http://www.animesushi.com/smf/index.php?topic=3930.0
I responded to a similar thought over at the AS forums, but let me copy/paste what I mentioned in that post over here:meleechampion wrote:I really hope they consider making the contest shorter next year (however they do it) because I'm not ready to give up on MegaCon yet.
"Now, as far as the length of the show, which has drawn a number of comments... the "pre-show" show with non-entry videos was about an hour (though we only saw about 7 videos), the contest itself was 2.5 hours and the awards presentation took about half an hour... so, if you were there for the WHOLE thing it was a 4 hour block. I realize this is a beastly amount of time to spend on one event, but I do want to make a quick point...
I limited the entries to a single entry per person this year because I wanted to minimize the need for me to select which of the videos would be entered into the contest, something I have willingly done in the past but have found to be very time consuming. I figured, as did a number of other people including those from Anime Sushi involved with the physical room scheduling and allotment, that there was NO way in h-e-double-hockeysticks that we would get 41 entries that would qualify to be part of the show. Thus, I didn't name a limit to entry numbers in the interest of having some flexibility. I also did not know the raw number of videos until about a week before the convention (I got about 10 or 15 entries in the last two days of the contest, and this was WELL after the con-guide went to press).
I've been considering from then until now, after the event has happened, what can be done to rectify the situation and have come to a number of conclusions. The first is that I am not willing to simply disqualify videos from being displayed based on their perceived quality. We've all been beginners at this at once, and I can't see myself being able to bring the axe down on someone's spirited first effort simply because of a few newbie mistakes. So, disqualifying based on ability is out of the question. Another option is moving to a "tiered" system. In other words, much like AWA has, I am likely to take the contest into a segmented presentation. First will come "non-contest" entries (an Exhibition open to anyone, not judged), a "Novice" contest section for first timers and those that want to compete with others newer to AMV editing, and a "Competition" section for those who have a serious desire to test their mettle against the best-of-the-best as far as our contest goes. My hope is that this will allow visitors to pick and choose which part they are interested in seeing without the need to stay for ALL of the parts of the event.
I also will probably add a note in our rules for next year that "Linkin Park/NuMetal Bands to Action Martial Arts Anime (DBZ, Naruto, etc.)" videos are HIGHLY discouraged for the "Competition" section. Frankly the idea has been done to DEATH and I've not seen an original take on the concept in a REALLY long time. I can understand the beginners dropping that as their first idea maybe because they have not experienced what is out there (hell, my first AMV was Princess Mononoke to Atari Teenage Riot's "Deutcheland Has Gotta Die")... but in competition I'm going to expect original ideas that have been planned and executed to a level that the editor feels is worthy of serious consideration and exploration by an audience... in other words, their BEST work."
(x-posted from: http://www.animesushi.com/smf/index.php?topic=3932.0 )
