Otakon 2008 AMV Contest Results

[SecondChild]

It's funny, because at least at the Friday showing, when people saw DBZ, there were a bunch of "awww man!" comments. But me and my friends that went to the pre-screening told them "No, it's good, we promise!" And then it got some really nice cheers after, specifically from the people in our section who were originally apprehensive .

I admit, I was totally like "WTF?" when I saw DBZ on the title card, but I clapped enthusiastically after the vid. All the videos were great this year. Much fun all around!

[Cyanna]

I don't really care which way. I'd love nothing more than to be able forget about this. The more I dwell on it, the more angry I become with the situation. It's not just having the category axed at the last minute but also the pretending the category never existed even after the Friday screening...kinda adds insult to injury. It didn't kill my weekend but it did suffer a few broken bones.

On the other hand...I was really excited to be in this category because it was so strong. There were a few I wouldn't have minded in the slightest if I lost to them. Although I am not optimistic about an "unofficial" contest happening and it is hardly a substitute for the real thing, I still would not object to participating for competition's sake. It would be fun.

That being said, I do want to thank Alan and Vic for their time and effort. I know the decision by the legal dept. sucked for you as well. I still had a blast participating in the process and I'll definitely be back next year.

And Jeff's intro was just amazing. I'm really glad I was able to see that.

[VicBond007]

I'll try to answer all of these in the order that they were posted.

I don't have a list written up of all 97 videos that were in the overflow. Some videos in overflow were indeed superfreakinawesome but violated the troll clause and thus could not compete. The Fate/Stay video was Fate/Stay Inferno by Avalon Blade Works.

The rolling bar on the screen was because DSL (The company that we HAVE to use to set up all of the equipment) ran 100+ feet of HD15 cable from their scaler to the projector without any amplification, so quite frankly I was impressed that a 1280x1024 signal could even MAKE it through that length of cable, let alone show up as well as it did.

While I can not say anything on behalf of Otakon, I will personally declare that the AMV Contest Intro is awarded "Best Damn Video of 2008".

Here are the percentage of votes for each video. The percentages won't add up to 100 due to rounding. Deal with it. Each category received between 1950 and 2125 votes. They took 4 people 12+ hours to count. Go us ._.
-------------------------------------------------
Drama
--------
One Guitar - 23%
Unfinished Business - 6%
In the Sunshine - 4%
A Wicked Mirror - 19%
A Raven's Pride - 9%
Dom Iisci - 6%
Break the Chain - 34%
Action
-------
The Only Thing I Lost was Myself - 4%
Sex and Violence - 7%
Celestial Being Comes Crashing Down - 3%
Azure Aurora - 8%
Earth's Last Hope - 15%
Baccano Swing - 38%
Critical Mass - 26%
Romance/Sentimental
-------------------------
Love Rush - 21% (400 votes)
Love's in Your Eyes - 21% (401 votes)
Sunset - 11%
The Gift - 13%
Stay with Me - 6%
I Wish You Were Here - 14%
Through the Years and Far Away - 15%
Upbeat/Dance
-----------------
Fast Times at Furinkan High - 39%
The Tainted Love of Haruhi Suzumiya - 2%
Word Play - 52%
Can't Stand Still - 2%
I'm Above the Age of 10 and I Like Pokemon - 6%
Comedy
---------
I Had Sexual Intercourse While Making This Video - 16%
Give Me A Friggin’ Flashing, Blinking, Exploding Sign - 1%
Tribute to Tribute - 7%
The Harassment of Kyon - 56%
Yuri the Only One - 11% (226 votes)
Can Always Keep Enduring - 11% (225 votes)

I have the best in show counts too but that's a separate list of percentages and they were pretty one-sided to begin with.

As for the Trailer category, until I get this resolved, Otakorp has made it clear that as per their lawyer, Khervin Smith's decission, I am not to even acknowledge that the category existed, let alone declare a winner. There were votes turned in on Friday and they were counted. Even after volunteering to quit Otakon staff, I was not permitted to announce a winner of this category even if I agreed not to play it. I can not even announce it online at an unassociated website such a this one, because doing so would be acknowledging that these entries were played at Otakon. I can not mail out the award plaques, despite paying for them out of pocket, because they have Otakon's name on them.

The issue, as it was explained to me, was that Otakon's lawyer had an issue with the audio portion of the trailers not being covered under our ASCAP license, and thus we did not have a license to play them (Parody laws? Fair use?). This is the same lawyer that 4 months eariler, read the rules for the contest and OK'd them, trailer category and all. The explaination that was supposedly given at the gripe-session in reference to the unauthorized use of studio title slates sounds to me like a cover-up for bad decission making as I, the contest coordinator, heard nothing of this while at the con. Granted, my director, Alan Chaess, made it clear to me that he was witholding information from me concerning this, so the unauthorized use of title slates COULD have been a part of the problem, but I doubt it. All of my information was received second-hand from him, as our lawyer was unavailable for the rest of the weekend. Out of all of the videos in the category, only one made use of a movie studio's title slate. So, if this was the issue, the video could have been pulled and not the whole category. I have not heard of any complaints from studio representatives who were in attendance that weekend (It is common knowledge that plain-clothed movie and music studio reps attend every major convention.)

I would like to stress again that it was not my, nor Otakon's decission to pull the category. They were simply acting on behalf of one lawyer, who has the power to manipulate the events at the convention as he sees necessary for the safety of the con.

Save this post for the future as my willingness to share the truth with those who worked to submit free content to a convention, is probably grounds for a quick silencing, but it has to be done as my moral beliefs have always been to stick up for THE FAN and not THE MAN.

[Shockgrrl747]

Congrats to all the winners! There are a few that kinda surprised me, but the contest in general was very entertaining! Onnnnly, I saw a good portion of those at Anime Next, so there were some repeats. They were awesome repeats though!

Question, and sorry if I seem ignorant here...what happened to the Trailer category that everyone is mentioning? *saw the contest on Friday*

[SecondChild]

Question, and sorry if I seem ignorant here...what happened to the Trailer category that everyone is mentioning? *saw the contest on Friday*

The United States government can neither confirm nor deny the existence of a Trailer category in the Otakon AMV contest.

[-Reda-]

*sigh*

[Aetre]

If you have it in writing that it was okay for the videos to air, then it was okay, period. Ah, but legal departments can be annoying.

The worst part about it is that not all of the information is allowed to be transparent. Why do we have to live under laws that don't make themselves clear? Where's the ethic in that? "Joey was told to cease and desist." "Why?" "The government refused to say."

That's the exact opposite of the rule of law.

[/rant]

[SilkAMV]

Where does thisssss......Khervin Sssssssmith.....live ?

[-Reda-]

Where does thisssss......Khervin Sssssssmith.....live ?

[MOD: Removed]

[Aetre]

Where does thisssss......Khervin Sssssssmith.....live ?

[MOD: Removed]

I now want nothing to do with this and do not claim any knowledge of this situation.

Pardon me while I go hide under a rock and cry.