Otakon 2005 Finalists (unofficial)

[Ashyukun]

Meh, I don't think this list of finalists are "messed up", I'm sure the videos that made are are very very excellent. Heck, even better, the AMV Contest this year should be amazing for the audience.

Though I do share your concern about the actual scores of some videos.

::waits for Antonio's official response::

~Seen

That's probably wise- I'm not going to be considering anything set until we hear it officially from Antonio. As Trythil pointed out, it would not be the first time there has been miscommunication about the finalists. There are several videos that I'm surprised to not see in the contest as well, but (having been at one of the pre-screenings) there were a number of very good videos in many of the categories.

I somewhat doubt that we'll see the full voting results, though- the full voting results for all of the videos is something that has never before (to the best of my knowledge) been posted publicly- generally the editors have only been able to request their own scores from the screenings as well as the comments that were given on their videos. Other than that, only the compiled overall statistical information on the pre-screenings as a whole (mean, std. dev., # of votes, etc.) have been made available. This was (as I understand it) done so that there would not be any harassment/teasing/insulting of anyone because of the scores they got. Granted, that was how things were done in the past and there is no guarantee that they will continue to be handled this way since we essentially have all new people running the contest this year, so you never know.

[ANTDrakko]

I agree with you Ash and I actually am starting to agree with Jbone on that subject too a little bit.

Methinks the AMV Dinner Thursday is going to have some interesting conversations

~Seen

[Cyanna]

Was it YOUR "Waka Laka" video or Cyanna's "F L C AL" video that made the list? I was surprised when I saw Cyanna's name and thought to myself, "Hey, where's Waka Laka by Scintilla?"

I'm really excited to make it and even more dissappointed that I won't be there. But out of all the possible outcomes that could have happened with our entries, this is probably the last one I was expecting. I really was looking forward to competing with him in the same catagory for the first time because I figured if I made it into the finals, he'd be a shoe-in.

So yeah...chalk up another one scratching their head.

But I'll keep my fingers crossed.

[Ashyukun]

I agree with you Ash and I actually am starting to agree with Jbone on that subject too a little bit.

While a bit more blunt than I would have put it, jbone's point is not entirely off-base from my experience. Videos that are more 'popular', use more popular songs/shows, use flashier effects do have a tenancy to both make the contest with higher regularity and win more when the decision is left up to an audience. In part I believe this is why having both screenings that are more editor-centric (KoP, Chicago) as well as more public-centric (UMD) keeps the decision process for Otakon's contest balanced well. I'm not forgetting NYC- but I think it falls somewhere in the middle from my experience there last year

The contest is ultimately for the attendees of the convention, so it's important to have videos that they will enjoy, so having the popular input of the UMD attendees (I realize there are editors who attend the UMD screenings as well, but it's my understanding they are in the minority) is important, while the screenings with more editors generally will be less swayed by popular shows and music and focus more on the technical and artistic merits of the videos. We also are more, let's face it, anal when it comes to the quality of the source and encoding, and realize that a video with considerable interlacing problems, macroblocking, or the likes will tend to look 10x worse on 2-story high screens than on the TVs we usually pre-screen on and score accordingly.

I am personally hoping that there are some changes between the initial list released and the final- like DW I am rather surprised neither of the Canadian Wonder Twins' (the Fremmerlid sisters) videos made the final cut, because they were not only extremely well edited and had beautiful source, they were also videos I would have expected to score well in an audience vote. I'm also surprised to not see Waka Laka in there- honestly it was the video I figured stood the best chance of winning Upbeat.

[ANTDrakko]

While a bit more blunt than I would have put it

Heh, thats what Jbone is always good for; a blunt representation

I am personally hoping that there are some changes between the initial list released and the final- like DW I am rather surprised neither of the Canadian Wonder Twins' (the Fremmerlid sisters) videos made the final cut, because they were not only extremely well edited and had beautiful source, they were also videos I would have expected to score well in an audience vote. I'm also surprised to not see Waka Laka in there- honestly it was the video I figured stood the best chance of winning Upbeat.

Agreed. Shackled and Phenomenon are definately two of my favorite videos for many reasons (and I usually *hate* Naruto videos). Thing is, exactly how close is Antonio going to cut it to the convention before any "mistakes" are corrected, if any?

Meh, I'm debating whether I should burn a compilation of a few of my videos to hand out, though, I was kind of hoping that being in the finals would actually make people interested in getting a CD.

Oh well, back to being a No-Name ^_^.

::Puts on his anti-radar armor. +5 to his "under the radar" ability::

~Seen

[Ashyukun]

Meh, I'm debating whether I should burn a compilation of a few of my videos to hand out, though, I was kind of hoping that being in the finals would actually make people interested in getting a CD.

There is usually a massive 'feeding frenzy' of people picking up CDs that the editors put out for the attendees of the AMV Panel(s) at the end of them (I can't remember if you've been to one before, my apologies if you already know this ), so the odds are if you bring CDs they will get picked up. Hell, if there are any left over you can just do what I've done at several conventions- finding a convenient empty table and putting them out with a sheet of paper that says, "Free AMV CDs!"

[dwchang]

I am personally hoping that there are some changes between the initial list released and the final- like DW I am rather surprised neither of the Canadian Wonder Twins' (the Fremmerlid sisters) videos made the final cut, because they were not only extremely well edited and had beautiful source, they were also videos I would have expected to score well in an audience vote. I'm also surprised to not see Waka Laka in there- honestly it was the video I figured stood the best chance of winning Upbeat.

Must. Restrain. Myself. From. Posting. What. I. Thought. Would. Be. The. Finalists.

[ANTDrakko]

There is usually a massive 'feeding frenzy' of people picking up CDs that the editors put out for the attendees of the AMV Panel(s) at the end of them (I can't remember if you've been to one before, my apologies if you already know this ), so the odds are if you bring CDs they will get picked up. Hell, if there are any left over you can just do what I've done at several conventions- finding a convenient empty table and putting them out with a sheet of paper that says, "Free AMV CDs!"

Yeah, I've been to a few. I made about 50+ CDs for Connecticon this year that I ran the AMV Exhibition for and was mobbed by people the first night I announced I had CDs.

I know people will take'em, but being in the finals is *priceless* for getting your name out there. Most people take the CDs, less people watch the videos, even less actually remember the artist

Anywho, back on topic. Anyone want to take bets whether this is the Final list? I'm thinking that it is

~Seen

[Scintilla]

Meh, I'm debating whether I should burn a compilation of a few of my videos to hand out, though, I was kind of hoping that being in the finals would actually make people interested in getting a CD.

There is usually a massive 'feeding frenzy' of people picking up CDs that the editors put out for the attendees of the AMV Panel(s) at the end of them (I can't remember if you've been to one before, my apologies if you already know this ), so the odds are if you bring CDs they will get picked up. Hell, if there are any left over you can just do what I've done at several conventions- finding a convenient empty table and putting them out with a sheet of paper that says, "Free AMV CDs!"

For Otakon 2004 I burned 50 CDs containing all my and Cyanna's videos from our first year of ediitng (which was up to that point); IIRC, I got rid of a lot of them at the panel, but still had a bunch I had to try to dump on random people later.

But the files on those CDs were all easily available online as well.

The Org's local servers making downloads as easy as they do, I wonder if it wouldn't make more sense for us to not make any more such CDs until such time as we've got enough material to fill a whole DVD -- and <i>then</i> you've got something to talk about.

[Kusoyaro]

What I find odd is that AX managed to whittle down its finalist list in a single weekend (at least, that's what it seemed like to me), and the list had very little controversy. Otakon, on the other hand, takes nearly 3 months to pare down its list, and when the list finally comes out, it's apparently so out of wack that everyone questions whether or not it's actually real.

(this comment only applies to this year, btw)