caption contest

{{unreferenced section|date=July 2024}}

Caption contest participants have to describe a given image as accurately and originally as possible. Contests may vary by image type (photo or drawing), caption format (description of a situation or a dialogue), as well as judging criteria. The competition organizer is required to give information about caption submission rules and other information that is important for the contest.

Caption contests are mainly arranged as an amusement, and they can be organized under different conditions (between separate individuals, in public events, mass media, etc.), as well as using various means (drawn pictures on paper, digital image, printed image, press publication, etc.). Traditionally, the most popular and typical format has been publication of caption contests in newspapers or magazines, but with the development of modern technologies, it is also very popular to organize caption contests on the Internet.

Caption contests can be used not only as an entertainment but also for other purposes, such as newspaper promotion, bringing forward a certain problem, or product advertisement. An important aspect of caption competition is to look at an object, event or issue from unusual point of view.

The caption, unless competition rules do not restrict, can be in any form of literary expression – prose, poetry, as one word or a word play. Usually the submitted captions are judged by the originality and wit, but not always the decisive assessment is humour. It is generally assumed that the caption has to describe image as precisely as possible, so both humour and precision are equally important.

As caption writing is an art of words, it is rarely possible to evaluate the superiority of one caption over others accurately and objectively. Consequently, the judging of submitted captions is usually quite subjective. Sometimes competition rules limit caption size, but usually the caption is no longer than one sentence (10–20 words). As an exception, the caption can consist of several sentences. Usually it is not allowed to use profane or offensive language in submitted captions.

In several caption contests, winners are awarded with prizes.

It is considered that the origins of caption contests are related to the increase of popularity of cartoons and comics as well as widespread use of illustrations and the rise of photojournalism in printed media at the end of the 19th century. All these areas share the combination of words and images that could be multiplied and made available to a wide audience with the beginnings of mass printing and wide spread of newspapers and magazines.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/20/business/earlier-media-achieved-critical-mass-printing-press-yelling-stop-presses-didn-t.html |first=D. J. R. |last=Bruckner |title=How the Earlier Media Achieved Critical Mass |work=The New York Times |date=November 20, 1995}}

From currently{{when?|date=July 2024}} available information, the first caption contests in printed media appeared in the U.S. press of the late 19th century (such as Life magazine{{cite news |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1920-11-07/ed-1/seq-25/ |title=$1000.00 in Prizes |work=New-York Tribune |date=November 7, 1920 |via=Chronicling America |access-date=May 31, 2012}} which was published from year 1883 to 1936). At that time these competitions were called picture title or picture headline contests, but their concept and meaning was identical to current caption contests. It must be considered, that the term caption in its present sense firstly appeared in English language only in the first half of the 20th century.{{cite web |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/caption |title=Caption (n.) |date= |website=etymonline.com |access-date=May 31, 2012}}

In the beginning of the 20th century, at least in the U.S. press (for example, The San Francisco Call,{{cite news |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85066387/1912-01-07/ed-1/seq-17/ |title=The Sunday Call Will Pay $20 for the Best Title for This Picture |work=The San Francisco Call |date=January 7, 1912 |via=Chronicling America |access-date=May 31, 2012}} The Daily News,{{cite news |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1920-03-23/ed-1/seq-11/ |title=What does this Picture mean? |work=New-York Tribune |date=March 23, 1920 |page=11 |via=Chronicling America |access-date=May 31, 2012}} The Bridgeport Telegram{{cite news |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/bridgeport-telegram/1921-12-20/page-30/ |title=$10 A Week for the Best Titles in Sunday Post Caption Contest |work=Bridgeport Telegram |date=December 20, 1921 |page=30 |via=newspaperarchive.com |access-date=May 31, 2012}}) caption contests were already quite popular. In these competitions drawn pictures and cartoons were mainly used. Photo caption contests appeared little later with the improvement of printing quality (towards the second quarter of 20th century).{{cn|date=July 2024}}

During the course of the 20th century, caption contests were published in printed media in many countries of the world. For example, in Soviet Union one of the first caption contests was published in daily newspaper Izvestia Sunday supplement Nedelya (The Week) at the beginning of the 1960s.{{cite web |url=http://www.odnako.org/magazine/material/show_14096/ |script-title=ru:Золотой глаз-Геолог и Мальтус |website=odnako.org |access-date=June 21, 2012 |lang=ru |first=Иван |last=Гидаспов |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316005030/http://www.odnako.org/magazine/material/zolotoy-glaz/ |archive-date=2016-03-16}} Little later{{when?|date=July 2024}} a newspaper Literaturnaya gazeta began to publish caption contests that became very popular and they are part of this newspaper up until now.{{when?|date=July 2024}}{{cite web |url=http://www.lgz.ru/article/18729/ |script-title=ru:Что бы это значило? |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120620052849/http://www.lgz.ru/article/18729/ |archive-date=2012-06-20 |website=lgz.ru |access-date=June 21, 2012}}

The spread of caption contests increased even more with the emergence of the Internet by the end of the 20th century, and at the beginning of the 21st century. Internet has made the organization of caption contests and participation in them possible for wide audiences across the world.

Although a considerable amount of caption contests are now on Internet, caption contests in printed media still exist and are quite popular. A very popular and prominent is a weekly caption contest published in American magazine The New Yorker.{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111904199404576538831896448132 |first=Russell |last=Adams |title=How About Never—Is Never Good for You? Celebrities Struggle to Write Winning Captions |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=September 10, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215234231/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111904199404576538831896448132 |archive-date=2015-02-15}} The contest first appeared in 1998 and has been published regularly in each issue since 2005.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/05/02/your-caption-here |title=Your Caption Here |magazine=The New Yorker |date=2 May 2005}} Each week several thousand participants take part in this competition.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.newyorker.com/cartoons/bob-mankoff/seven-reasons-why-hard-to-win-caption-contest |title=Seven Reasons It's Hard To Win The Caption Contest |last=Mankoff |first=Robert |date=8 November 2014 |magazine=The New Yorker}} On the Internet, a very popular is the weekly caption competition on BBC website (Magazine Monitor section), held since 2006.

Along the traditional caption contests, there have appeared different forms of this genre such as anti-caption contests for worst submitted caption and reverse caption contests where the most suitable picture must be submitted for a given caption. There are also caption contests devoted to particular themes such as history{{cite web |url=http://blogs.archives.gov/prologue/?p=9388 |title=Thursday Photo Caption Contest |website=blogs.archives.gov |access-date=May 31, 2012 |date=May 23, 2012 |first=H. |last=Parkins}} or football.{{cite web |url=http://www.footytube.com/forums/funny-football/the-silly-captions-competition-2770/ |title=The Silly Captions Competition |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120607221232/http://www.footytube.com/forums/funny-football/the-silly-captions-competition-2770/ |archive-date=2012-06-07 |website=footytube.com |access-date=May 31, 2012}}

In 2006, the website caption.me {{cite web |url=https://www.caption.me/ |title=Caption.Me |date= |website=www.caption.me}} (then captioncompetition.co.uk) was founded, featuring user-submitted photos and captions.

The New Yorker magazine, noting the popularity of its cartoon caption contest, has created a caption contest board game{{cite web |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120731102549/http://www.familyandpartygames.com/pdf/NY_instructions.pdf |url=http://www.familyandpartygames.com/pdf/NY_instructions.pdf |archive-date=2012-07-31 |title=The New Yorker Cartoon caption game |website=familyandpartygames.com |access-date=May 31, 2012}} and issued a book with the most interesting cartoons and winning captions as well as comprehensive information covering this theme.{{cite book |last=Mankoff |first=Robert |year=2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ckSXGMV2UJYC |title=The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest Book |location=Kansas City |publisher=Andrews McMeel Publishing |isbn=978-0-7407-7750-9}}

Also concerning the New Yorker caption contest, several scientific studies have been carried out: researchers from University of New Mexico, Department of Anthropology, in 2010 have compared humour ability in males and females in context of this competition;{{cite journal | doi=10.1016/j.intell.2011.03.006 | volume=39 | issue=4 | title=Humor ability reveals intelligence, predicts mating success, and is higher in males | journal=Intelligence | pages=188–192| year=2011 | last1=Greengross | first1=Gil | last2=Miller | first2=Geoffrey | hdl=2160/30488 | url=http://pure.aber.ac.uk/ws/files/6691587/Humor_ability_full_version.doc | hdl-access=free }} members of The New Yorker editorial board and University of Colorado Boulder Leeds School of Business in 2011 analysed several thousand entries of this contest to study the concept of humour.{{cite press release |url=http://leeds.colorado.edu/news/113 |department=Leeds School of Business |title=What It Takes To Win The New Yorker's Cartoon Caption Contest |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121204013344/http://leeds.colorado.edu/news/113 |archive-date=December 4, 2012 |website=University of Colorado |date=April 25, 2011}}

In U.S. TV series The Office, seventh-season episode "The Search",{{cite web |url=http://www.nbc.com/the-office/episode-guide/season-7/42801/the-search/episode-715/281549/ |title=The Search |department=The Office |website=NBC |access-date=May 31, 2012}} its character Pam starts a caption contest in the office, with her co-worker Gabe instituting rules that no one wants to follow.

In British sitcom Green Wing, the second series, episode six, its character Alan Statham wins a caption competition on the Consultant Radiologists International website, an organisation of which Alan claims to be an "Esteemed member".{{cite web |url=http://www.tv.com/shows/green-wing/episodes/ |at=Episode 6 – Season 2 |title="Green Wing" |website=tv.com |access-date=June 3, 2012}}

In a children's novel Absolute Zero by Helen Cresswell its character Uncle Parker has won a trip to the Caribbean in a caption contest. The rest of the family immediately enter similar competitions in an attempt to better his prize but, much of the time, beating the others to an entry form is a victory in itself.{{cn|date=July 2024}}

In season two of the HBO series Bored to Death, George (played by Ted Danson) struggles to caption a New Yorker cartoon, which portrays a police duck interacting with a suicidal bear.{{cn|date=July 2024}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Cite book |last=Glasser |first=Selma |url=https://archive.org/details/completeguidetop0000glas |title=The Complete Guide to Prize Contests, Sweepstakes, and How to Win Them |publisher=F. Fell Publishers |year=1980 |isbn=0811903273 |location=New York |url-access=registration}}
• {{Cite book |last=LaRocque |first=Paul |url=https://archive.org/details/headsyouwineasyg0000laro |title=Heads You Win!: An Easy Guide to Better Headline and Caption Writing |publisher=Marion Street Press |year=2003 |isbn=0-9729937-0-3 |location=Portland |url-access=registration}}
• {{Cite book |last=Mendrinos |first=James |title=The Complete Idiot's Guide to Comedy Writing |publisher=Alpha Books |year=2004 |isbn=1-4406-9048-0 |location=Indianapolis}}
• {{Cite book |last=Sale |first=Jonathan |url=https://archive.org/details/ifcaptionfitsbes0000unse |title=If the Caption Fits: The Best of the Punch Caption Competition |publisher=Elm Tree Books |year=1981 |isbn=0-241-10668-0 |location=London |url-access=registration}}

• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/caption_comp/rss.xml BBC Magazine Monitor caption competition]
• [http://www.newyorker.com/humor/caption "The New Yorker" magazine caption contest]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20131001000123/http://giggletrigger.com/ Giggle Trigger - Survival of the Wittiest - Daily Caption contest]

Category:Humour

Category:Recreation

Category:Entertainment

Category:Competitions