ACEN Results anybody?

[1stAgent]

Speaking as the winner of the 'They all sucked but I guess we have to call one of these pieces of crap the winner' award I'd just like to give a tip for anyone considering next year.

The saddest part is that I had to look at your profile to see which category you meant.

The problem with the Theme category was that the Theme absolutely sucked. People hear Movies/Stolen Scenes and immediately think Trailers. Even if last year's Broadway theme didn't get many submissions, at least we know there are good videos out there to Broadway musicals. Anything Movie related is just inviting the crap.

I'll oblige dokidoki and admit that I'm probably stating the obvious here (although he probably represents one of the few exceptions): The fundamental problem with Comedy videos is that they're either AMV Hell Jr- a poorly organized mish-mash of punchlines, or a single funny concept stretched out over four minutes. My Comedy submission last year would be guilty of the latter if it was any longer than 2.5 minutes. Now, even as recently as Otakon '04, I remember some good comedy entries (and I remember being pissed that AMV Hell 1 beat them), and even ACen '05 had a couple enjoyable entries. But these days, how many editors can consistently produce comedy videos that sustain the laughs for four minutes? I'll put the over/under at three... then take the under.

Point is, the odds of getting five good Comedy submissions in a contest are next to nothing. My question is this: why does this category still exist?

The five traditional categories create a big, gaping hole in the typical convention format. Romance and Action are self-explanatory and you know when a video fits there. Drama is reserved for pure angst. Dance/Upbeat is reserved for an After Effects parade like that stupid Dual video that won it this year. Videos that are simply out to be whimsical and entertaining, without being LOL funny, are totally lost in the mix. My Kino's Journey video was totally out of place in Drama this year, but I submitted it there because it wasn't at all meant to generate laughs, used action only as a plot point, and I didn't dare submit it to Upbeat because I knew something like that stupid Dual video would win. There are a lot of decent videos that simply try to make people smile rather than laugh or cry. The Org has categories like Fun and Character Profile, and I really think conventions should start to follow suit instead of simply forfeiting awards to half-assed "comedies."

[Kisanzi]

Dance/Upbeat is reserved for an After Effects parade like that stupid Dual video that won it this year.

Awwww that's harsh...I didn't even use after effects in that vid...

*is crushed*

:O

[Brad]

Dance/Upbeat is reserved for an After Effects parade like that stupid Dual video that won it this year.

Awwww that's harsh...I didn't even use after effects in that vid...

*is crushed*

:O

Shut up kiSANZI. Your video had effects, therefore you obviously used After Effects, thus making your video STUPID. You big stupid head. Go make more stupid videos you stupid head!............... Head!!!

[1stAgent]

Dance/Upbeat is reserved for an After Effects parade like that stupid Dual video that won it this year.

Awwww that's harsh...I didn't even use after effects in that vid...

*is crushed*

:O

Sorry. That was unfair. I downloaded the video and caught a few things that I missed before. I left you an op explaining my thoughts in more detail.

[Brad]

Dance/Upbeat is reserved for an After Effects parade like that stupid Dual video that won it this year.

Awwww that's harsh...I didn't even use after effects in that vid...

*is crushed*

:O

Sorry. That was unfair. I downloaded the video and caught a few things that I missed before. I left you an op explaining my thoughts in more detail.

Did you let him know how stupid it was? And how stupid he was for making it? Because you should let him know again.

[Ezmereth Moriquendi]

please don't flame the competitors...
btw, i also would like a list of videos that played.
kisanzi, your video was good. i don't know how you made it. if you say you didn't use after effects, i guess i believe you. ^_^' you beat me, and your video was better than mine. i didn't get to see the contest, so i don't know if mine played. but, if you're curious and it was in fact screened, my entry was "Valentine" (http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... p?v=109319).

[outlawed]

btw, i also would like a list of videos that played.

I posted the entry data on may 10th (back on page 2).

Here is the link again for quick access.
http://mysite.verizon.net/outlawedprod/ ... public.htm

There is no record of you submitting to us. There are two possibilities:
1) I did not receive it
2) Your entry was #36 (did not supply a submission form)

[outlawed]

Anything Movie related is just inviting the crap.

I beg to differ. I have a seen a good number of good movie related AMV work. This category also did not have to use movies. I will agree that from the staff perspective I think we could have done a better job of explaining this year's theme in our documentation.

My question is this: why does this category still exist?

Most conventions are not AMV creator centric. The comedy category exists to entertain the audience. The AMV contest screenings at conventions exist to entertain the audience not to the satisfy the creators. The reality is the audience does not care about 99% of the drama entries shown especially if they are trying to make some "artistic statement." The people just want to be entertained. Creators give a little and the audience gives a little. The end result is we meet both ways. If folks feel so strongly about weak comedy entries my advice to you is do something about it. That is exactly why the comedy category isn't removed. Eventually people will get back on the ball.

The five traditional categories create a big, gaping hole in the typical convention format. Romance and Action are self-explanatory and you know when a video fits there.

It's interesting actually how Romance is now considered a traditional category. It used to be just drama, action, comedy. A lot of contests actually just used to be audience vote and the top 3 were given awards; no categorization at all.

Drama is reserved for pure angst.

The reason a lot of boring drama videos are made is because people approach with this mindset.

Dance/Upbeat is reserved for an After Effects parade like that stupid Dual video that won it this year.

This type of reponse is pretty much taken as jealousy especially because of the manner you present it in. From my personal experiences as a competitor I date from a slightly different time so if this thread would have some creators at each other's throats because of who won what it wouldn't be something that would phase me. This is obviously not at that level. One common difference between those few years ago and today is that people used to talk smack and bust people's chops over certain videos winning back then a lot (often this seemed a result due to audience based award systems). In those cases the the person making the comments was often a perrenial winner and would point out weaknesses in a video (sometimes tear it to pieces which you can imagine can really be rough to the person who won especially if they dont' have a thick skin). My advice is that if you are going to cite a video as an example of being a problem then you need to objectively break it down. Ask yourself if this video you dislike is nothing but some random matting and transparency work or if this style of video is just unappealing to you personally.

My Kino's Journey video was totally out of place in Drama this year, but I submitted it there because it wasn't at all meant to generate laughs, used action only as a plot point, and I didn't dare submit it to Upbeat because I knew something like that stupid Dual video would win.

So in your own opinion you miscategorized it in the hopes it would have a better chance of winning? Does this not prove that the categories are not necessarily cut and dry? Give me a distinct category it falls into that we did not offer. I'm not sure where I would put it other than drama. It's interesting you would consider upbeat for it when you put a scene of someone being stabbed with a knife.

There are a lot of decent videos that simply try to make people smile rather than laugh or cry. The Org has categories like Fun and Character Profile, and I really think conventions should start to follow suit instead of simply forfeiting awards to half-assed "comedies."

I would like to offer more diverse options to all the creators but fun is far too vague and is a pretty weak qualitative manner of categorizing videos. Example: I made a hentai video that was fun, I made a comedy video that was fun, I made a trance video that was fun, I made an action video that was fun, I made a heartwarming drama video that was fun to watch. It's a superset qualifier as opposed to a subset.

Character profile is something I have considered as an additional category but I am hesitant because a lot of people do a poor job with this format and the entertainment value to the audience can be hit or miss. We usually end up with them in action or drama anyway so as far as a submissions aspect it's not something that necessarily hurts us. Would it provide creators with another award category? Yes. Is there a better one we could add? I'm working on it.

[Brad]

please don't flame the competitors...

Just to make everything clear, I was sarcastically mocking 1stAgent's comment towards Kisanzi since, his video was in fact very good and it seemed like his reasoning for calling it "stupid" was in fact..... stupid.

[ngsilver]

Just to make everything clear, I was sarcastically mocking 1stAgent's comment towards Kisanzi since, his video was in fact very good and it seemed like his reasoning for calling it "stupid" was in fact..... stupid.

was I one of the few that picked up on that..?