AnimeNEXT 2015 AMV Contest (It's Over!)

[Brakus]

How did you handle lyrics?

Nice selection of AMVs. Your playlist crosses with mine in a few spots!

[Scintilla]

Lyrics were softsubs (Aegisub proved to allow a smooth, quick workflow once I figured out some of its quirks and keyboard shortcuts)... or should I say softsupers, as they were put at the top of the screen for better visibility in a crowded panel room... in .ASS format. So no video transcoding required.

Except for "Hetaria Sing-a-Wrong", since that one already *had* a bouncing globe.

And I did try to use some that I hadn't seen used anywhere else (yet? some only came out in the last year), because I'm sure there's a decent overlap of attendees between AnimeNEXT and, say, Otakon.

Oh yeah, I promised everyone I would say how it went, didn't I? I think the room we were in had a capacity of 80, and it was stuffed to that the whole time. Even with the more obscure songs that it was clear not everyone knew (like "King of Spain" and, sadly, "Do de Rubber Duck"), they'd at least get into the callbacks (like "now I eat humble pie"). There was one other that not a lot of people sang along to: I knew I was in trouble when I asked "So who's heard of a convention called... Daicon?" and got silence. No appreciation for the classics.

But all the others, everyone was singing along and having a grand old time. People were complimenting my choices of music on the way out. Heck, at Closing Ceremonies, where I hadn't ever received any feedback (good or bad) in the 3 previous years I've been running this department, I got a shout-out from a con-goer specifically for the sing-along!

And at least half the room did the "CLAPCLAPCLAPCLAP" in "I'll Be There For You" and the headbanging in "Bohemian Rhapsody".

After how popular this was (and at 2 P.M. on Sunday!), I think we'll be able to get a bigger room next year with no problem... and I'd like to mark it as "17+" (no hentai, but I want to be able to get away with more bad language).

[BasharOfTheAges]

Just because I'm curious... which version of Sing-A-Wrong did you use?

[Brakus]

Nice job, very nice! I've gotten used to making SRT files to go along with the videos, and I have it set up so that they appear at the top of the screen (surtitles/supertitles instead of subtitles).

Whenever I do the block at AMA and Neko, I tend to go with a few Disney AMVs and a couple videos that use pop songs so they can at least sing the chorus. "Fullmetal's Back", "Gaga for Bishies", etc. I sometimes put in just funny videos where you have got to pay attention to the lyrics to get the jokes (Ileia's "The Clap" comes to mind.)

[Rider4Z]

Nice job, very nice! I've gotten used to making SRT files to go along with the videos, and I have it set up so that they appear at the top of the screen (surtitles/supertitles instead of subtitles).

Whenever I do the block at AMA and Neko, I tend to go with a few Disney AMVs and a couple videos that use pop songs so they can at least sing the chorus. "Fullmetal's Back", "Gaga for Bishies", etc. I sometimes put in just funny videos where you have got to pay attention to the lyrics to get the jokes (Ileia's "The Clap" comes to mind.)

Oh nice XD

[Scintilla]

Just because I'm curious... which version of Sing-A-Wrong did you use?

The one with the anvil, since it was the first one that came up (and that was what I remembered seeing in the past).

And now, the playlists...



Friday Preshow
MadMegatax - It's Only - "It's Only" by ODESZA - Yurikuma Arashi
Maboroshi Studio - The Will to Win - "Louder Than Words" by Les Friction - Attack on Titan

Saturday Preshow
drewaconclusion - Rainbow Stalin Saves the World - various songs - Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and various others

FINALISTS

Romance/Sentimental
1 hamstar138 - Convey - "Everything's Alright" by Laura Shigihara - Your Lie In April
2 Kireblue - Girl Next Door - "You Will Be Mine" by Lenka - The Secret World of Arrietty
3 Tigrin - Like Real People Do - "Like Real People Do" by Hozier - Hal
4 Unlucky Artist - Say When - "Everlong" by the Foo Fighters - Various (Winner, 26% of the vote)
5 BasharOfTheAges - All That Matters - "Life, in a Nutshell" by Barenaked Ladies - Bunny Drop (Runner-up)

Drama/Uplifting
6 hamstar138 - The Little Prince Returns - Trailer from The Little Prince (2015) - Whisper of the Heart, The Cat Returns
7 Drabaz - The Dragon Ball Life - "Good Life" by One Republic - Dragon Ball
8 Rider4Z - Awake to the Sky - "Where No One Goes" by Jonsi (from How to Train Your Dragon 2) - Various Ghibli films (Winner, 35% of the vote)
9 Sephirothskr - Anime As We Know It - "Fantasia Alla Marcia" by Yoko Shimomura (from the Kingdom Hearts II OST) - Various (Runner-up)

Character Profile
10 MomtoCutiePia - Take a Leap - "Geronimo" by Sheppard - Barakamon
11 Xophilarus (PixelBlended Studios) - Aria of Perseverance - "The Grey" by Icon for Hire - Your Lie in April (Runner-up)
12 Camichan19 - Memoirs - "Sweet Disposition" by The Temper Trap - Kids on the Slope
13 PieandBeer (Tsunderbird Studios) - Clear Skies - "You're the Only Thing in Your Way" by Cloud Cult - Kiki's Delivery Service
14 Drabaz - Pain into Power - "Superheroes" by The Script - Dragon Ball Z (Winner, 38% of the vote)

Action
15 Rider4Z - Eternal Salvation - "Pompeii" by E.S. Posthumus - Soul Eater
16 Straw Buggy - Boundless - "Hyperion" by Celldweller - Fate/stay night - Unlimited Blade Works (TV) (Runner-up)
17 BecauseImBored1 - THROWBACK - "Diamond Eyes" by Shinedown - Yu Yu Hakusho
18 Matthew Tailby - Journey of Life - "Amelie" by Fytch, Various speeches by Elliot Hulse - Various (Winner, 32% of the vote)

Fun/Upbeat
19 Camichan19 - March of the Penguindrum - Trailer from March of the Penguins - Penguindrum
20 "LC"_Lapen - Captain DandEo - "We Are Here to Change the World" by Michael Jackson - Space Dandy (Coordinators' Choice)
21 PieandBeer (Tsunderbird Studios) - Lucky Seven - "Little Numbers" by Boy - Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun
22 Nicolio1313 - Guys Just Wanna Have Fun - "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" by Starf***er - Love Stage
23 dimensioncr8r - Uptown Dandy - "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars - Space Dandy
24 Mr.Pilkington - Contest Trolling 101 - "Pop 101" by Marianas Trench - Various (Runner-up)
25 Celia Phantomhive - The Fangirl Chronicle - "Far Too Close (Pegboard Nerds Remix)" by J.Viewz - Watamote!, Free! Iwatobi Swim Club, Free! Eternal Summer (Winner, 38% of the vote)

Comedy
26 Nicolio1313 - The World Somebody Else Only Knows - "If I Didn't Have You" by Tim Minchin - The World God Only Knows 1, 2, and 3
27 KeiichiFace - Bleeding Heart Effect - "Blank Space" by Taylor Swift - The Future Diary (Mirai Nikki) (Runner-up)
28 MycathatesyouAMV - Chi & The Not So Company - "Shut 'Em Down" by Celldweller - Chi's Sweet Home, various others (Winner, 48% of the vote)
29 Tigrin - Blank Space - "Blank Space" by Taylor Swift - Death Note



I'd like to give a special shout-out to Sephirothskr's "Anime As We Know It", which gives me renewed justification for not instituting a time limit on videos. Despite being 8 minutes long, it got a well-deserved runner-up spot in Drama and moved several attendees I talked with to tears.

I've already gushed about the reception the AMVs got this year -- for the first time ever, I had staffers texting me on Saturday night saying attendees were asking them if the AMV contest winners were going to be posted anywhere -- so I won't bore you further. I'll just say that this is the best post-con high I can remember ever having in my four years of running this department, and none of it would be possible without all you great editors and viewers who continue to support us. So once again, thank you all...

... and NEXT YEAR IN ATLANTIC CITY!!

[Gene Starwind 21122]

Congrats to all the winners. I'm thinking about attending next year in Atlantic City should be fun.

Also congratulations to Sephirothskr as well.

Gene

[mattAMV]

Dayum, every category looks really close in terms of voting. So wish i could of been there to see this live Thanks to Scintilla for putting all the effort into this and making a great competition!

[UnluckyArtist]

So happy for my first ever romance win!?!
The whole thing looked really fun, glad I could be there in spirit

[Drabaz]

Did anyone happen to find a recording of the winners announcement? I tried searching on YouTube, but nothing so far. Usually people record the whole masquerade.