AWA Professional Awards 2017 Category Selection

[Rider4Z]

Moderators. I realize ya'lready covered that but I had the same thought after seeing this image so I just wanted to reinforce the notion.

Now when you say "anonymous" do you mean everyone being given a random user name so people can see if the same person is continuously commenting or would each and every comment be completely blind?

- Sorry for going against my original grain but I like to assume I'm somewhere in the middle ground of this whole debacle, but having anonymous discussions isn't what I think everyone else considers "community". Community is about building relationships with people through conversation and discussion. If you don't know who you're talking to or is talking to you then it's like you didn't have a conversation with that person at all.


Also this thread has me like

Spoiler :

Phil don't leave us!

[EnQuatre]

In other news, I wish editors would use the same care with their microphones and voice codecs they do with their video compression. Oh, wait... I kept getting 500MB+ h264 encodes again this year...

As a newer editor who was a regular offender on this score until recently, the issue in my case was that I always exported in 1080p instead of 720p, so even though I was putting everything through Zarx264gui the files were still ending up larger.

Not sure how to solve the technical stuff in terms of submissions, but just want to point out that it's not uncommon for people not to know any better. This could be something that betas, moderated or otherwise, could help address though!

Best Action
Best video that excites you, and fills you with adrenaline.
Best Drama
Best video that captures and conveys heavily dramatic events, emotions, or situations.
Best Romance
Best video that portrays a romantic feeling or relationship in the most compelling way.
Best Upbeat
Best energy filled video that typically leaves an overall fun and good feeling with the viewer.
Best Video
Video that best demonstrates all characteristics that go into making an excellent anime music video.
Best Sentimental
Best video that explores sentimental themes like nostalgia, friendship, adventure, and wonder.
Best Comedy
Best video that made you laugh the hardest.
Best Technical
Video that showcased the highest level of proficiency and expertise in editing.
Best Storytelling
Best video that expresses a plot or narrative in the most compelling way.
Best Character Profile
Video that best portrays a specific character.
Best Trailer
Best Video that uses or creates a cinematic trailer audio/ experience.
Best Parody
Best video that imitates or satirizes a known genre or piece of media.
Best Live Action
Best video that uses live action footage as its main video source.
Best Horror
Best video that creates a frightening or creepy atmosphere.
Best Artistic Endeavor
Video that best showcases a unique concept, creative idea, or unconventional editing technique.

I like this list for the most part! (I edited out a lot of text to make scrolling easier, but I also agree with the main/provisional/opt-in category tiering).

I would say that the descriptions do play a super important role as some others have mentioned. I really like these for the most part, and this opt-in Artistic Endeavor description in particular makes it very clear what the category is meant to reward.

We can certainly debate what each category ought to represent, as labels such as the dividing line between Drama and Action or what constitutes a best Artistic Endeavor might still inspire discussion, but I think that whatever gets decided, the category descriptions should be in the same style as what's above--brief and unambiguous.

With the categories and nominations that were featured this year, I thought that there was a lot of room left for individual interpretation, and this can actually have a large impact on the voting. Just as a hypothetical, if half the editors think that Best Artistic Endeavor means "Most visually creative" while others think that it means "most abstract", then people will be judging the videos in the category using completely different metrics.

Categories aside, I also think that we should discuss how we want to approach increasing voter turnout, as that's something else that can have a potentially major impact.

[Shin-AMV]

I honestly see both sides of the coin in regards to the stream / chat / discussion. We want to improve pro... but I feel the discussion has been more of this is how it is get on board or deal with it. Some people like Phil are ready to rage quit... and that should bother everyone if they want to make the community stronger. I think the streams / chats / discussion can be great for the contest, but like anything there is always room for improvement.

I don't disagree with this, but I think where the disconnect is coming from is that the remedies being proposed are for transgressions or issues that are largely illusory and don't reflect whats actually going on, or if they are going on they are grossly overstated and overexaggerated. Largely, the whole argument that there is this creeping influence of some popular editor(s) unfairly tipping the scales and thus ruining the contest is predicated on the fact that enough entrants are sheep to be swayed so easily and discredits their ability to think much less vote appropriately.

By and large, most of this contest is premised on the assumption people will act professionally and that should be extended to thinking that people are responsible enough for their own final decisions they end up making regardless if they heard x, y, or z about various videos. I acknowledge the fact that there are some unethical people, but a lot of these blanket rules or restrictions are not addressing these unethical/unprofessional behaviours but rather making things inconvenient/tedious/burdensome for the people already abiding by professionalism and undermines that covenant of the contest that we act professionally by assuming that we can't.

I don't think the issues get solved through censorship or restrictions, I think its gets addressed by making things more transparent and accessible. Thats why I liked Ileia's moderator idea. Lets go back to talking about that as a possible compromise since it seemed like a lot of people ended up glossing over that.

[Sephiroth]

Thread reminds me of why I stopped bothering with Pro in the first place. As for acting professionally, I haven't seen it too much, at least when I'd meet the lot at a con. For something that one would presume is about spreading the love of anime and music, a good percent of people are rather petty, always have been. X technical container is the defacto standard and screw you if you send it in anything else. Standards are a fine thing, flat out favoritism because of some imagined perfection isn't. Things look better than they ever did and our past selves would be jealous of things like MKV instead of appalled.

The question to really ask is. Does anything really need to be added in the first place? Another issue I'll bring up. Until people submit for the contest, you have no idea what the numbers will be for said categories. Thus maybe the best time to do this is when the videos are submitted tally everything up then maybe figure out what needs to be added. Otherwise, you might just end up having phantom categories.

Another random thought, if you're going to make up categories maybe have a focus on whatever one you want a focus on that year. If you announced a theme maybe people could actually edit to it. I know yao- con has a themed category each year and that's just within yaoi videos. Pro could easily do the same. Might even break up the monotony if you give people some direction.

[Mr Pilkington]

I feel bad if you're quitting the contest because you feel like you, or editors of videos incorrectly ascribed to you, are being persecuted, but unless there was another online stream I am unaware of, it seems like an entirely separate issue.

Hardly my choice at this point. Names were put in place that I've come to realize were misconstrued from the start. But being my feelings about the underlying problems and the fact that from an administrative level no changes are coming (again I may not like the rules but they are in place to be respected), my choice was simply to proceed and ignore what I feel is fundamentally wrong at the dispense of my friends, or publicly state my resignation to prevent any wrongdoing on others. I'm, if nothing else a man of my convictions.
Now I've spoken with Erik about this and there are no hard feelings (I most sincerely hope) between us. He's been more than forthcoming with his opinions and I'd like to think that our friendship allows us to speak candidly to one another. I know we don't always agree, nor really should we on every thing. But we have never taken away resentment. Because that is how friendship works.
But accusations were made and damage control was mandatory. Franky speaking im deeply hurt by how those accusations came to be. But damage control isn't always pretty and if I have to sacrifice something I've held dear for 15 years so that it can continue to be a joy to my friends, it's a price I'm willing to pay. It's not a decision I take lightly nor is it a sign that I just gave up and flipped the table. I merely want the best for all participants.

I will also a say however, ws this isnt directed at you specifically (please dont take offence) but the majority of the people here including a few on my side of the argument that only dropped in to slander: I am ashamed, nay appalled, that no common ground was met in the time this discussion has transpired. It's as if compromise and candid discussion is dead. And as Joe said, if we cannot compromise there is no community, only cliques. I sincerely hope this fails to be the case going forward. I am willing to sacrifice my fun for the good of those involved. What is your interest level?

[ngsilver]

In other news, I wish editors would use the same care with their microphones and voice codecs they do with their video compression. Oh, wait... I kept getting 500MB+ h264 encodes again this year...

I'll have you know I specifically configure my encode for AWA to be at a lesser compression ratio then what I release online, much like I did back in the mpeg2 days when the average encode was >300MB for the contest (I've seen the archive, I know the numbers) while online encoding was more like 50MB.

So couple custom profile, with increased key frame frequency, lower compression ratio, and highest bitrate for both audio and video I can feasibly set, we get larger file sizes especially when I submit 5+ min vids. I DO notice a quality difference in my encodes between online encodes and my con encodes, and even the 'high profile' as you talk about.

Of course I might just be in the minority that watches everything on a large screen 4k TV or an 18ft screen and hate seeing compression artifacts...

[MaboroshiStudio]

I think where the disconnect is coming from is that the remedies being proposed are for transgressions or issues that are largely illusory and don't reflect whats actually going on.

Saying it is an illusion is a part of the problem Shin I think... that is your opinion and to say it is all in someone's head is dismissive of their opinion. Do you see how it looks to someone on the outside? My point about the influence is not illusory and it doesn't pass the smell test for me... and even if you might not agree with the issues / feelings people have I feel the pro stream / discussion camp should be trying to make some sort of attempt to quell these feelings / fears. Simply put I don't feel any attempt has been made and concerns by people are usually dismissed out of hand. Note: this is just how it appears to me and my opinion...

I don't think the issues get solved through censorship or restrictions

Censorship... wha? As far as restrictions goes there will always be rules. I feel if the stream and all of this is going to happen it should be 100% official and in the rules.

I think its gets addressed by making things more transparent and accessible. Thats why I liked Ileia's moderator idea. Lets go back to talking about that as a possible compromise since it seemed like a lot of people ended up glossing over that.

I do agree about making it more transparency and accessible should hopefully resolve some issues, but I don't see how being inclusive and moderating is a compromise at all (this is basic and what should already be if this is a part of the contest). I do like the Ileia's suggestion of the moderators tho...

I am fine letting this rest or taking it offline as this discussion could keep going and going.

[MaboroshiStudio]

To ease some tensions... I think we need a win and we can all agree on this

[Kireblue]

My previous category selection post left out the "Adult" category from the "opt in" section

http://www.animemusicvideos.org/forum/v ... 5#p1551955

Best Adult
Best video that contain mature or 18+ content that would be inappropriate to showcase to a general audience.

Also, I feel that "Best Video" should be changed back to "Best in Show"

[Warlike Swans]

I think the value of the stream is to get anonymous criticism from people who might not be bold enough to tell you it directly, so I don't want the stream to get too comfortable safe-space fluffy.

I do feel bad that there were people upset by the contents of the stream this year. However, knowing a lot of the people involved and how critical they are of videos privately, I will say there was a lot of effort made to keep the comments constructive.

It's hard to agree to compromise when there aren't a lot of concrete suggestions being made. So in addition to Ileia's idea (which I fully support ), here are a couple:

1: Just agree
One issue with the stream is that a lot of people took the time to basically reiterate previous comments. If there was a rule to just say "agreed" for something like that, it would cut down on the time, and might make people feel a bit less hounded by criticisms, since they'd only have to hear critique once. It might also reduce bias toward videos that got a lot of stream time worth of praise.

2: Know when to opt out
I know one person who made some great videos and participated in the stream, but didn't feel prepared to hear the critiques. That person just muted the stream after their videos played. I think highlighting this option to people might help. Especially if a moderator was available to give an overview after, if it was wanted.