Ushicon4, January 2005

Driftpeasant · Post by **Driftpeasant** » Sat Jul 17, 2004 3:00 pm

Machine wrote: I've tried talking to the Ushicon heads but nothing ever seems to sink in with those guys.

They already have it out for me for the Ushicon 1 doc -_-.

And they stick us in the smallest room possible for out Advanced AMV panels.

I've given up on them.

Uh... you DO realize I'm one of the heads, right?

That being said, it seems you'd like to do an AMV panel, probably one on advanced techniques. Room size aside, would you still want to do one?

And as for the competition thing... It's a con philosophy issue. That being said... convince me. Explain to me WHY a contest is better than a showcase. Give me ammo to defend you, and I'll try. But from where I sit, as a non creator and as a first year staff head, the showcase we have is looking pretty good. I'd like to make it better, which is why I post here and ask for suggestions, but I've yet to hear a clearcut reason that Ushicon NEEDS an AMV competition. Tell me why and I'll see what I can do, but until then, don't give up on us.

Especially you, Machine. This is your local con. We're the home team. We're the good guys here, or we're trying to be. Give me constructive comments/criticism, not complaints, and I'll try to resolve them. The con isn't next week; it's 6 months from now. We have time to fix things. Sure, we're not gonna be AWA, and we don't want to be, but we do want to be a more fully fleshed con. And that means making the AMVs a bigger part of it.

As it stands, I'm seriously trying to push the idea of an HMV contest, because I've not heard of one, and I think they're hilarious (a girl with pretty eyes: The Animation aside). But if there's more you'd like to see, tell us and we'll go for it.

--Chase

Machine · Post by **Machine** » Sat Jul 17, 2004 4:01 pm

Don't forget HypeOdermic Studios, its also their home con.
Here are some Pros and Cons of both a competition and showcase.

AMV Compeititon:

PROs
-------
1. Higher goals are set with the editor because he/she will wants to be remembered for an AMV that wowed and won an audience over.

2. It promotes better entries because instead of jsut being shown, editors know that their AMVs will be going head to head, thus, the editor will want to make a great video to full distinguish himself/herself.

3. At times, ambition is good for the editor. The want to win an award will prompt determination in the editor to full learn, explore, and create AMVs with a higher knowledge of both a technical and artist aspect.

4. Contests also recognize talent within our community.

5. It rewards AMVs that are well made and encourages people to make more of them and there by they keep making good stuff.

CONs
-------------
1. Not everyone makes it into the finals. Your video may not be played.

2. Your video may not win, no matter how hard you worked on it.

3. Editors may not agree with all of the decisions made by the judges about the winning videos and why they were picked.

These are all normal things that happen with any type of contest.

AMV Showcase:

PROs
-----------
1. Everyone will have at least 1 video shown regardless of talent, quality. etc etc.

2. NO competition means no one can really gloat and say I'm better than you (well, there is less of it anyway).

CONs
---------------
1. Higher goals are not set by the editors in creating better works because they are not competitng and hence ambition and determination are lost.

2. Everyone sends in a video regardless of it being a showcase but that doesn't mean everyone gets shown. Everything usually does have a time limit unless you have a room that plays AMVs 24hrs during the convention.

3. Because some people get cut due to time, it defeats the purpose of a showcase since not every video is played.

This is why Ushicon needs a contest! AND A DAMN GOOD ONE!

I'm not asking for Ushicon to become AWA or anything. But as far as I know, TEXAS itself has no good AMV contests (the people who run them and the level of entries received). The only Texas CON that is known for its AMV competition is AKON and its known for not being to great of a contest to begin with ( I don't mean any disrespect at all to the AKON staff if they read this. This is coming from someone who has won at the AKON Contest 2 years in a row ).

This of course is from my own observation throughout the last 3 years of me attending Texas CONs.

If am wrong about anything in anyway, please let me know. I'm willing to change my opinion on this if presented with a good reason.

badmartialarts · Post by **badmartialarts** » Sat Jul 17, 2004 4:05 pm

Hrm...I'll try.

Competition is the generator of content.

How's that?

Let me go into a long-winded explanation. Through competition, we excel. This is a primary foundation of our capitalist pig-dog state.

When there is a goal (even just a simple "Best Non-Nude Application of Hentai Footage" award, or something equally as strange, to be more inclusive to less-abled creator...such as myself), then people will work towards that goal, generating better and better iterations until the goal is met. You know, like a goal-seking neural net. (I know the people in charge of Ushicon are geeks who'll like that comparison). The rewards don't have to be fancy. Even verbal awards are nice, but the point is it has to be real, in some way. Just the cheers of the crowd are nice, but what's even better is that announcement at the end: "And the Most Valuable Use of a Nu-Metal Angst Song goes to...." That makes people want to truly do their best. Now, however, we hit the wall that the con heads are probably worried about: the younger creators who can't afford the software, the source, etc., and who still want to be recognized. An award for everyone cheapens the competitive spirit. So, there will be the winners.......and the losers. But loss is a necessary part of life. Why should Ushicon feel it has the duty to hide this fact? Even in a showcase without awards, some videos aren't going to get applauded. Some might even get jeered and heckled. So, why not take this measure a step further, and truly seperate the winners and 'non-winners' (to be fair). The 'non-winners' will either stop making AMVs, or, they will strive to improve their creations. Either way, the talent pool will only grow, leading to better and better videos and a better and better show, drawing more and more people, who would only be happy to hit the dealer rooms (oooh, profit margin!)

So, the arguments AGAINST a competition:
1) It makes people feel bad.

LIFE makes people feel bad.

2) It lowers the number of videos shown, due to people feeling their videos won't be 'competitive.'

Perhaps. But the videos that DO get sent will thusly be of higher quality. Ask yourself, do you want to sit through 10 bad videos, or 6 okay videos with one of those being stellar? Besides, one way of boosting video entrants is through judicious use of 'booby-prize' awards. Not so many that it cheapens the awards, but enough for newer creators to feel they have a shot winning "Best Use of Black Flashes" or something.

That's the only two reasons I see...however, in favor reasoning:

1) Promotes high-quality videos.
2) Generates 'buzz' about the convention among the AMV community (thus bringing in creators and their groupies), increasing participation in the 'con in general (profits!)
3) Gives a more satisfactory con experience to those who choose to sit in the AMV room, thus increasing their desire to return next year, with more cash for the dealer room (profits!)

Capitalism is fun.

badmartialarts · Post by **badmartialarts** » Sat Jul 17, 2004 4:06 pm

Dangit Machine, you type too fast.

mexicanjunior · Post by **mexicanjunior** » Sat Jul 17, 2004 7:02 pm

Driftpeasant wrote:
Machine wrote:
As it stands, I'm seriously trying to push the idea of an HMV contest, because I've not heard of one, and I think they're hilarious (a girl with pretty eyes: The Animation aside).

--Chase

Ouch...

Driftpeasant · Post by **Driftpeasant** » Sat Jul 17, 2004 9:36 pm

mexicanjunior wrote:
Driftpeasant wrote:
As it stands, I'm seriously trying to push the idea of an HMV contest, because I've not heard of one, and I think they're hilarious (a girl with pretty eyes: The Animation aside).

--Chase
Ouch...

Hey hey now. I love your work. Truly. I'm just a bit... ah... how shall I say this... scataolgically disadvantaged. We'll run it at our Hentaifest, I promise. I just may have to look the other way, you know?

Sorry if I offended.

Machine · Post by **Machine** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 10:08 pm

SO Drift?

Are you convinced or what man?

dwchang · Post by **dwchang** » Tue Jul 20, 2004 1:38 am

I am actually with Ushicon's "philosophy" on this one (and yes I'm a "local" as well). I like the idea of a con where there's no competitive nature and we as editors can just showcase our works without any of the negative aspects a contest brings.

There are plenty of contests across the nation, but very few showcases. Why change yourself and the "image" your con portrays. I like the idea that at Ushicon there are *no* contests. It's just a celebration of a hobby all of us enjoy together.

Sure they may get "lower quality" videos, but who cares. The point is to have fun, not for "the best of the best to go head to head." As I said earlier, there are literally 100+ contests where you can do that. There's no other non-competitive showcases that I know of.

Machine wrote:1. Higher goals are set with the editor because he/she will wants to be remembered for an AMV that wowed and won an audience over.

You can still "Wow" the audience without needing the motivation of an award. I mean they'll still be "wowed" and impressed regardless of if a video wins an award. To the fans/viewers, they could care less what videos wins so long as they were entertained.

Machine wrote:2. It promotes better entries because instead of jsut being shown, editors know that their AMVs will be going head to head, thus, the editor will want to make a great video to full distinguish himself/herself.

Maybe I have a different work eithic, but I make my videos all the same regardless of it's for Contest X vs. Contest Y or Showcase A.

At the same time, no offense, but I don't think I've ever seen you make something "unique" and "just for Ushicon." Then again, perhaps the motivation you need is a contest (which is what you are arguing).

Machine wrote:5. It rewards AMVs that are well made and encourages people to make more of them and there by they keep making good stuff.

I know I don't speak for every editor that submits to Ushicon, but the mentality *seesm to be* "I'm just happy my video was shown." I seem to recall a similar comment from a creator reply to this very thread on the first page.

As I said earlier, Ushicon focuses on "different things" than other cons and to make a contest would somewhat be against those things. I, again, like the idea of a showcase that lets just about anyone show *something*.

Machine wrote:2. Everyone sends in a video regardless of it being a showcase but that doesn't mean everyone gets shown. Everything usually does have a time limit unless you have a room that plays AMVs 24hrs during the convention.

3. Because some people get cut due to time, it defeats the purpose of a showcase since not every video is played.

I think these two points are good. He's right in that having a showcase and then not showing every video is a bit hypocritical. I suggest perhaps having an "overflow" screening room (similar to Otakon) where you *can* show every video. Sure every video may not be shown in the "X hours allotted," but at least there is the opportunity for it to be shown at one point during the con.

To add to that, I strongly suggest you include some "tentative schedule" so creators can at least get a relative idea when their video might be shown. It would suck to have an 8 hour overflow showcase and be the last video or something.

In any case, although I concede that most Texas AMV contests are fairly poorly run, I don't think that's sufficient reason for Ushicon to "change their image." I again, like the idea of a showcase where "everyone wins" (and yes that means every video should be shown at one point) and there's no "competition" or "bad feelings." I was under the impression that was what Ushicon was about and to do anything otherwise seems a bit hypocritical.

Just my two cents...

Driftpeasant · Post by **Driftpeasant** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 1:14 am

I think everyone is right in this instance. There are compelling reasons to run an AMV contest. There are some equally compelling ones to keep it a showcase.

So one last question: of those of you who are/might submit videos, will the existence of a contest or showcase change your entries in any way? Will you submit/not submit/create new/submit old depending on which one it is?

And for those of you who are on the contest side, do you submit to A-Kon any more or less because it's fairly poorly run?

mexicanjunior · Post by **mexicanjunior** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 1:39 am

Driftpeasant wrote: So one last question: of those of you who are/might submit videos, will the existence of a contest or showcase change your entries in any way?

I probably would only submit what I've already made.