How to win AMV contests and alienate people

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DriftRoot
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Re: How to win AMV contests and alienate people

Post by DriftRoot » Thu Jul 19, 2012 9:33 pm

Castor Troy wrote:
Ideas are worthless.

Execution is what matters.

Don't get so hung up on making an original idea. The simple definition of amvs is "anime + music". Your goal is to make that your own.

Once you grasp that concept, now you can start making videos for yourself and make them your own.
Ideas are not worthless! Audiences may react predictably to certain types of videos, but that doesn't mean you should shoot for the same old, same old. Take a great idea and combine it with good execution, and you've probably got con gold. Granted, it's not a formula that's easy to achieve, but if you CAN achieve it...well...you're probably way ahead of the pack.

pan·der (pndr)
intr.v. pan·dered, pan·der·ing, pan·ders
1. To act as a go-between or liaison in sexual intrigues; function as a procurer.
2. To cater to the lower tastes and desires of others or exploit their weaknesses


I don't really want to think about an AMV that could act as a go-between in sexual intrigues... :x

As far as "pandering" goes in the second sense...if you're in it to win it, why pull your punches? If you're out to win an audience vote, then paying attention to what that audience likes is a sound strategy. If the audience is a bunch of screaming fangirls into yaoi, that's one kind of AMV, if the audience is into cutting-edge special effects, that's another kind. Good for you, successfully gauging that audience and pushing all the right buttons! Just admit that's what you did, and acknowledge that this doesn't mean your AMV automatically gets high marks in other respects. You may have served up Cheetos to an audience that loves junk food, but that doesn't make your junk food fine cuisine just because the audience preferred it to filet mignon. Filet mignon is still a cut above even if the Cheeto-eaters don't care for it.

'K, now I'm hungry. :pizza: :beer:

Hrm...so other techniques to win an AMV contest. Here's a big one:

Don't Do Anything that Automatically Counts Against You
Seems simple enough not to even need to be said, but...you're going to have a tough time even getting into the finals if you make very bad blunders video/audio quality. Same thing goes for violating strict contest rules (i.e. no non-anime, excessive violence, bad language, etc.). A lot of people seem to ignore these fundamentals, however, which implies they need to be reminded of them. Bottom line: don't make stupid mistakes that will cripple or destroy your chances of being a serious contestant. All the engagement, momentum, pandering, ADD goodness will avail you naught if you've got fansubs scrolling across the bottom of the screen.

This thread reminds me of one of Code's Lip Flapper episodes wherein he talked with contest coordinators about what goes into finalist selection...ah, here it is.
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JudgeHolden
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Re: How to win AMV contests and alienate people

Post by JudgeHolden » Thu Jul 19, 2012 10:45 pm

Castor Troy wrote:The floodgates have been unleashed.

Now fill your houses with TROPHIES! :bzz: :bzz2: :amv:

But, but, but I already have a house full of trophies without following these simple rules ... do you mean I could have ruled the world? |:>

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Re: How to win AMV contests and alienate people

Post by Zarxrax » Fri Jul 20, 2012 1:26 pm

Fan pandering is a science. If you want to win audience-judged contests, you only have to follow some simple rules, and you are guaranteed to win.

1. It needs to be a comedy video
If you make people laugh, they are having a good time, they will remember it. Drama videos might get an emotional response from like 1 person, and they just put everyone else to sleep. Action videos can be cool, but everyone does these, and its really hard to make one that stands out from the rest. Just go with comedy, its safest.

2. Make it amv hell-style
Like caster troy already mentioned, people have ADD. No one wants to watch a single video for 4 minutes. Besides, why make 1 video when you can make 20 videos, which gives you 20 chances to win?

3. Use the most popular anime
You want to appeal to a broad range of people, so don't use some crap anime that no one in the audience has even watched. Stick with the big names. But don't just stick with the mainstream anime... you also want to be sure to use a number of niche anime that have a strong fan-base. The ones that will make fan-girls squee just from the mere sight of it in your amv. They will cheer out loudly and fan-gasm during those scenes, which makes everyone else think they just missed something awesome, meaning they will vote for your video because they wanna watch it again after it wins, so they can see whatever they thought they missed.

4. Sex
Big boobies win contests. Also throw in some gay yaoi stuff to get the girls excited. The yaoi stuff is mandatory. This is what wins it.

5. Pick the right audio
Any audio clip from family guy should work. Actually, you probably want several of those. Also use stuff from lots of cult-classic films and tv shows. Hit the nostalgia angle by using stuff from 80's and 90's cartoons. Also choose popular songs from the top 100 charts.

6. Copy good ideas
Throw some popular memes into your video. Even classic ones like Numa Numa or All Your Base never get old. This also plays into the nostalgia angle. Also if you have seen some funny stuff used in other amvs, feel free to reuse it in your own video. Most people in the audience see maybe 5 amvs per year, so they probably haven't seen it yet.

And there you have it folks, 6 easy steps to guaranteeing that you win an audience-judged award at an amv contest.

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Re: How to win AMV contests and alienate people

Post by ssgwnbtd » Fri Jul 20, 2012 1:33 pm

Just make sure your video starts with a pair of gigantic breasts. Everything else in the video is secondary to this part. Double up the explosion scene in Akira side-by-side to make it look like huge, exploding boobs.

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Castor Troy
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Re: How to win AMV contests and alienate people

Post by Castor Troy » Fri Jul 20, 2012 2:41 pm

With all the Marvel and DC anime adaptations out now along with all the upcoming movies, people need to jump on that bandwagon!
"You're ignoring everything, except what you want to hear.." - jbone

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Re: How to win AMV contests and alienate people

Post by outlawed » Sun Jul 22, 2012 8:36 pm

Thread is clearly written from the perspective of an AMV creator that has been making AMVs longer than 5 years ago and may be on the verge of retirement. Cntrl-f "swag" and I found no occurrences. Clearly the OP is not aligned with the new breed. =p

New breed methodology:
Dubstep + popular source + swag = win !

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Pwolf
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Re: How to win AMV contests and alienate people

Post by Pwolf » Sun Jul 22, 2012 11:59 pm

He already retired.

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TritioAFB
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Re: How to win AMV contests and alienate people

Post by TritioAFB » Mon Jul 23, 2012 12:40 am

Pwolf wrote:He already retired.
Old School advices :book:
Specialist in Geriatric Medicine

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Re: How to win AMV contests and alienate people

Post by TheLuminaireShow » Wed Jul 25, 2012 10:13 am

I'll agree to the use of memes. That's what I used to vote for when I was a younger. -_- Humor almost always wins. The Romance video that got me to laugh was the one I voted for then lol
Name's Luminaire. Oboishinasai!
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Mr Pilkington
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Re: How to win AMV contests and alienate people

Post by Mr Pilkington » Wed Jul 25, 2012 1:41 pm

When in doubt: Ponies

Cruise control for win.

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