Finalists for Anime Expo Anime Music Video Contest 2008

[Hofuzz]

umm from what I gathered from earlier posts, if we can't make it to the AMV 101 Panel to pick up our creator tickets, do we try to ask for you at the Nokia Theater some time after that?

And was it two tickets per entry form/group, rather than 2 tickets per group member like before?

Just wanted to make sure, thanks!
Hofuzz

[DigitalPanther]

umm from what I gathered from earlier posts, if we can't make it to the AMV 101 Panel to pick up our creator tickets, do we try to ask for you at the Nokia Theater some time after that?

And was it two tickets per entry form/group, rather than 2 tickets per group member like before?

Just wanted to make sure, thanks!
Hofuzz

two tickets per-form. I was unaware of it being two per group member previously.
In order to make special arrangement for your tix you would need to have contacted me previously (like last week or earlier) to make alternate arrangements. One creator has already done so.
-DP
P.S.
It was great to finally see you all at the dinner this evening. Thanks for welcoming myself and Anneke we had a great time and look forward to attending them in the future.

[DigitalPanther]

Only a 20 question ballot...

Question 1 & 2 (Action)
Question 1
A - Video 1
B - Video 2
C - Video 3
D - Video 4
E - Video 5

Question 2
A - Video 6
B - Video 7

Ofcourse it would seem that instead of letters the bubbles are numbered.

I HIGHLY recommend that there be instructions shown on the screens, before and after (and even during) the contest to make sure people understand how to judge/use the ballots.

If you can't scan the ballot into the computer to then edit a demo, you could find a picture of a scantron on-line I'm sure. You don't have much time but a little video/power point to explain to everyone how to judge/use the ballots would be wonderful.

-Anneke

You have more or less described my methodology only using letters not numbers.

Its all kinda moot now anyway. The machine didn't arrive. We have an alternate plan in place that will work as well...just a little labor intensive. But it also addresses they "What if best in show isn't best in category." (a concept that doesn't seem logical but is feasible I supppose.

-DP

[Castor Troy]

Well, I just got back from the contest and here's how it went...

Spoiler :

It actually started on time for the first time since 2001

Results will be posted tomorrow..

[The Wired Knight]

Well, I just got back from the contest and here's how it went...

Spoiler :

It actually started on time for the first time since 2001

Results will be posted tomorrow..

LIES!

[MisterFurious]

LIES!

No, that would be if they offered cake.....

Seriously, though, to be fair, the contest started only 7 minutes late, which by convention standards is "on time." Even more miraculous was that the whole thing was over by 10:30, even though DP was taking the time to walk on stage and verbally announce each video's editor, song source, and anime source.

Only two minor technical glitches. One video had the misfortune of overloading the DVD player and stuttered on two occasions. Granted, the show DVD had been tested on another player, and had worked fine, so that was not foreseeable. The second issue was that a few videos had MPEG-2 encoding glitches (you'd recognize them if you saw them - flashes of black blocks or a red screen). The two issues may be related. It's possible that the DVD's were encoded with too high a bit rate, which can overload some DVD players.

Minor quibbles, really, in light of how well everything went. A spectacular evening indeed. The Nokia theater has great seats, beautiful lighting, and my video never looked better than on their screens. Even though I know I probably didn't win anything, I feel honored to have been part of such an enjoyable contest.

I never doubted DP would pull off such a great show. He's been on AV staff as long as I can remember, which means he saw all the lessons the previous coordinators learned before becoming one himself. A contest that went this smoothly is almost unheard of at AX, but from a first-time organizer, it is nothing short of spectacular.

Great job, DP! Can't wait to see what improvements you can make next year (though I am still dubious about the scantron).

[Castor Troy]

A couple of the videos also had interlacing problems. That wavy watery effect on some of the videos was definitely not an effect, but videos that weren't properly deinterlaced. It was especially visible on videos with high motion scenes.

[MisterFurious]

A couple of the videos also had interlacing problems. That wavy watery effect on some of the videos was definitely not an effect, but videos that weren't properly deinterlaced. It was especially visible on videos with high motion scenes.

I'm starting to see that more and more. Even my video had interlacing issues. It's kind of inevitable, as conventions' switch to digital submissions means that progressive will become the AMV norm, rather than interlaced. Perhaps we should start doing what Nic does and de-interlace our videos before submitting.

[Castor Troy]

Here's my honest opinion of the contest...

The Action and Drama categories were the strongest imo. I give props to the AX judges for choosing drama videos that didn't make me wanna slit my wrists like most drama videos do. Comedy was the weakest category since a few videos were hit and miss (comedy is a dying "bread" so to speak). There were 2 videos that had wonderful concepts, but the editing wasn't good enough to fully carry those concepts because of alot of mediocre scene placement and badly attempted lipsync. AMTV was another hit or miss since there were videos that had tons of effects or not as much. Most of the crowd already seemed tired or brain fried so alot of the amtv videos didn't get alot of reaction.

It was as ok contest to me, but nothing really mindblowing. I still compare contests to the ones held in 2003 where I felt that year was the strongest in competition (especially at AX and Otakon). This year was huge step up from last year's disaster, but I didn't see all of last year's contest so I can't really make a fair comparison.

I'll admit it and I'm not gonna lie, but I do feel that my video and a few others that were shown during the preshow seating should have made it in. I do appreciate seeing my video during the preshow, but I admit that I would have liked to compete and see how I would fare against everyone else.

I definitely give props to Michael for his hard work into making the contest run smoothly for the first time in years. The Nokia theatre was an awesome venue to see videos and even the amv panel got a much nicer room (an actual small theater itself) this year. The most important thing is that I'm glad amvs are *finally* getting treated with respect at AX and I hope it continues for future ax's.

[MisterFurious]

AMTV was another hit or miss since there were videos that had tons of effects or not as much. Most of the crowd already seemed tired or brain fried so alot of the amtv videos didn't get alot of reaction.

I'll throw in my two cents in that there were a couple of AMTV-Pro videos that really belonged in other categories, like Drama or Action. There were also Drama videos that would have fit better into Action. However, for me there was still a clear-cut winner of this category, as there were in the other categories (except for Drama - it's always so difficult to predict that one).

I'll admit it and I'm not gonna lie, but I do feel that my video and a few others that were shown during the preshow seating should have made it in. I do appreciate seeing my video during the preshow, but I admit that I would have liked to compete and see how I would fare against everyone else.

Mad props to you for having the courage to say it, although you have a pretty kick-ass video to back up that argument. I loved it, particularly the incorporation of original "Rocky" footage.