TheAX AMV Contest 2009 Finalists are...

[machina21]

NO LOVE FOR r0b07$?? *cries*

Its because ya'll AMV done killed all the humans and what little humans remained were inspired by Vlad's vid to fight against the robots...


...and Macs

[Rider4Z]

But none of this matters because we can all agree "We Need You" was awesome

NO LOVE FOR r0b07$?? *cries*

how can i give it love when you insist on keeping us separated!?!

[milkmandan]

Its because ya'll AMV done killed all the humans and what little humans remained were inspired by Vlad's vid to fight against the robots...
...and Macs

BUT there is no more unethical treatment of the elephants!
vlad killed totoro!

[Manganate]

Ok, as for Manganate...you're fucking retarded and I'm not even going to reply to your long ass post :/

Guess I should've expected this from someone who would rather dismiss videos offhand because of an aspect ratio problem than pay attention and watch.

Too much to ask that you read as well huh? So what's your answer? Laziness AND arrogance both?

I've already said that the contest itself was fine, meaning that the staff pulled it off without a hitch, my gripe was with the quality of the videos that were entered.
Is it wrong to ask for action videos with ACTION in them?
And as for the rest, like I said, I'm not even going to reply.

And like I said, I have no problem with WHAT you wanted to say just HOW you said it.

Don't be so ignorant as to think you actually made a rationalized point when you didn't. That's being an arrogant bitch and so far you've done nothing to change that perception.

I'm not saying that my opinion is the best or only one around. I'm giving my views and personal opinions of the contest. As for the videos I picked out to talk about, they were the least forgettable that I could actually make examples of :/

Again, if you even bothered reading at all, I have no problems with people giving their views and opinions. Only when they make them along with attacks that aren't backed up by any reasoning do I drop the hammer.

But damn it, if you don't like my opinion, than ignore it and stop raging :/

lol, raging. That's a good one. What are you 12? I have no problems with your opinions. If you bothered reading my post you'd have seen as much. I even agreed with some of your opinions, it's your attitude that was shitty and still is.

And machina21, I'm sorry, I didn't like your entry. You can't please everyone and the fact that it wasn't really an action video in an action category didn't help it for me. Sorry sweetie, you'll just have to learn to take the hate with the love in this world.

Take some of your own advice kid, it's easy to respond to a message and look stupid when you haven't even read it.

[Minimoto]

Its because ya'll AMV done killed all the humans and what little humans remained were inspired by Vlad's vid to fight against the robots...
...and Macs

BUT there is no more unethical treatment of the elephants!
vlad killed totoro!

He died in all our hearts when we grew up.

[Pwolf]

Ok, as for Manganate...you're fucking retarded and I'm not even going to reply to your long ass post :/

Guess I should've expected this from someone who would rather dismiss videos offhand because of an aspect ratio problem than pay attention and watch.

A video in an AMV contest should be technically sound as well as well edited. Since AMV contests don't have awards for the technical stuff, one should expect that the pre-judging would weed out the videos that don't meet a certain standard. The fact that the AMV coordinator(s) allowed videos with obvious technical and editing errors tells me that they do not care about the standards or the presentation of the video. It's part of the editing process and should not be overlooked. An AMV contest of Anime Expo's caliber should be top notch. It's one of the biggest contests in terms of audience size and it's embarrassing to think that they would allow these errors. I havn't entered a video into AX for a few years because I didn't like how it was run. I had hope for the new coordinator but now I don't know.


Pwolf

[machina21]

BUT there is no more unethical treatment of the elephants!
vlad killed totoro!

Totoro eats elephants!

[milkmandan]

It's one of the biggest contests in terms of audience size and it's embarrassing to think that they would allow these errors. I havn't entered a video into AX for a few years because I didn't like how it was run.

Now if you are talking about Death Note Rhapsody, then yes i would agree with you. with obvious technical and/or editing sloppiness/errors.
but it seems you are just responding to Manganate's comment, if that is the case then you need to consider the following:
It may very well be that not many videos were submitted to that specific category...
With such a small selection sometimes, it may be difficult to chose one over the other.

For example:
I am running an AMV contest, i have 1 category only and I can only take 4 finalists. But i get 6 entries. 3 of them are AWESOME and perfect in all ways. 2 of them are crap in terms of concept and editing (bad sound, bad video quality subs, but correct Aspect Ratio), the last one is great concept, great sound, great video quality, wrong aspect ratio. I have to choose 4 to fill up the programming time. What do i do?
I would choose the great concept..great sound...great video one.

what manganate was trying to say was that Yue put technicality OVER concept. While both are equally important, a concept is always better to go with (first).
the amv "the internet is for porn" is a great example.. the aspect ratio is ALL MEssed up. but people still LOVE IT, none the less and it wins awards.
with limited selection sometimes, it is difficult to choose what deserves to be in as finalist.
----
AX has been going through many changes, ever since the swap of AMV coordinators, i would give AX more credit and more time before questioning the hope for this AMV contest.

I would love to see your videos at AX, pwolf. No matter how the contest is run, it would be fun to see your videos on the big screen in LA.

[MisterFurious]

I havn't entered a video into AX for a few years because I didn't like how it was run

And here is where you admit that you are part of the problem. I'm sure you're not the only AMV creator who became disillusioned with AX following the fiascos of the lost videos. However, by not entering, all prideful editors have opened the door for lesser editors to create crap and be rewarded with nominations and, in some cases, awards.

It's simple math. AX needs to pull 28 videos from a pool of all entries. If that pool is smaller because people aren't entering, then the quality suffers. It's not rocket science.

Stop complaining about the quality, step up to the plate, and submit kick-ass videos! The contest will be all the better for it.

[Pwolf]

Now if you are talking about Death Note Rhapsody, then yes i would agree with you. with obvious technical and/or editing sloppiness/errors.
but it seems you are just responding to Manganate's comment, if that is the case then you need to consider the following:
It may very well be that not many videos were submitted to that specific category...
With such a small selection sometimes, it may be difficult to chose one over the other.

I'm not talking about any one video specifically. I'm talking in general based on what I've read about the quality of the videos in the contest.

For example:
I am running an AMV contest, i have 1 category only and I can only take 4 finalists. But i get 6 entries. 3 of them are AWESOME and perfect in all ways. 2 of them are crap in terms of concept and editing (bad sound, bad video quality subs, but correct Aspect Ratio), the last one is great concept, great sound, great video quality, wrong aspect ratio. I have to choose 4 to fill up the programming time. What do i do?
I would choose the great concept..great sound...great video one.

Yes, true, but we are talking about multiple videos with problems and a general consensus that the majority of the videos sucked. Unless every video entered into the contest was horrible, i doubt that's a valid excuse. Don't get me wrong, I agree with what you are saying, I just have a hard time believing this is the case. My one and only win at AX was with a video with messed up AR (albeit not as noticeable). I have a hard time believing that the contest coordinator allowed these video because they were good while he imposes a strict time limit thus preventing videos that may be great and also present them selves very well (no technical errors).

what manganate was trying to say was that Yue put technicality OVER concept. While both are equally important, a concept is always better to go with (first).
the amv "the internet is for porn" is a great example.. the aspect ratio is ALL MEssed up. but people still LOVE IT, none the less and it wins awards.
with limited selection sometimes, it is difficult to choose what deserves to be in as finalist.

I know what he is saying and I disagree. I've been doing this for 9 1/2 years and I cannot watch a video without taking into consideration the technical challenges. If an editor doesn't fix the simple stuff, it makes them look lazy. There are situations where the editor might miss something but based on what i've read, the blatantly obvious errors should be fixed before the video is completed.

AX has been going through many changes, ever since the swap of AMV coordinators, i would give AX more credit and more time before questioning the hope for this AMV contest.

I would love to see your videos at AX, pwolf. No matter how the contest is run, it would be fun to see your videos on the big screen in LA.

I stopped sending to AX because I disagreed with the staff's decisions. I've waited the 2-3 years it's been with the new staff in hopes I would hear good things. Unfortunately I'm not hearing a lot of good coming out of it. Part of my rant here has to do with my overall frustration with how contest coordinators are managing their contests. It feels like they are getting lazy. We are basically allowing editors to disregard all the basics and fundamentals of video editing. You don't see Academy Awards winning movies shot in mini-dv and have blatant editing and audio mistakes. A video should be judged based on the quality of the editing and that includes the technical aspect, not wither or not the audience is going to get a laugh.

You would've seen one of my videos in the contest if the coordinator allowed it (30 seconds too long). Its a little disheartening to hear about a video who's editor is lazy about making it presentable can enter the contest while a video who's editor spends a great deal of time and effort into making his video look the best can't enter the video because it's 30 seconds too long (which means nothing about how well the video is).

And here is where you admit that you are part of the problem. I'm sure you're not the only AMV creator who became disillusioned with AX following the fiascos of the lost videos. However, by not entering, all prideful editors have opened the door for lesser editors to create crap and be rewarded with nominations and, in some cases, awards.

It's simple math. AX needs to pull 28 videos from a pool of all entries. If that pool is smaller because people aren't entering, then the quality suffers. It's not rocket science.

Stop complaining about the quality, step up to the plate, and submit kick-ass videos! The contest will be all the better for it.

Brad, I agree, but I didn't stop entering because they couldn't keep proper backups. I didn't agree with their decisions (wont go into it here). AX has always been one of the best contest i've enjoyed entering and it was hard to just stop.

And, I did step up to the plate and wanted to submit a "kick ass video". But the contest coordinator wouldn't allow it because it was too long, no exceptions. I waited half a year to submit the video and he wouldn't allow it. It's not my fault they don't want quality content.


Pwolf