Scenic Cycle III: Meet the Judges

We’ll be meeting our photographers tomorrow, but for today we’re going to talk about our judges, who will be graciously providing feedback to our contestants each week.

Odharnait “Ona” Greene – Previous judge, host of Scenic Cycle II and most recently Fresh Faces, failed model, Challenge Winner of 2018, poet, mom friend, and avid drunk, Ona has agreed to give loving tribute to the shots each week this cycle. Welcome back Ona!

Elessia Sedai – Fat Cat Chronicles veteran and most recently Ona’s partner in crime, as well as our Challenge Winner of 2019, Elessia started out as a community judge and is now one of our MVPs on the judging and hosting team. Welcome back, Elessia!

Ni’ko Shae – Host of Runway Cycle, and winner of Classic Cycle 11, Ni’ko is temporarily back from a nice vacation in PSO2 to give the photographers some flowery feedback and prolific puns every week. Welcome back, Ni’ko!

And introducing our newest community judge, Reese Direson – A participant in Fresh Faces Cycle 2, Reese is joining us as a judge to bring us a fresh perspective to Scenic Cycle III as well. Reese has worked on set design and fabrication out in the offline world, and we’re excited to see what advice and thoughts he will bring to the table!

Katarh Mest – Your host! ENTM veteran, and winner of Runway Cycle 1, Katarh started out as a community judge in 2014 thanks to her penchant for glamour design, and became the co-manager of ENTM with Kai Ulric in 2017. Now she manages the website, in addition to hosting cycles and judging.

ENTM Presents Scenic Cycle III

Call for Scenic Cycle Judges and Photographers

Announcing ENTM’s Scenic Cycle III!

Scenic Cycle is our unique, anonymously judged landscape photography cycle. Unlike our model focused classic cycles, Scenic Cycle hides your characters behind the lens of the Gpose camera and challenges you to put your background and compositional skills to the test instead.

The deadline for photographer and judge submissions is July 24th.

The contest is scheduled to run from July 30th to September 3rd.

Photographers Needed

Scenic cycle is a smaller, more intimate challenge with no community judging, since all our shots are submitted under a veil of secrecy. The anonymous submission each week allows our judges to weigh each screenshot wholly on its own merits, without any fear of possible bias.

Scenic Cycle is open to ENTM veterans and newcomers alike. You do not have to have entered any other ENTM cycle before to participate. You do, however, have to commit to at least six new unique screenshots created for this contest during late July through August 2021. It is also strongly recommended that you be at least level 70 with access to the Shadowbringers zones, although it is not a hard requirement for the contest. (Just saying – your competitors might accidentally spoil you if you’re not careful.)

A maximum of 12 contestants will be accepted.

Each week, a shot will be shared to the public and judges will release their critiques as well. The judges will rank each shot, and a winner will be announced for that week. At the end of the cycle, all the weekly rankings will be tallied, and a winner announced. Only after the judges have voted will the name of the photographer be matched to each shot.

To audition for Scenic Cycle III: Please send Admin Katarh Mest a portfolio (via a Discord DM) with the following:

* Your character name
* Your server and data center
* Audition Screenshot:  

A Gpose screenshot that is taken while flying using the Picture Frame border.   (Not the Instant Camera frame, or any of the ornamental frames. Only Picture Frame!)   

This screenshot can be in any weather, at any time of day, in any zone where flying is allowed.   The Square Enix copyright information must be visible on your shot.  No Reshade or Gshade allowed:  the challenge of ENTM is to use only in game tools to produce a beautiful photograph.  Other than the requirement of the Picture Frame, you can also use any other effects or filters you want for this audition shot.  Send me the prettiest picture you can!

Please >>>click right here<<<< to join the ENTM Discord community if you have not done so already!

Call for Judges

In addition to our photographers, we would like to have a panel of 3-4 judges. The responsibility of the judges are to review the shots each week, rank them, and write up a brief critique sharing your thoughts on the technical and artistic composition of the photograph submission. Like our photographers, this is a six week commitment, but the way our schedule works judges usually have a full weekend to review and critique their shots! Depending on how many photographers we have, critiques may be split into groupings to avoid too much work for each judge.

To apply to be a judge, you must have at least one of the following qualifications:

  • Be an “All Star” for a prior ENTM contest (3rd place or higher or a yearly challenge winner)
  • Have been a judge for us before
  • Be a moderator or admin for one of our Community Partners, including other members of Hydalaen International
  • Have a real world qualification, such as being a professional artist, photographer, or other trained or experienced individual.

To apply to be a judge, please send a DM to Admin Katarh Mest with your character name, your server, and your qualification! New judges are always welcome to give us a fresh perspective.

Time for your Crown!

Fresh Faces 2 has come to a close and our weekly winners have been able to stun our judges with their amazing shots.

Though we lost Portia to IRL needs partway through, we kept 9 amazing models right through the final!

I kept reminding the models that we have had models who never win a round take the whole competition, and this I think helped the models keep focused on their weekly challenges. We had six weeks with unique challenges presented to the models, and six weeks of shots highlighting the unique personalities of the models.

The winners each week were as follows:

  1. Baby You Were Born This Way – Amalie Greene
  2. It’s Gonna Be May – Damien Montclair
  3. You Had One Job – Killia Venerelle
  4. In the Arms of the Angel – Zathena Astreus
  5. 9 to 5 – Daiyu Elani
  6. Never Gonna Give You Up – Killia Venerelle

So now it is time to officially crown the winner of the 2nd installment of Fresh Faces 2 – 2021 Edition.

Now where did I put the crown… Looks around for the crown… Here it is!

Season 1 Queen GIF by The Spanish Princess - Find & Share on GIPHY

With placement in the top three five out of six weeks, and a first place win, this model proved that she has what it takes to wear this badge of honor, the elusive S-Rank tag, the most coveted golden name in all of Eorzea’s Neo Talent Management Discord.

Beyonce Knowles Queen GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Please make way for the new S-Rank Model….

Season 9 Nbc GIF by The Office - Find & Share on GIPHY

Amalie Greene!

A special shout out to my judges:

Kat, Escher, Yomu, and Forth…

I Love You GIF by Taylor Swift - Find & Share on GIPHY

And an extra special shout out to my co-mentor Elessia for being the one person I could squee about shots to …

Michael Scott Wink GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Now come join us over at ENTM’s Discord for the next cycle! I forget what it is, but it’s probably Ni’ko’s turn to host.

https://discord.com/channels/285270099487621121/285270099487621121

Until next cycle –

Never Gonna Give You Up – Round Winner!

Holy Moly! What a competition! I am usually trusted to complete the scenic cycle because I can be super creative with the themes, so when Kat and Kai gave me the go-ahead to host Fresh Faces 2—- well, I got a little excited! But my amazing models worked with me and produced some fantastic images which frequently caused my judges to go “ugh Ona, they all did so well!”.

But with all competitions a winner was announced each week.

And like all other weeks, this week a model danced her way to a win, and with that epic studio setup, well it’s no wonder she was let into the weekly winner’s circle for a second time this competition!

So without further delay, CONGRATULATIONS to

KILLIA!

I don’t really have words to express how epic this shot was, but it wowed the judges and landed you first place! Ona just wants to know if that was a shower in the foreground…. or did you have a friend manipulate some fancy skill to get that look?!?

Up next, the winner of the entire competition will be announced, and that elusive Golden S-Rank Title will be awarded…. I still don’t have one of those, but looking back at this competitions shots, I don’t want to go up against any of these models!

Be Epic… Be Memorable… Never Gonna Give You Up.

Bet you never saw that epic Rick Roll heading straight towards you with the trench coat, ginger hair, and sweet, sweet dance moves.



What you WILL see, however is the most amount of Fresh a Fresh Faces round could fit into one post! So much wow…. so much whoa…. so much Epic-ness to give Queen Bee herself telling you about Becky with the good hair a run for her crown. So many pockets Starlight wouldn’t even know what to put in them!

The models were told to go and be as epic as Beyoncé, and as memorable as Rick Astley.

And the models did not disappoint! So without further adieu, we present the final round…

Never Gonna Give You Up

Voting up until Tuesday 10pm… Round Winner Announce by Midnight!

9 to 5 Winner!

Yeah, there is a winner.

They wont let anyone write anything they want about them. (<—paraphrased quote)

So I wont.

But one thing I bloody hell know, they are definitely NOT an idiot sandwich…

Whatever that means….

via GIPHY

CONGRATULATIONS DAIYU!!

The Judges loved your shot and how you used the elements of your scene to tell a story! Your use of the household items to build your set sold them on a hard working baker, and not Gordon Ramsay’s punching bag! I agree completely with Kat this round… I could SMELL your shot. (mmm… bread)

Come back next week for the final round!

Ona’s most favorite round ever!

It is going to be EPIC!

via GIPHY

9 to 5

Working 9 to 5, what a way to make a living
Barely getting by, it’s all taking and no giving
They just use your mind, and they never give you credit
It’s enough to drive you crazy if you let it

This week, the models were told to go snap a “scenic” shot of themselves working a “regular” job away from their duties of Warrior of Light.

Just like good ol’ Dolly, our Models found themselves working to make a living, but unlike dolly, none of them depicted musicians!

So here they are!

Voting is up until 10pm on Tuesday June 1st, 2021 and the winner will be announce by Midnight.

In the Arms of the Angel

Sarah McLachlan did an interview after those commercials stopped being aired by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) in which she shared that she was an emotional wreck when watching the final commercial. She described these adds as “Brutal”.
The commercial originally aired in 2007, and managed to raise $30 million in the first two years of its release, according to The New York Times. It’s the most successful fundraising effort for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, so clearly those who are able to withstand watching the ad know it’s important. That, or those who can’t but still made a donation anyway. Either way, it works, and we’re happy puppies and kittens are being taken care of. 

But our winner this week, really went for it, and their winning image hit it home. They flew away with the win this week, on constructs of wings, rather than actual body parts, but the judges didn’t have to worry about the violent flurry of scratching and punching, to award this model with the title! However I am certain that they would not be comfortable with anyone thoroughly inspecting their backside! (No, I’m not losing my mind… I’m paraphrasing the description box… )

CONGRATULATIONS TO:

Zathena Astraeus!

The judges thought your image was not only absolutely adorable, and it really fit the theme for the week.

As for Ona, well she’s not crying… she just finished her shift cutting onions… at the dust factory… during allergy season…

(Leaked footage of Ona after this round…)

Come back next week for a round so intense, you wont believe it. No actually, don’t believe me. It isn’t that intense. But it will be amazing, just like my beautiful models!

In the Arms of the Angel

Hi. I’m Ona, and I’m Elessia. Will you be an angel for a helpless animal in need?

Everyday innocent animals are abused, beaten and neglected and they are crying out for help.

Join the ESPCA with a monthly gift right now for just 25 gil a month, less than 1 gil a day, you’ll help rescue animals from their abusers and provide medical care, food, and love.

Join https://discord.gg/vFqSqw3E online in the next 30 minutes and you will receive a personalize welcome message from Ona or Elessia in the general_chatting channel and a photo of an animal that may or may not have been found on a search engine. One whose been saved, and shared, thanks to you.

Right now, there’s an animal who needs you.

Your monthly donation says “I’m here to help.”

Please join, right now.

Models were told to take a photo with their minion, chocobo, or mount this week.

and to….
“Make it beautiful”
“Make Ona cry” (sad or happy… doesn’t matter)
“Use the echo filter”
Everything else was FreeStyle! meaning their choice of the type of shot!

Here are this week’s photos!

Now its the Judge’s turn to decide which image made them cry the most… And its your turn to use the poll below to vote for your fan favorites!
Voting will be live until Tuesday May 25th, 2021 at 10pm, and the winner of round 4 will be announced by 12:01am May 26th, 2021.


Ona is bawling…

Ona ugly cries…

It’s bad…

You Had ONE Job

And this week’s winner really

ley’d

it all out on the line with their

transPOSE.

They

thundered

onto the screen and

manaflaunted

their

Umbral Soul

out in their shot. In the end they had us all

lucid dreaming

and had the judges

triple casting

their votes in favor of the

aspect mastery

that is the beautiful and amazing:

KILLIA VERENELLE!

Killia, the judges all agreed that your use of your ability to center your image and highlight yourself against the dark background while protecting yourself from those ghosties was the winning move!

Ona thinks that you look like you might need some help. I could cast a bard song, but Yoshi-P took all of my helpful party songs away…

But I still have Troubador! #10%IsBetterThanNothing!

Congratulations Killia!

As we move into the last three weeks of the competition, we have had three different winners each week! The exclusive S-Rank title is still up for grabs, and at this point, it’s anyone’s game!

Come back next week to see Ona cry… I literally made the themes and did it to myself.

We have a discord… https://discord.gg/vFqSqw3E

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