Rapter79 wrote:3)AMV Chef - And while i'm sure that Yue is going to hate me for this, but i think the audience participation was one of the better things.
Nah man, I think you might've misunderstood my post. I believe in and really support the audience participation xD I just thought that some ideas worked out a bit better than others

That's it really.
Rapter79 wrote:4) AMV ad nausem. Seriously guys, there are more AMV's than the 20 i've seen in the past 3 years at the panals and pre-shows, find something different. The Audience will love it, even if you don't.
:nodnodnodnodnodnodnodnodnod:
Rapter79 wrote:5) You all seem very disconnected from the audience when it comes to AMV's. You all have one opinion and there is a big difference in what the opinion of the audience is. Notice that everyone in the audience was screaming "Use the naked man" in AMV Chef...Which brings me to three points
1) Category names are fine. AMTV PRO is a category where we expect higher production quality, nothing more. Fun/OVA is aptly named because its a Potpourri category, something that fits no real standards and literally can be anything.
2) AMV 101: Sure you're sick of telling people how to do something as simple as hard cut, or how to do a transition, but remember, somewhere in the audience, they have no idea and they need to learn it from somewhere. An AMV 201 would be nice too, but 101 needs to be there and it needs to be static.
3) People love the same AMV's over and over, and just because you've seen it 5 times in a weekend doesn't mean that there are people who haven't seen it will know it was show 4 times prior. You do have the option of not showing up (this might be a nice way to say what AMV's will be shown in various panels)
5) Yes, we all know that our opinion differs from the audience quite a bit, we just don't agree with the judges. For anyone who has attended multiple AMV contests, they'll know by now that the audience will vote for what they want. Sometimes it seems like there is no rhyme or reason to it, and sometimes it's obvious they just vote for the combination of anime/music they like the best.
1) The only reason we're saying that AMVTV Pro needs to have the "Pro" removed...is because the videos aren't pro :/ The category calls for videos with insane tech work and yet straight-cut and stock effect videos CONSTANTLY GET IN. So if the category will not be judged accordingly, why have it mislabeled? In addition, it would serve a much better purpose by just changing into a fun/upbeat category for all those videos that don't fit into comedy because they're just "happy times, yay!" videos but don't really fit into action either.
As for the Fun/OVA category, we're only moving to have the "fun" portion removed and leaving it as the OVA Category. That would just be to prevent submissions from being sent to a category they really don't belong in since this category is for parodies and videos that only use the music as background and have no real connection to what is being shown on screen.
2) No one has an objection to AMV 101. I'm in agreement, that especially for a con as big as this with so many new attendees every year, that it is necessary. Most of the creators are just irked about having to sit through it every year just so they can pick up their tickets

That's about it. If we had an AMV 201 panel along side 101, it would provide newer "entertainment" for the editors while waiting to pick up their tickets.
Kinda like if once a year you had a family Reunion and you were forced to hang out with your senile old grandma that told you the same story every time. The entire time, you know the story by heart and you wish you could be hanging out with someone else who would tell you a new story :<
3) Yes, while we do have the option of not showing up to certain panels, some of us are actually required to go to a minimum of 4. The contest and the reshowing are biggies, especially if you got in, you don't want to miss them. And if you're supporting a friend, then you're in the same boat. AMV 101 is the ONLY place we can pick up our Creator's tickets and if you're involved with AMV Chef in any way, shape or form, you have to go there. Personally, I'm dating one of the damn judges

So I wouldn't have felt right skipping out on that one.
Now the argument of "Not everyone has seen it" is used quite a bit to defend repeat showing of AMVs at cons...
Rapter79 wrote:4) AMV ad nausem. Seriously guys, there are more AMV's than the 20 i've seen in the past 3 years at the panals and pre-shows, find something different. The Audience will love it, even if you don't.
which is why I'm re-quoting you here. No matter what, the audience will find something to enjoy. But for the benefit of the 30+ people that are editors and their friends and the god knows how many dedicated AMV fans that go to multiple panels involving the hobby, show some new damn videos

So in short, we all know that our tastes differ from the audience, but if they're going to judge the contest solely on what the audience would like, then it's no longer a contest but just a screening of random videos.
Rapter79 wrote:7) Personally i would love to see more prelims for AMV contest, but i have no idea how to execute this, and i think the more judges the better. There are (if i am not mistaken) over 300 submissions and only 24 finalists. If you expect the judges to be non-biased then you would need to branch out from people who congregate this website, because that does create bias. Im not sure but how many of the 15 judges know/visit this website?
The more judges you have, the more of a mess it becomes. If you have 15 people and 5 people give a video a 5/5 because they don't know better and they think the stock effects look neat and the anime is their favorite evar, and then you have the rest of the judges give it an average score, the video will still get a score that is too damn high and likely make it into the contest.
The judging pool needs to be cut in half and more editors that are up-to-date on current editing standards need to get in on this. We're not saying there is a bias really, just that the judging is "omgwtfbbq" because it appears that the judges choice's are always rather random and don't make any sense at all.
As I've said many times over, the audience will always find something to enjoy. When it comes to the contest, they should only be viewing the best of the best and choosing their favorites from that pool. And if you've seen some of the entries that HAVEN'T made it in (FYI, when I judge anything it's entirely unbiased, including friend's videos) you'll know that something is wrong...since a large about of the best videos barely make it into the preshow, let alone finals.
As for the 15 judges visiting this site...xstylus does. Beyond that, none of the judges will even make themselves known :/
Rapter79 wrote:9) Possibility of a "help make my AMV better" panel where you dissect people (who are willing and agree) who submitted their AMV but didn't make it as to why they didn't win and tips to improve their videos, not just a technical workshop, flex that director muscle of the audience, not just the editor inside.
The problem with this is, even if an editor agrees to get possible negative criticism on their video, they'll still walk away all butt-hurt if it happens. :/ Believe me, I'm a strong advocator of giving negative crit and not just spewing rainbows and happiness all over a person so that they can learn and grow as an editor. But in this youtube-age of "if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all," you'd get more backlash than anything else. In addition to that, if you have the wrong people hosting the panel, it could turn into a retard fest of circle jerking "I actually love your video. Oh you like mine? Let's watch our videos together. EVERYONE IS AWESOME!!!" or inaccurate information depending on the technical knowledge of the editor hosting.
Also, if it's a "help me make my amv better so I can have a better chance of getting into the contest next year" type thing, then no matter what you're screwed. It'd be sad and pathetic because you'd basically have to say "Try a popular combo and just throw random effects on it. The judges can't really tell the difference between stock and custom anyways :/ And then hop on your foot and cross your fingers because we sure as hell don't understand their choices any better than you do D: and maybe that'll help? I think?"