The Replacement for AWA Masters

[Kusoyaro]

Engel done straight, instead of as parody

Bezner already did this...and won AWA Pro

When I was trying to get to sleep earlier today, I was thinking about this topic for no apparent reason, and I came up with the "Single Song Challenge".

We did this, years ago. Didn't work very well essentially for the reasons you guessed at. Only got two entries, and it was still a drag watching them one after another. Didn't help that it was "My heart will go on" either. (Don't look at me... I wasn't in charge then.)

Hey, that contest was the origin of my AMV Hell 3 segment that people liked

[anneke]

An 'idea' I had for a challenge/contest...

The editor is limited to 1 episode of whatever Anime they want to us. Limit it to shows that are 30 minutes long. Basically they have to make 3-5 minute video with only 20 mins of footage, which is a challenge. You could even limit what anime they use, but that would be abit restrictive.
Maybe even require the video to be 4 to 5 minutes. Would really force people's creativity. Could even give it a theme (Or limit that they aren't allowed to just tell the story of the episode).

Anneke

[MCWagner]

Engel done straight, instead of as parody

Bezner already did this...and won AWA Pro

Yeah, I know. That's why the example jumped to mind.

Re: 30 min source.... I'd worry about how many people would want to compete in something that awkward....

[Scintilla]

... For the benefit of the unenlightened, just what is the whole "Pop Will Eat Itself" thing about (all I know is that it's the name of a band that Doki Doki used for his Seiryuu AMV in 2004)? Since everyone keeps throwing the term around...

[Vlad G Pohnert]

The problem with contests that use one anime only or song is that that gets boring for an audience fast... Listening to the same song 30 times would be painful for many and what if you don't like the anime, fans would just leave...

One thing we as creators have to realize, that even though we want the contests to be judged objectively and fair, most AMV contests at a con are there for the benefit of the audience as a form of entertainment.

Thus, ideas should consider the enjoyment of the audience and not just preference of creators because I'm sure that Matt would not like to hold a new event that ends up clearing the room....

Finding this balance is what really makes a contest hard. Audience ballot makes the audience feel as part of the process and adds to their enjoyment while it tends to make it unfair to some videos as entertainment always tends to win over videos that should of deserved it in general.. Pre-judged is more fair to the creator, but not as fun for the audience as they have no say... I know AWA’s contests are all done on a pre-judged base, so maybe something based on the audience might be a viable option if a good system could be found that would work for the staff, creators and fans (yea,right )

Vlad

[anneke]

Re: 30 min source.... I'd worry about how many people would want to compete in something that awkward....

I thought one of the goals was to make a contest that would be smaller, that had about the same amount of AMVs as the Masters, instead of a big contest were everyone entered.

Anneke

[MCWagner]

Re: 30 min source.... I'd worry about how many people would want to compete in something that awkward....

I thought one of the goals was to make a contest that would be smaller, that had about the same amount of AMVs as the Masters, instead of a big contest were everyone entered.

Anneke

Oh, it is. But it's a balance. I want enough entries that it'll be a legitimate contest too. Two entries is a contest only in the technical sense.

Re: Vlad: Yeah, arguing that an audience vote won't give you the results you want isn't really a legit complaint against the technique. I just think that making a third judging technique isn't enough of a difference between the contests we've already got for that alone to be a driving force for a new competition.

Re: Pop Will Eat Itself: We gave an award a few years back to a video called "OMG Du Hast" that was hilarious because it was a massive inside joke... a subtle humorous reflection of the AMV community and the hobbyists in general. To anyone outside of the hobby, it would've just been puzzling. Thus, I was using "pop will eat itself" as the idea that at some point in every hobby, great and insightful works will start being produced that are completely incomprehensible to anyone outside of the hobby. It's AMV material that's gone back and cannibalized itself for artistic effect, hollowing the meaning out of previous works. (But not exactly a direct parody, in this case a puncturing of self-importance.) It's like how some sci-fi fandoms become so introverted, insular, and self-involved that it actively works against gaining new followers. The award was given as a joke at AMV's own expense. (Not that the vid was bad, it was hilarious, but the award name was just going along with the joke.)

Originally, I think the term "pop will eat itself" meant that the brain-dead nature of pop music would start turning back on itself because it's so vapid and meaningless, and self destruct.

[efathefinger]

Well, I personally like the idea of a fan favorite. Maybe collect the expo entries which didn't receive an award and allow the audience to pick their fan favorite.

This way expo entires get more positive exposure. Judging can be as simple as listening to the audience cheer, picking out like the top three, and getting another cheer vote at the end.

When you get right down to it, even if its a fanservice video which uses pop music and a pop anime, the audience are the ones paying for the convention.

[efathefinger]

Well, I personally like the idea of a fan favorite. Maybe collect the expo entries which didn't receive an award and allow the audience to pick their fan favorite.

Whupps, thats supposed to mean collect a small pile of almost won videos.

[Brad]

I guess for me, I really would like to see some kind of event that encourages more audience interaction. A lot of people come to the convention and are genuinely big fans of the AMVs. I'd just like to see something (whether it be a fan judged contest or otherwise) that will really get the general crowd jazzed up about the videos, and maybe even get a bunch of them interested in making their own.