Anime Expo 2010 Anime Music Video Contest Rules Up

[Ryvannis]

Sup Troy!
Is it too late to DQ? Would be kinda bad if Michael DQed now, since the list is out. But it is an obvious copy and probably does not have the right to be on the list :\
Meh.....

Here are my two cents.
As for judging 'ALL' videos in the future, if you guys give high marks 'for effects' or even good cutting. ALWAYS try to question the ability of the editor (don't give them the benefit of the doubt, even in the Pro category). When i look at someones' AMV i always try pick apart 'how he did it'. If i can't instantly figure out, how he made the effect i assume it is part of stock footage and that no work went into it. Professionally edited footage usually is a lot cleaner.

A rule of thumb is: if it looks too good, its probably not real. :\
*of course there are exceptions to the case.

A good example would be Dean's Macross Frontier video last year that made it into AMTvPro. It was a great video and i spent at least 2 hours with him on AIM going over the entire thing, talking with him and asking him what parts were 'stock footage' and what parts he actually added effects. To my discovery as he told me, some parts i thought were done in AE, turned out to be stock footage.
And recently I finished watching Macross Frontier, and low and behold, yup it was stock footage indeed.
Though not to discredit Dean though, most of it was still done in AE and very impressive.

A lot of those effects were passive with the footage so I used them at a discretion and not for laziness. The video was very experimental with After Effects so I'm not sure if I want to touch back on it again.
But honestly, when I found out that AX only received 7 entries for Pro last year, it became a huge letdown with all the work that I put in. Probably could have half-assed the video at the time and it still would have got in, which would have been even more disappointing. I wish I could have swapped my entries from last year for this year since it seems more competitive now.

But the judging really needs to strengthen up a bit. Maybe Michael mixed up some entries since he was rushing to get the list up?

[Kazemon15]

Oh and somebody should crosscheck Duvet, I can recognize the PErsona 4 opening since I've watched it and played it - but now since this guyu has done this TWICE I'm extremely suspicious that he has done it three times.

Here is Duvet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tswyCipfyGc

I haven't played any of the Persona games, so hopefully someone can shed some light on this.

Kisanzi and Valion have confirmed...DO YOU LIKE STRAIGHT CUT SCENES FROM THE GAME WITH LITTLE TO NO EDITING?

Apparently, that's all this editor is good for. And AX LOVES him for it.

Wow...another vid made it in?

Makes me wonder if 4 months worth of work on my drama vid isn't even worth the effort anymore if someone else can just snip up game footage in one day and get in easily...

I already vowed to myself never to make a drama AMV for Anime Expo again.... now that I see this, I might as well not even try anymore.

[Castor Troy]

I'm gonna make my own videos from video game openings with ACTUAL EDITING, so this dude doesn't get in next year.

[Radical_Yue]

This contest just keeps going back and forth. When they used to have the major technical issues with the last crew running it, there were actually pretty good entries and decisions that made sense.
Now they've finally got the technical aspect of it perfect and the contests runs without crashing, it has become one of the worst contests I've ever seen out of all the conventions I've ever gone to.

But the judging really needs to strengthen up a bit. Maybe Michael mixed up some entries since he was rushing to get the list up?

With the size of this contest being what it is and the whole hurrah surrounding it, the person who is running it had better not be "mixing up entries." That's bullshit and would be a major excuse. The only way to "mix up entries" would be if you didn't give a shit about the contest you were running and if it's the case then someone who actually does would need to take over.
I'm not saying that's the case with this coordinator but they obviously need some major help with this contest from someone who knows what the hell they're doing.

[Ryvannis]

But the judging really needs to strengthen up a bit. Maybe Michael mixed up some entries since he was rushing to get the list up?

With the size of this contest being what it is and the whole hurrah surrounding it, the person who is running it had better not be "mixing up entries." That's bullshit and would be a major excuse. The only way to "mix up entries" would be if you didn't give a shit about the contest you were running and if it's the case then someone who actually does would need to take over.
I'm not saying that's the case with this coordinator but they obviously need some major help with this contest from someone who knows what the hell they're doing.

Michael has a lot on his plate this year considering his position with AX staff now, try putting yourself in his position and then reading your post. The contest has been running great in the past 2 years ever since he was in charge and the fact that some weak entries got in shouldn't deprive people away from the contest. The contest still turned out amazing and was practically flawless. Entries themselves might need a little work in the picking but I wouldn't hate on the judges or the coordinator just because something was picked over the other, it's creating a bias. That Persona video however seemed to question how judging really works.

I'm not going to disagree with you on your opinion as this might sound cheesy, but your wording is way taken a bit out of context.

[Castor Troy]

I already vowed to myself never to make a drama AMV for Anime Expo again.... now that I see this, I might as well not even try anymore.

I was thinking about this too. Like, why even bother trying if mediocrity is going to be rewarded? But if we stop entering, then even more mediocrity is going to go through.

AX can have the most smoothly run contest in the world, but if the entries suck, it's going be torturous to sit through.

Let's do our part in making it not suck.

[Radical_Yue]

But the judging really needs to strengthen up a bit. Maybe Michael mixed up some entries since he was rushing to get the list up?

With the size of this contest being what it is and the whole hurrah surrounding it, the person who is running it had better not be "mixing up entries." That's bullshit and would be a major excuse. The only way to "mix up entries" would be if you didn't give a shit about the contest you were running and if it's the case then someone who actually does would need to take over.
I'm not saying that's the case with this coordinator but they obviously need some major help with this contest from someone who knows what the hell they're doing.

Michael has a lot on his plate this year considering his position with AX staff now, try putting yourself in his position and then reading your post. The contest has been running great in the past 2 years ever since he was in charge and the fact that some weak entries got in shouldn't deprive people away from the contest. The contest still turned out amazing and was practically flawless. Entries themselves might need a little work in the picking but I wouldn't hate on the judges or the coordinator just because something was picked over the other, it's creating a bias. That Persona video however seemed to question how judging really works.

I'm not going to disagree with you on your opinion as this might sound cheesy, but your wording is way taken a bit out of context.

If he's got too much on his plate then why not ask for a little bit of help from those who know what they're doing?
Once again, on a technical aspect, the contest was run flawlessly.
I'm complaining about the entries here. I've got no doubt in my mind that he can make sure that everything runs smoothly AT the contest...but when it comes to the judging, it doesn't hurt to out source. I know that 808-Buma actually sends the finalist entries to people on the Org such as Mamo! to help with judging for his AMV contest Kawaii-Kon.
If you're in over your head, asking for help from those who are up to date on current anime and technical knowledge would only be an intelligent thing to do. Also, this Persona video isn't the first. Re-read the damn thread. The SAME creator did this LAST YEAR with "Blue Orchid" and another video THIS YEAR "Duvet".

I mainly got angry due to your comment about mistakes and "mixing things up." That's the kind of excuse you bring up when you bring your science homework to your literature class in 6th grade. Not when you're running a major contest.

Also, due to "weak entries getting in"? You realize it's due to the judge's choices that those weak entries got in right? You just outright admitted that there are indeed weak entires in the contest...and whos fault is that? Oh wait, that's right! The JUDGES! The ones who pick the entries!
If you're so overwhelmed that you may be "mixing things up" then enlist a little bit more help. It's really not that difficult. Once again, Niotex who runs THREE different contests each year without ANY of these problems.
I really hate restating myself due to people not reading posts. Yes this contest is a big one, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. Either man up, ask for some help, or step down.
The choices aren't that hard.

[Ryvannis]

If he's got too much on his plate then why not ask for a little bit of help from those who know what they're doing?
Once again, on a technical aspect, the contest was run flawlessly.
I'm complaining about the entries here. I've got no doubt in my mind that he can make sure that everything runs smoothly AT the contest...but when it comes to the judging, it doesn't hurt to out source. I know that 808-Buma actually sends the finalist entries to people on the Org such as Mamo! to help with judging for his AMV contest Kawaii-Kon.
If you're in over your head, asking for help from those who are up to date on current anime and technical knowledge would only be an intelligent thing to do. Also, this Person video isn't the first. Re-read the damn thread. The creator did LAST YEAR with Blue Orchid and another video THIS YEAR Duvet.

I mainly got angry due to your comment about mistakes and "mixing things up." That's the kind of excuse you bring up when you bring your science homework to your literature class in 6th grade. Not when you're running a major contest.

If you're so overwhelmed that you may be "mixing things up" then enlist a little bit more help. It's really not that difficult. Just as Niotex who runs THREE different contests each year without ANY of these problems.
I really hate restating myself due to people not reading posts. Yes this contest is a big one, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. Either man up, ask for some help, or step down.
The choices aren't that hard.

Actually Michael does plan on getting help, this was noted in the AX thread the other day so it's not something he hasn't looked at. He really isn't the one that's doing the judging, but I was hoping that it would be a miss counted entry or something. I won't distress on your opinion about that though. But let's not make comparisons to other people, the contest itself is big enough as it and the man had to deal with 3 tubs of entries.
I know Niotex probably does a great job of running each contest and I'm sure many others have. But remember this on top of Michael's local job, AX AV duties (which are big now) and of course his personal life. This is not some local convention were talking about here. I'm not trying to create a excuse here but I don't think the results are a issue with Michael as opposed to judging since last year fared somewhat similar results with entries. I won't argue with you on your opinion with the judging but it seems now that it's been becoming a larger issue issue. I'm sure we can all agree that we'd slit our own throats if we saw another video like Death Note Rhapsody winning Best of Show for a comedy video in drama. I was hoping that the entries would have been mixed up rather then deciding that a sub-par entry (no offense to the editor) would make it into a contest of such caliber, it's just something I did not want to believe and hoped it was a mistake.

[Radical_Yue]

If he's got too much on his plate then why not ask for a little bit of help from those who know what they're doing?
Once again, on a technical aspect, the contest was run flawlessly.
I'm complaining about the entries here. I've got no doubt in my mind that he can make sure that everything runs smoothly AT the contest...but when it comes to the judging, it doesn't hurt to out source. I know that 808-Buma actually sends the finalist entries to people on the Org such as Mamo! to help with judging for his AMV contest Kawaii-Kon.
If you're in over your head, asking for help from those who are up to date on current anime and technical knowledge would only be an intelligent thing to do. Also, this Person video isn't the first. Re-read the damn thread. The creator did LAST YEAR with Blue Orchid and another video THIS YEAR Duvet.

I mainly got angry due to your comment about mistakes and "mixing things up." That's the kind of excuse you bring up when you bring your science homework to your literature class in 6th grade. Not when you're running a major contest.

If you're so overwhelmed that you may be "mixing things up" then enlist a little bit more help. It's really not that difficult. Just as Niotex who runs THREE different contests each year without ANY of these problems.
I really hate restating myself due to people not reading posts. Yes this contest is a big one, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. Either man up, ask for some help, or step down.
The choices aren't that hard.

Actually Michael does plan on getting help, this was noted in the AX thread the other day so it's not something he hasn't looked at. He really isn't the one that's doing the judging, but I was hoping that it would be a miss counted entry or something. I won't distress on your opinion about that though. But let's not make comparisons to other people, the contest itself is big enough as it and the man had to deal with 3 tubs of entries.
I know Niotex probably does a great job of running each contest and I'm sure many others have. But remember this on top of Michael's local job, AX AV duties (which are big now) and of course his personal life. This is not some local convention were talking about here. I'm not trying to create a excuse here but I don't think the results are a issue with Michael as opposed to judging since last year fared somewhat similar results with entries. I won't argue with you on your opinion with the judging but it seems now that it's been becoming a larger issue issue. I'm sure we can all agree that we'd slit our own throats if we saw another video like Death Note Rhapsody winning Best of Show for a comedy video in drama. I was hoping that the entries would have been mixed up rather then deciding that a sub-par entry (no offense to the editor) would make it into a contest of such caliber, it's just something I did not want to believe and hoped it was a mistake.

When I was bringing up Niotex, I wasn't talking about small local cons :/ More like some of the bigger cons in Europe.
And "the other day" is waaaaaay too late to say "Hmm...I think I need a bit of help deciding whether these entries or piss or whether they're actually excellent but I just don't have the time to actually watch them to find this out."
That should have been decided LAST YEAR if all else.

Too little. Too late.

And you can keep hoping that it's a mistake with all your might till you eventually float off the ground due to being so full of hope and rainbows, but letting this slide 3 times is careless. 4 if you count that atrocious Death Note video from last year. Nothing more than that. Not just for Michael but for ALL involved in the judging. Once again, these are some of the worst entries in a contest I've ever seen. This year and last year.

How are videos like This and this not let into the contest where videos that are as creative as dog shit make it in?
Oh nooo! The second entry has DBZ!!! Taboo! But wait..it has better editing and more heart and soul put into that more than half the videos in this contest combined :/
Take a few minutes to watch it and even a blind moron could see that.

Something needs to be done. Not be thought about after you already have a crap list of finalists, but before you even announce a contest. Even if you have a lot on your plate, it takes less than 5 minutes to send out messages to a few editors saying "Hey, I need some help with these contest entries. I've got a lot of entries to watch with not a lot of time. Mind helping out pal?"

[milkmandan]

If he's got too much on his plate then why not ask for a little bit of help from those who know what they're doing?
Once again, on a technical aspect, the contest was run flawlessly.

Ryvannis has a point, but i can definitely see where you are coming from. However, with the situation Anime Expo is in, and the staffing situation, this year was difficult to get additional help, as everything is volunteered based and not many people wanna work for free. If anything, you should offer your help Yue. You have a good eye for things.

Not to worry though, as the convention stabilizes from the 'drama' that surrounds it, naturally things will get better. If anything, Michael is the man to trust to get things running the best of the best.