A 2006 VCA suggestion

[Scintilla]

2) It's not about choosing which of your videos win. It's about who the audience thinks is best. The less interference from the creators, the better. In my opinion? It's not about you, the creator. It's the audience picking their favorites, the end. Back off.

Absolutely. Which is one reason why I don't think the "All my videos" box should be automatically cleared again when 2006 rolls around.

That's not really the point of that box anymore. If it were, they wouldn't 'blank' it at vca time without making sure every single member is expecting it.

I sign up, I upload all my vids, I check the box. I'm a good member in compliance. Then January rolls around and Phade unchecks my box. wtf. I checked it! I listed my vids, complied, and checked it. Why did he uncheck it? So only those people who regularly visit the forum, check their emails or watch that box can compete in the vcas.

Those who join, follow the rules, check the box, and then go on vacation are screwed. It's not because they didn't follow the rules and list their vids. It's because they weren't here and aware of the 'recheck your box' vca change, so they don't get to play with the rest of us.

And there's another reason.

EvaBebop, for example, is nominated in the 'best use of simplicity' despite the fact it's a fairly complex video and Scintilla properly marked that it has special effects. There is nothing else Scintilla can do to indicate this is not a simple video.

Well, I <i>could</i> start a thread publicly asking people to please not vote for AEO:EB in that category. Oh wait...

But yeah, I really didn't see the point behind having both that and Best NoFX.

[Arigatomina]

You're assuming evil motives where there's no reason to do so. I doubt this was their reason to do this. What good would it do them?

No, I don't think it's evil motives. ^_^

I think it's a quick way to disqualify mounds of videos - so only those 'aware' members can participate. Lots of people check their emails regularly, so they can still make it back in time to 'recheck' the box. I think it's done to discount those people who list their vids and then disappear for months at a time. Narrow the field, perhaps, or make sure only those who 'want and know how' to participate, can participate.

That 'recheck the box if you want in' makes the VCA's more like a typical amv contest. If it were for any vid listed by a 'rule-following member' then the box wouldn't be automatically cleared.

[tuathaanwarrior]

Sarah, I see your point, but stand by mine. I have a feeling that if i continue to the matter it would digress into either flaming or massive amounts fo repetitiveness so i will leave it as a difference of opinions

[godix]

Yes it is. They're based on the categories that the editor checks off when they enter the video into the database. Apart from Originality, Simplicity, and Best of Show, which don't have to do with genres.

And people have the option of going and nominating videos for any catagory (except the no fx/best fx ones I think) regardless of how the creator marked it. Which is where my idea of allowing the creator to say 'This isn't an action vid, I won't let it compete in the action catagory at all' comes in.

What does this mean? (I don't enter cons, so I'm not familiar with this.) You're only allowed to enter a video into one VCA, so... don't we already have this?

Quite a few cons have an official rule that a video can not win more than one award. To pick an example I happen to know offhand, Acen has this rule. EvaBebop won Best of Show at Acen 04 and because of that it wasn't awarded Best Technical or Best Comedy although it certainly qualified. Some cons which do not have this as an official rule seem to have it as an unofficial rule and encourage the judges to distribute the awards around a little. This is what I meant. Because of rules like these in various cons it's fairly well established in the AMV community that contests try to award different videos rather than heaping piles of awards on one. There's nothing saying that VCAs must be the same of course but I happen to like seeing a variety of videos win and consider it a nice perk of my idea.

You have that backwards. That's not about the VCAs. The VCA rule is there in order to enforce the database's being as complete as possible.

As Arigatomina mentioned, there's reason to wonder if that's really what the check box is all about. Regardless of the reason though, the all videos box has the effect of changing the VCAs from 'best of every video of the year' to 'best of everyone who decided to click this box and compete'. My idea wouldn't change this at all, VCAs would remain the best of those who decided to compete I'm just suggesting some changes to how people decide to compete.

You're citing the aberration as if it's the standard, which doesn't make any sense to me.

And you're pretending the aberration doesn't exist and my idea would suddenly create the aberration. If someone doesn't want to compete currently then they have an easy method to not do so and my idea wouldn't change that in the slightest.

[godix]

Oh, one more thing. The reason I'm proposing this is that by clearing the 'all videos entered' box the admins have turned the VCAs into a somewhat informal version of an audience vote convention contest. My idea would, IMNSHO, fit perfectly fine in that type of contest. If instead the admins really want it to be, as Sarah phrases it, a popularity contest amoung all videos then obviously my idea wouldn't fit.

So let me add an adendum: If the admins want to keep the VCAs as a contest the editors have to actively join then I suggest my original idea be adopted. If the admins view the VCAs as a 'best of all videos regardless of if the creator wants to compete' then I agree with those suggesting not clearing the box next year. It really depends on what the admins want the VCAs to be but either way the current rules are far from ideal.

And that's all I have to say about that, if I haven't gotten my point across by now then I'm not going to.

[Scintilla]

Yes it is. They're based on the categories that the editor checks off when they enter the video into the database. Apart from Originality, Simplicity, and Best of Show, which don't have to do with genres.

And people have the option of going and nominating videos for any catagory (except the no fx/best fx ones I think) regardless of how the creator marked it.

Uhhh, wait, what? When did that happen?

I know this wasn't the case <i>last</i> year...
Sheesh. If that is true then I don't get it at all.

[SarahtheBoring]

It isn't the case. You can't vote a non-action video for the action category. Editors determine which categories they can compete in by categorizing their videos in the first place, which is what I said on page 1. This came up when "Instrumental" was created - people could, in effect, enter the instrumental category by going back and adding that as a genre in their video info. That's how the genre system works with regards to the VCAs.

Hmm, I thought I was arguing with somebody who knew what they were talking about.

(mrrrowl!)

Back to the main point - I don't particularly like the clearing of the All-Important Box, either, but I think you make way, way, way too much of it. It's not the entire point of the VCAs and the entire point of the org and the central importance of our entire lives. I think clearing it was probably a way to get us to pay attention and be honest about whether our catalogs are complete. Look back when this was done; there must be an official explanation on the Announcements forum. Speculating why it was done and how eeeeeeeeeevil the mods are for making this all about a few people is really not going to get us anywhere.

We've drifted again. godix, your original idea seemed to be geared to:
- very very high administrator interference
- high creator interference
- very little viewer input
- getting as many videos as possible recognized because they "deserve" it (...this makes me ill, because I find it condescending, but that's another matter)

...and in that sense it's essentially a juried/judged contest and not a VCA. In a way, I agree with a lot of it, because frankly? I think the viewer base is overrun with Narutards/LBZ mouth-breathers who really don't know what the hell they're doing and are too stupid or obnoxious to follow common sense like "don't nominate an effects-heavy video for 'best no effects' even if you can."

But I also believe that this is what we're stuck with, at the org, and if you're going to claim to run a viewer's choice award, those are your viewers. You can't claim to reflect the views of the people and then turn around and say that their views aren't good enough. The audience has spoken. If the audience is laser-focused on the same 4 videos, never bothers to seek out worthy obscure stuff and has no common sense, well, then, so be it.

It really depends on whether you want a juried contest or a Viewer's Choice. The business with the checkbox has everyone's feathers ruffled, but I really think that's beside the point. Maybe it was a bad decision. So was putting Simplicity and No Effects in the same contest, in my opinion. It happens. I don't think we should base everything we say off one bad decision. I'd rather look at the big picture.

...I am so, so banned. Oh well.

[Jnzk]

Yes it is. They're based on the categories that the editor checks off when they enter the video into the database. Apart from Originality, Simplicity, and Best of Show, which don't have to do with genres.

And people have the option of going and nominating videos for any catagory (except the no fx/best fx ones I think) regardless of how the creator marked it.

Uhhh, wait, what? When did that happen?

I know this wasn't the case <i>last</i> year...
Sheesh. If that is true then I don't get it at all.

Unless I'm missing the point totally, godix is right. I myself nominated some videos to categories the creator hadn't entered them in.

[WilLoW :--)]

SarahtheBoring, I tend to disagree with your point of view.
You only mention videos that can be clearly categorized, but some videos can't be put in some category.

I have two videos nominated this year for the VCA, and they probably won't win because they don't fit the categories they were nominated for.
Probably my fault, because one of them contains a good rythm and therefore I checked the "Dance" category, and the other one contains some "horror" in the first half of the video, therefore I checked the "horror" box.
Yet the first one is not a Dance video and the other one is not a "Horror" video. They're both original videos that carry some emotions that can vary throughout the video.

Yes it is simple to check a box saying that you used effects in a video. But categorising it is difficult. For example what is fun for me may not be for you.

All my videos are fun, as I've had fun making them and I have fun watching them.
All my videos are parodies, as they generally refer to a music video, another AMV, or a movie, and try to change its meaning.
All my videos are action, as I synch the video to the rythm.
Most of my videos contain some sort of a character profile, as most anime contain some heroes with feelings, and as AMVs use anime.
All my videos are Dance, as they contain music, and music is meant to make people dance
What about a video that repeats "You're not from brighton" with a robotized voice... is it instrumental or not ? Voice is an instrument after all. Therefore all my videos are instrumental.
All my videos are serious, I wouldn't spend so much time to create them if I weren't serious.
All my videos are trailers, as they can be seen as a form of advertising for anime.
All my videos are Drama as they try to give Dramatic feeling to the viewers.
All my videos belong to the "Other" category, as they are more than the sum of the other categories

As a result, categorising is difficult, and in my opinion useless. Therefore, even if it might sound as if I was saying the complete opposite, I agree with Godix's suggestion.
If I had had the choice, my videos, despite being categorized in "Dance" and "Horror" would not have participated in these categories, but rather in "most original concept" for example...

Not everything can be categorized easily as you tend to think, just watch some more videos, you'll see not all of them can be put in a box.

[dwchang]

Yes it is. They're based on the categories that the editor checks off when they enter the video into the database. Apart from Originality, Simplicity, and Best of Show, which don't have to do with genres.

And people have the option of going and nominating videos for any catagory (except the no fx/best fx ones I think) regardless of how the creator marked it.

Uhhh, wait, what? When did that happen?

I know this wasn't the case <i>last</i> year...
Sheesh. If that is true then I don't get it at all.

Unless I'm missing the point totally, godix is right. I myself nominated some videos to categories the creator hadn't entered them in.

As did I. Namely some of Pianos videos since he only checked one or two categories for most of his stuff.