Winnowing

[MCWagner]

Hmmm....if I'm understanding this correctly, there's the prescreening, the general screening, and the contest. DQing (for lack of a better word) on the basis of subtitles or watermark just prevents advancement from the prescreening to the general screening. If I got this right, then it's a bit different than I thought I was hearing(doesn't make it to prescreening), and a bit better (IMHO).

Is the difference between the prescreening and the general screening only the difference in these tech rules? If so, does the trimming just help to trim down to the appropriate time limit? Otherwise, I'm a little puzzled why this step is needed. If, instead, it's used as a first tier of 'throw out the worst' I'm puzzled why you don't just use that as a distinction to get rid of the "unwatchably bad" videos in general before moving on to finer distinctions at the general-contest step. If the technically bad aspects make the video unwatchable, then discard it at the first step. Same with artistically bad aspects. If a video has subtitles, but is otherwise really good, does it advance to the general showing, or is it DQd at the previewing session?

This is really more confusion on my part than anything else. If, as VicBond says, "that same audience that is in control at Otakon, determains what makes the final cut, so, in theory, the random sample of prescreeners "should" ideally pick out the videos that would be most enjoyable to the audience, since they themselves are just a general audience." then wouldn't this solve itself? If the general audience really hates clumsy makers who leave subs or watermarks in are going to say 'don't show that one at the finals' anyway, then why do you need a general rule about it?

[dokool]

Hmmm....if I'm understanding this correctly, there's the prescreening, the general screening, and the contest.

Here's how it works. Videos get sent in. There are small prescreenings to determine which videos make the contest. Everything that can be shown <i>IS</i> shown in the General Screening. And then there's the contest.

Is the difference between the prescreening and the general screening only the difference in these tech rules? If so, does the trimming just help to trim down to the appropriate time limit?

The difference between the prescreening and general screening is very little. Unless a video is DQed (for subtitles, dubbing, etc), then it will get shown in the general screenings.

If the technically bad aspects make the video unwatchable, then discard it at the first step. Same with artistically bad aspects. If a video has subtitles, but is otherwise really good, does it advance to the general showing, or is it DQd at the previewing session?

It'd be DQd in the prescreening. The rules against commercial and fan subtitles are explicit in stating that they aren't allowed.

If the general audience really hates clumsy makers who leave subs or watermarks in are going to say 'don't show that one at the finals' anyway, then why do you need a general rule about it?

Because if you don't say that it's against the rules, then people will do it. The goal isn't to try to exclude all of the relatively newbie creators who WOULD leave subtitles in their vids, it's to promote the creation of better AMVs. There are also the legal rules regarding subtitles and dubbing, namely that they can't be shown.

If a contest coordinator has to tell somebody "Sorry, your video can't be shown because it has the original subtitles", then at least he can say "...and the rules specifically mention that no commercial/fansubs are allowed" instead of "Well, we didn't say it in the rules, but you can't keep subtitles in and they're too distracting."

-DOKool