A-Kon 19 VSE: WINNERS!

[rubyeye]

Results for Fanworks Contest 2008

BEST IN SHOW:
Video Name: Blend
Song Name: Come
Artist Name: Namie Amuro
Footage Used: Final Fantasy, Xenosaga, Kingdom Hearts
Creator Name: vellure

RUNNER UP:
Video Name: Untitled
Song Name: various
Artist Name: various
Footage Used: Fist of The North Star, Ouran Host Club
Creator Name: Solid White Devil




Results for Fans' Exhibition 2008

BEST IN SHOW:
Video Name: Song for the Asking
Song Name: Song for the Asking
Artist Name: Paul Simon
Footage Used: Whisper of the Heart
Creator Name: Okawa Seishou

RUNNER UP:
Video Name: Andie's Lullaby
Song Name: Apologize
Artist Name: Timbaland
Footage Used: Gankutsuou
Creator Name: Tyler Diskenth

BEST ACTION/HORROR:
Video Name: Forgive Me
Song Name: Sixth of June
Artist Name: It Dies Today
Footage Used: Claymore
Creator Name: shosaisyu

BEST DRAMA/ROMANCE:
Video Name: Can't Help Falling In Love With Syaoran
Song Name: Can't Help Falling In Love
Artist Name: A*Teens
Footage Used: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Creator Name: ExileDreamer

BEST COMEDY/FUN:
Video Name: Popular
Song Name: Popular
Artist Name: 2006 Wicked Broadway Cast
Footage Used: Ouran High School
Creator Name: Moochi

AUDIENCE CHOICE:
Video Name: YTMND AMV: Commander in Fad
Song Name: YTMND Remixes & Fad Songs
Artist Name: YTMND
Footage Used: Various (11)
Creator Name: Drewaconclusion
Link: http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members/members_videoinfo.php?v=158190




Results for Experts' Exhibition 2008

BEST IN SHOW:
Video Name: Rainbow Revolution
Song Name: Brave New World
Artist Name: Flair
Footage Used: Various
Creator Name: vellure

RUNNER UP:
Video Name: Lollipop Complex
Song Name: Lollipop
Artist Name: Mika
Footage Used: Lovely Complex
Creator Name: Kichigai

BEST ACTION/HORROR:
Video Name: 451°F
Song Name: Gasoline
Artist Name: Audioslave
Footage Used: ROD(OVA)
Creator Name: JudgeHolden

BEST DRAMA/ROMANCE:
Video Name: Behind the Illusion
Song Name: Carry on, Wayward Son
Artist Name: Kansas
Footage Used: FullMetal Alchemist TV, Conqueror of Shamball
Creator Name: jubjub2

BEST COMEDY/FUN:
Video Name: Strawberri
Song Name: Mikan
Artist Name: Morning Musume
Footage Used: Various
Creator Name: Mamo!
Link: http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members/members_videoinfo.php?v=158867

AUDIENCE CHOICE:
Video Name: Code Monkey
Song Name: Code Monkey
Artist Name: Jonathan Coulton
Footage Used: Black Heaven
Creator Name: KagatoAMV
Links: http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members/members_videoinfo.php?v=146966




*** Results for Hentai Exhibition 2008 ***
Winners will be available on the Awards Listing soon.

Could somebody refresh my memory? I completely forgot to keep track after SHINICHI WATANABE (aka Nabeshin) appeared out of the blue and drove the whole place crazy! That was bitchin' cool!

____________________________________________


These are the winners for A-Kon 19. It was another incredible weekend with a lot of surprises, a lot of mishaps, and a lot of close calls. Special thanks to the Shining Finger crew for the cool T-Shirt, JaddziaDax and all those other editors with you whom I got to meet and talk with (but whose names I can't all remember, sorry), and a BIG thank you to all the editors who entered our contest at the last minute.

Congratulations to all the winners. It was a very tough call for many of them, and a few even surprised me ... like JudgeHolden ~ this is the second time in a row you won at A-Kon using a R.O.D. video. What's up with that?


Next year will be A-Kon's 20th Anniversary so serious talks have been going on for some new ideas and surprises:

1) I discussed with some of you the possibility of a special "Theme" category which I will personally sponsor. What are your thoughts?

2) We are very interested in showcasing MEP videos, possibly as a seperate event. Would any groups be interested in submitting?

3) More importantly, I want to spice up the presentation of our exhibitions with an opening/intro video specific for each show as part of A-Kon's special 20th Anniversary. This could be a good "theme" if any editors are interested in participating or helping me out as a kind of MEP project. I would definately like some feedback as this will be my main focus for next year.

4) Finally, a new website for creator submissions will be operational next year. It should have tons of control features for editors to make entering videos much faster and easier.


Hope everybody had a great time and I look forward to seeing you all again in 2009!

[jubjub2]

Wow. You're fast!

Congrats to all the winners! It was an incredible contest!

And Rubyeye, I still say mud wrestling. >.>

[JudgeHolden]

Gratz to all the winners! Also, a special thanks to Yue, Katie, Scoob, Josh, Rina, and the crew for calling me. XD Now, to pay whatever ransom Katie wants to get my trophy.

I really didn't think that video had a chance (I decided on the last day of entires to send it). Oh, last time it was the ROD(TV) lol.

Oh and I would love a chance to do an intro piece.


And Christy ... it's nice to see you out of "retirement". Put away the walker, da old lady is back!

[drewaconclusion]

Nice, the Audience Choice! Any word on when the results of the Hentai Exhibition will be released? I'm curious to see how I faired in that one.

Anyhow, congratulations to everyone!

[dwchang]

Isn't Code Monkey like...a year old by now? I mean I liked it, but this is getting a bit ridiculous -_-;;

In any case, congrats to the winners!

[Amo-Chan]

Congratulations everyone! XD. And yay for the other editing mom!

[JaddziaDax]

it was definitely fun times...

and now that I've thought it over unique awards would be interesting to see at A-kon
>.>

[BasharOfTheAges]

Congrats to the winners.

Also, since this is the only con I submitted to this year that I didn't attend, did I get anything better than indifference from the audience?

[JaddziaDax]

they were uh... kinda quiet during your video... but they clapped afterwards but they clapped after every video O.o

[Ashnak]

Was a good show everyone! Btw, OMG was the winner of the HMV contest...god help us all lol...though I don't know who the runner-up was...

Also, we here at the 'zilla would love to take part in the multi-editor contest, if there was one!

[Trilaan]

I lost once again. Though who knows what might have happened had people actually been able to vote for my Zone of the Enders video, It was shown with all the others but left off the voting sheet due to a printing error. I might give up on sending videos to A-kon in the future. This wasn't the first time things got screwed up for me, though it was the first time the oversight was so glaring. Might have made a difference, might not have. Well, maybe I'll just stop sending them into the actual contest since it's great to see and hear so many people enjoying a video. That's still what I'm in the "business" for. Sure would be cool to succeed beyond that, though.

Now where to send one next...


Aside from all that it was great to see videos of my 2 favorite shows I've seen over the last year, Baccano! and Lovely Complex. I'm definitely downloading those two for myself.

[VespaBee]

Congrats to the winners.

[Ashnak]

By the way....did anyone catch Naruto Shorts 3 before hentai-fest? I wasn't there to see the reaction to it...soooo if you saw it, what did ya' think?

[JaddziaDax]

stuff..

That was the bizarre one about the mech and the dude right? it amused me greatly... we didn't vote on anything though... we gave up our ballots for people who were trying to get in the contest room and they ran out and such... :3

but it was good times watching it...

[Empath]

I mean, first off Voorheeszilla Studio indeed won the H-AMV contest with OMG, but to say you forgot because of a guest appearance is a little insulting. Even more insulting is that there was no clear runner up either, but whatever, the H-AMV contest is not what I had a problem with as it was still fun for all who came.

Now on to what I consider the real "bullshit" of the con. Did anyone see the expert AMV competition? You know, what I like to call the cry-fest full of fail that killed my faith in judged competitions? What am I talking about you may ask? Well for those who did not attend, let me break it down for yah.

We start with Action, a rather good thing to start with that should really get the audience pumped. However, action seemed rather short this year, and most of the videos shown were what I like to call a "color orgy of eye raping fun". Hell, the first video was so over-loaded with effects, transistion, and color manipulations that I honestly had no idea what I was watching. It seems that according to this years judging staff that an action video can not be acceptable without over 25 transistions and so many effects one's mind simply turns to orange goo before they can even process what has just happened.

Even so, we press on to Drama, the catagory which dominated this year. Now by dominate I do not mean that there was an over abundance of awesome videos (although there were a few good ones), what I mean is that out of a contest that lasted about 3 hours, about 2/3 of it was Drama videos. Now I will be the first to admit that I am not a very big fan of this catagory, but I do enjoy my fair share of videos. But with that being said, Drama was an over-kill for time this year. I mean, I can sit through about 45 mins of Drama and not be phase, but honestly, by the time 85 mins of Drama had past I wanted to go emo and cut myself to death with the same CD's I used to enter my studio's AMVs with. Seriously, no video contest should ever be that one sided with one catagory, even by the judge's choice.

Now, before I go into Comedy/Fun, I am going to apologize for the use of language I am about to use, but going by that logic, I also want the A-kon staff to apologize for what they did to what was an awesome catagory before a few uppity judges drove their cold, black, emo, hate-driven, knives of cry-alot into the heart of what should have been the best part of the show.

Now Comedy/Fun. One word can sum up what happened here: FAIL. FUCKING FAIL. I have never see such an obvious pit of extreme faggorty in an AMV contest, ever. Seriously guys, you dropped the fucking ball here. I just can't believe just how hard you guys failed, even more so since you have about 7-9 judges. However, I guess putting fun in the title is your way of flooding the competition with nothing but dance video and throwing out anything funning. I mean, come on, do you guys got something against laughing?

For those who left early or didn't make it, Comedy was a fucking train wreak of fail. The laughs that were heard were far and few between. Out of all the videos, only 2 could be considered funny. (Side note: Jubjub2, your comedy video was the funniest thing there). And then there was Drama. And you might ask yourself "Wait, didn't he just get done with Drama?" And to that I would say "Well somebody should have asked that to the Video Staff." I mean, one would think that after over an hour of Drama we would have been done with the catagory. However, here comes our big boat of fail to shit Drama all over the comedy catagory.

I mean, somebody should have known something was up when people started either leaving in mass or heckling the Comedy catagory. And what makes it worse is when I went to ask a few people about what had just happened. I wanted to know why about 1/3 of the audience left before Comedy was over. I wanted to know why the Princess Tutu video, which was so much a Drama video it wasn't funny, had found it's way into Comedy. Hell, I wanted to know why Comedy wasn't Comedy.

The answer I got actually disgusted me. I was told, by people who will remain unnamed, that the video judges were the final say and that this is just how it went down. This tells me two things. One, they knew about the train wreak of a contest and didn't care. Two, they were obviously judging video with a bias, something no "pofessional" judge should ever do. I mean, I am glad the judges got their way and were all to happy with the video that were played, but I think the 60-100 people that walked out might have something else to say. Hell, I am pretty sure that those who stayed to heckle or wait for something funny in Comedy might have something to say. I mean, YAY, we appeased our judges, so who cares about the people who have to sit through the mess they put together.

To the A-kon staff, you want feedback on how to improve? If not, too bad cause I am a person who believes in giving a better way when they feel like critizing something or someone. First of, KEEP DRAMA IN DRAMA. I don't care if certain people in your staff do not have the balls to send an e-mail or get on the phone to tell an editor that their video has been moved from one catagory to another. It ruins the spirit of the contest to let one catagory dominate another because of your inaction. Second, make the catagories more balanced for time. When one catagory take up most of the contest just because your judges wanted to have an emo wrist cutting cry-fest, it makes it unfair to all of those who entered into Action or Comedy and even more unfair to the fans who were expecting more. And lastly, take Fun away from Comedy and give it it's own catagory. Seriously, you guys using "FUN" as an excuse to kick most of the Comedy videos out so you could flood the catagory with more videos that were either not fun or should have been in Drama to begin with is just not funny. But who am I to say anything, you guys were there, and I mean those crickets were laughing pretty hard.

A-kon, I just don't know what happened this year. You guys had a great contest last year. You seemed to know what you were doing. And then this year you just dropped the ball. I mean, damn. I just don't know what else I can say to express my extreme dissatistfaction with not just poor judging, but poor judgement on how the contest was put together in the first place. I guess the only thing I have left to say is that I hope you guys can pull your heads out for next year. I don't think I, or many other people who attended can sit through something like that again. It's just sad to think that something so good fell this far.

Anyways, goodnight everyone.


PS- If any A-kon rep posts in response to this and says anything to the effect of "Well I am sorry you didn't like what happened but we stand behind our judges" or "I am sorry you feel that way, but our methods are still better" or anything else other than "I am sorry, we will have everything fix by next year", you will be promptly ignored.