I write this with the realization that I am going to ruffle quite a few feathers with my comments.
Anime Mid-Atlantic's AMV contest was full of problems, especially on the first showing on Friday night at 10pm. The videos were running off of a laptop because the DVD backup of the contest wasn't available at the time.
And because of this, a number of entries - including mine - suffered slight problems with the audio/video sync. Two entries had the unfortunate mishap of freezing up, either the audio or the video, during the primary showing. I saw the look of horror on one of the video creators when it happened, and I could not help but feel sorry for him as he stormed out of the place. He had worked so hard to make the video look very good and worlds better than how it came out at NekoCon.
Moreover, the contest itself couldn't stick to its own rules about content and what is acceptable/excessive. Two videos made the final cut for the contest that shouldn't have on Friday night; one was caught for the Saturday/Sunday showings, and the other one went under the radar.
Also, a lot of videos were listed under the wrong category - there were some drama videos that should have been action and at least one action that should have been comedy. That, however, is partly the fault of the creator for their choice of category, but at least the AMV staff could have advised them about the appropriateness of the category the contestant wished to enter his video in.
I brought up these problems at the feedback session, as did other people who were there, and I'm confident that this is being taken care of for next year's contest. What concerns me is that the folks who put together the contest for AMA also do the contest for NekoCon also. If their lack of effort and dedication for the AMV contest that was apparent at AMA is going to be repeated at NekoCon, then other AMV creators are gonna get hosed or screwed over.
So my questions - will there be any winners announced for the AMA AMV contest this year? What happens in situations where the showings are screwed up in some way? Is there any way we can make sure AMV contests are run competently?
I'm sorry if I'm ruffling any feathers here, but as a contestant who played by the rules and still somewhat felt cheated, I'd like to get some answers.



