline will not be accepted.
  5. I will include all documentation and signed forms with my submission.
  6. I will ensure full payment is made for my submission before the closing date.
  7. I understand gaining ACS Accreditation is indeed a privilege and the highest honour that can be bestowed on me but in turn I know the Society expects and indeed needs my involvement.
  8. I commit to and understand that the Society will expect my involvement in things such as Awards Judging, Accreditation Assessments, participating as a member of your Branch committee or being involved Nationally on the Executive or on a subcommittee.