Kawaii Kon 2024 - VAST Video Art Contest

[808-buma]

Aloha fellow editors from us out here at Kawaii Kon!

The VAST Video Art Contest returns for its 17th year at Kawaii Kon 2024! Are you ready to show off your works and compete head-to-head with our worldwide entrants?

For full explanations of the Main Video Art Contest, please see the long version of the rules.

Who can enter?
The contest is open to all participants except for KK-VAST crew and judges.

What can I enter?
Any original production video art is welcome and encouraged. Live action and/or self-animated works (by computer or otherwise) are also welcome. The only exclusion is for videos previously sent to any VAST Kawaii Kon contest.

Where can I enter?
Via an internet link through a public file transfer site that does NOT require membership to download or via your own web hosting site.

When can I enter?
Entries will be accepted now until Friday, 16 February 2024 @ 11:59 pm HST.
Winners will be announced after the conclusion of the KK VAST Video Art Contest on Saturday, 30 March 2024.

Why do I enter?
To win some wood, of course! Customized laser cut plaques are awarded to the Best in Showcase at the VAST Video Art Contest each year: additional prizes and awards may be awarded at the discretion of the VAST Department. All prizes and awards have a negligible cash value.

How do I enter?
Make a video, fill in the entry form, enter it and make sure it gets to us by the entry deadline. Preferred container & formats are MP4 / MKV & X.264 @ 1080p / 30 fps & stereo AC-3 - limited other formats will also be accepted.

Note: although your entries will be judged in their original submitted format, they may be converted to MP4/MKV on our end but only for contest display purposes. For the most control over how your video is displayed, it is suggested that you do your own conversion / encode to meet our preferred format above.

Questions?
Please post questions below in this thread or email the VAST Department at vast@kawaiikon.com

[808-buma]

KK2024 winners:

Directors Choice Award, or the "Two Wheels Defying Physics" Award: Rider's Joy by SilkAMV
(we may have to rename this award soon to the 'Silk Award' if he keeps winning it...)

Judges Choice Award - highest total of special points awarded by each judge to their favorite videos, regardless of overall points: Run Makoto Run by Qwaqa

Showcase Runner-Up - 2nd highest total of overall points: Bones by Chiterra

and the winner of this years Best In Showcase Award goes to:
Disco Expansion: Infinite Rizz by Ileia

Congratulations to all the winners - all the judges enjoyed

KK2024 VAST Video Art Contest Online
New for Kawaii Kon 2024, the VAST Video Art Contest will also be online via a delayed YouTube playlist of all the finalists. The in-person contest starts at 11am HST (GMT-10 hrs). We will post the link here approximately 15-30 minutes later so that everyone can partake in the contest remotely in as close to real time as everyone else. Enjoy the VASTness!

-----

Hello all, below are the list of entrants received so far, listed by posting date. List indicates editor name, number of vids received, and a short 'description' of the vid used for public IDing purposes to keep vid titles anonymous (and sometimes comments, too)

FINALISTS ANNOUNCEMENT
5 MAR 2024
below is a list of finalists for this years VAST Video Art Contest 2024. We had an amazing amount and quality of entries this year, totaling 136 videos in all. And out of all of that, our 23 finalists are listed below in alpha editor name order with the usual short description of which video made our showcase:

Bale Wayner, spotlight dancing
BecauseImBored1, huuuah
Cagayakegirlz, celebrity rolling
Chiterra, unusual magic wands
Ileia, ugly purple stole
James Blond, it slices, it dices, it juliennes
L33tmeatwad, versatility
Lara Harb, expensive lighter
MammiKunniaan, yodel-feathers
Qwaqa, gag
Mr. Chow, got ammo?
Nashiironeko, wig cap
Seemslikely, now THAT'S a treasure
Seritulus, run and gun
SilkAMV, bob and weave, weave and bob
SonsofKorhal9, dance like no one's watching
Speedy180, battle prep montage
SpuddStaaa, buckle-up looser!
Takeshi & Kuroo, questionable mascara application
Thefanvideoer2, rabbit
TheLazyDaze, but words don't come out
TritioAFB, word to your mother
Xyik AMVs, bodies go boom

Thank you again and congrats to all of our finalists - good luck all!

Entries received as of date below:
17 FEB 2024 - VAST Video Art entries are now closed, these are the last of the entries into this year's contest
Bauzi - 2 vids, push shove bite, and brisk facewash
END films - 2 vids, save the girls, and secret book
SpuddStaaa - 1 vid, buckle-up looser!
Copycat_Revolver - 2 vids, "more bandages please", and knotted controllers
Maxweeble - 2 vids, chef panda, and tactical limo j-turn
speedy180 - 2 vids, battle prep montage, and Niven ring
molimop - 1 vid, making maths sexxy
Tyken - 2 vids, "sometimes in hat", and sweatdrops... lots of sweatdrops
Lavinia T - 2 vids, "monster", and secret sheath
CloudMountainJuror - 2 vids, raw stakes, and moving still images
Hunter R - 1 vid, no-clip
Violet Skies - 2 vids, questionable cuisine, and slaptubes
Mega - 2 vids, strawberry roof explosions, and 'seal'ed bandagebut sent an email for them both, please response ASAP

15 FEB 2024
StandardQuip - 2 vids, natural, and "life isn't a game" (I liked it!)
NameBrand__ - 1 vid, seatbelts suggested
TheLazyDaze - 2 vids, milliner adventures, and "but words don't come out"
Ileia - 2 vids, ugly purple stole, and sticky floors (and hi, long time no see!)
Silvercoat - 2 vids, "pain", and Strawberry MILK

14 FEB 2024
Lelani - 2 vids, team no-logo, and freckles and fangs
ComplicatedMuse - 2 vids, winged hugs, and "well, that's gonna leave a mark..."
Nuke - 2 vids, broad strokes, and sourpuss (this one got to me I ain't gonna lie)
Pyrothemusical - 2 vids, the fellowship reimagined, and wait this isn't Palworld?
James Blond - 1 vid, "it slices, it dices, it juliennes"
Sebastian E - 1 vid, sent an email
Nashironeko - 2 vids, 'wig cap', and "you may want to see an eye doctor for that"
Mr. Tired Eyes - 2 vids, checkered hills, and defying gravity (okay this was cool)
Silent Hero Studios - 2 vids, sent an email for both of them
Yo CD - 1 vid, round and round and upsidedown sent an email for it
Seemslikely - 2 vids, "now THAT'S a treasure", and "eyes-a-popping"

10 FEB 2024
BecauseImBored1 - 1 vid, "huuuah"
Seritulus - 1 vid, run and gun
Animetrix Vids - 2 vids, upskirt ruffles and clockwork curtains
Prostrate Constantly - 2 vids, hand-drawn and slowly waving
SilkAMV - 1 (additional) vid, bob and weave, weave and bob (any anime using Rideback is teh awesome in my book)
Dyland M - 2 vids, just in time and sent an email on 2nd vid

4 FEB 2024
drewaconclusion - 2 vids, skaliwags and prrttt prrtt prrrrtttt
SilkAMV - 1 vid, upgrades
PerkyPastry - 2 vids, what we wanted Nintendo power gloves to 'actually' do, and no to pineapple
SibilantWhisper - 1 vid, infinite running
Iren S. S. - 2 vids, heavy metal anime leap and also works for space ship scenes, too
ManlyMango - 1 vid, heterochromia
LantisEscudo - 2 vids, no capes and beautiful smile
Hiroto Sumi - 1 vid, beware of bridges
cdlang84 - 1 vid, frostbite falls
KeiichiFace - stars in your eyes, and question mark
Alessandro Cubicciotti - 2 vids, rose projectiles and "I'm too sexy for my armor"
The_McLaughlin - 1 vid, what the masks hides
CamiChan19 - 2 vids, shadow boxing, and egg drop dive

28 JAN 2024
Lara H - 2 vids, repeat for emphasis and expensive lighter
BladEra123 - 1 vid, ripcord arena
l33tmeatwad - 1 vid, versatility
Saminatordavis - 2 vids, at least I'm cute and disappearing notes sent an email on 2nd vid
Bale Wayner - 2 vids, virtuoso and spotlight dancing (btw 'spotlight' is pretty impressive!)
Takeshi - 2 vids, 'literally' (I was hoping it was that song) and questionable mascara application (with Kuroo)

21 JAN 2024
F-Zero TV - 2 vid, now in color and Japanese 1st Responders have better toys
Seasaltmemories - 2 vid, destiny's battle and spotlight meetings
SonsofKorhal9 - 2 vid, dance like no one's watching and ricochet rally
MammiKunniaan - 1 vid, yodel-feathers
Mindless - 2 vids, but sent an email water to field and signs
AlphaSigma - 1 added vid, special delivery
Mr. Chow - 2 vids, got ammo? and choose your weapon
TwistedVid - 2 vids, lens flare and snap back to reality

14 JAN 2024
TritioAFB - 2 vids, word to your mother and purposeful video glitches
hilovids - 2 vids, contractor's dream and M&Ms in a can?
TheNight130 - 1 vid, gesundheit
FanEditz - 2 vids, monstrous harlequins fight and one finger head lock
ResyAMV - 2 vids, wings of a feather and carwash separation

23 DEC 2023
SynæsthesiaProductions - 2 vids, high insurance risk and a force majeure event

10 DEC 2023
TwistVid - 2 vids, monstrous parry and day breaks fast in Japan...
Rei__Chan - 2 vids, wings and on the back of wings

6 DEC 2023
Sorry for the long wait, I didn't set the email reminder for entrants on the forms until eventually I just checked it the other day and found so many of you have entered already... oops and thanks for the entries everyone
cdlang84 --> 2 vids, chainwhip FTW; and failed backflip escape
ZeonicFreak --> 2 vids, A56-7W; and 'last of the V8s'
SasukeChanx --> 2 vids, 'bubble wands and unusual sheaths'; and mouths without a face(s) (this one's so clean)
Zekrom Lighting AMV's --> 2 vids, chestspikes; and 'protools all the way'
Xyik AMVs --> 1 vid, bodies go boom
Chiterra --> 1 vid, unusual magic wands
thefanvideoer2 --> 2 vids, chemistry at work; and 'rabbit'
Moonpie --> 2 vids, 'machine guns'; and 'orange' in blue
cagayakgirlz --> 2 vids, celebrity rolling; and knife-sharpener's dream
Cosplay Joe --> 2 vids, shortest distance is NOT a straight line; and 3-iron or 5-iron?
MinetChan --> 2 vids, lantern floating; and housecleaning 5 floors up (btw loved this one)
Qwaqa --> 1 vid, uh... I can't even use the tag I want as it'll give away the 'gag' (and omg it's better the 2nd time)
AlphaSigma --> 1 vid, behind the scenes
Rider4Z --> 2 vids, 'not relevant'; and taking the 'gloves' off (ima say this is badass)

[alphasigmaevolved]

Question about this rule:

"This however does not limit your entries nor ability to compete in the contest, just if the video is amongst the finalists, adult-themed videos may be shown at a later time from the main contest if the schedule permits."

Is it confirmed that there is a late night (age gated) event/showing? That could spur some interest in the 18+ AMVs.

[TnAdct1]

Question about this rule:

"This however does not limit your entries nor ability to compete in the contest, just if the video is amongst the finalists, adult-themed videos may be shown at a later time from the main contest if the schedule permits."

Is it confirmed that there is a late night (age gated) event/showing? That could spur some interest in the 18+ AMVs.

That would be nice, as there's no way I can show my latest video at a PG-13 rated contest without censoring a good chunk of the audio.

[TritioAFB]

Hey man confirm it for me too please. I got at least one video for you

[808-buma]

Is it confirmed that there is a late night (age gated) event/showing? That could spur some interest in the 18+ AMVs.

short answer: no, but...

long answer: At the VAST, currently we have the one main contest that's scheduled at 11am - 1pm, hence the PG-13 rating. Over the past 16 years of the contest, we have not limited what editors can submit: any video can be entered and all videos compete against each other on a level playing field - this basically is our auto-correct feature and has worked well for us. And, barring a few entrants who used harsh language in their audio (DARN you to HECK!) or needed to toned down a scene or two (on their side, not ours), we've never really had a lot of 'above' PG-13 videos entered into the contest. Although we discussed contingencies for 'above' PG-13 entrants, we've never had to implement any of them so far.

For consideration however - we have discussed the possibility of creating separate categories for similar types of videos if we received enough of them: for example, live action, non-anime, or self-animated pieces. While we've had all of these entered into the VAST, we've never had enough to warrant segmenting them out to their own category or showing... yet.

So, while we don't have an R-rated VAST showcase currently, there's nothing that stops us from doing one if there is sufficient quantity and quality of entrants to warrant one on an as needed basis. Otherwise all videos are entered into the main contest and battle it out there.

[808-buma]

sorry for the delay folks - didn't have the G-form notify me of new entrants (was wondering why it was so quiet) so I just checked the other day and 'bammo' there's a bunch of you who entered. I'll try and download them all and get your confirmations done in post #2 in the very near future. Let me know if there are any questions or concerns and thx

[alphasigmaevolved]

So, while we don't have an R-rated VAST showcase currently, there's nothing that stops us from doing one if there is sufficient quantity and quality of entrants to warrant one on an as needed basis. Otherwise all videos are entered into the main contest and battle it out there.

Thanks -- I submitted an 18+ AMV, although I do understand it's up to VAST staff whether or not this ends up being used.

[808-buma]

2nd posted updated with current entrants
~10 weeks until deadline

thx

[808-buma]

2nd post updated with current entries

~9.5-ish weeks until deadline