Ohayocon 2016 AMV Contest Rules
Contest Information:
There will be two contest showings planned, which will run approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes. There will also be an exhibition showing in which the length and amount will be based on the amount of videos. These events may be subject to change.
Editors may be able to submit videos for the following:
- Contest: which will be divided into 6 categories:
- Action
- Comedy/Trailer
- Upbeat/Dance
- Drama
- Romance
- And introducing the Advanced Level category
- Exhibition: This will not be a contest entry but rather shown during the exhibition showing.
For the contest itself, the videos will be a part of a queue which will then be judged by a selection committee based on the categories of the videos. The ones showing rubric scores with an average of 8 or more should be chosen to take part in the contest. All other entries will be placed in the Exhibition showing thus allowing each entry a chance at being displayed at Ohayocon. Please keep in mind that the rubric curve could change depending on the category and the needs for each category such as amount of entries and the quality of the entries for the category.
For the Advanced Level Category, the videos will skip the selection committee process and will automatically be a part of the contest showing as its own category. This is because as a first time category, only a few are expected to be submitted for this category. If there are more than 5 videos submitted to this category, then it will be object to the same selection committee process in order to keep the numbers reasonable.
Each category is subject to be dropped if there are not enough entries or if the selection committee deems the quality of no less than two videos to only be contest worthy.
The awards that will be given out at Ohayocon are as follows:
- Best of each category (Action, Drama, Romance, Upbeat/Dance, Comedy/Trailer)
- Best of Advanced Level
- Ohayocon 2016 Audience Choice
- Ohayocon 2016 Editor’s Choice (This is a brand new award needing participation from AMV editors who will be attending Ohayocon. Please see the contest rules section on how to qualify for this voting process.)
- Best of Show
There will be more information to come in regards to prizes, awards, and shipping as they are revealed.
All information and announcements will be posted on the Ohayocon Facebook page, Ohayocon Twitter page, the animemusicvideos.org forums page, and other potential outlets.
Registration/Submission:
All videos must be registered online before it can be submitted. A link to the registration form should be included at the end of the contest rules. Each section of the form marked by “required” must be filled out. Failure to do so may cause a delay in a response or downright rejection of the registration.
Upon completion of the registration form, a confirmation e-mail will be sent out. This includes instructions on how to submit the registered video based on the submission format.
There are three submission formats accepted:
- Dropbox connection
- Download link
- Physical Mail
Each file name must be formatted using the following: “<Editor Credits Name>-<AMV Title>-<category>.<ext> (please see rules for accepted file extensions). This format must also be mentioned in the registration form as this is how each submitted video gets sorted out. Failure to meet these requirements may cause a delay in the processing of the AMV for the contest.
Editors who are registering to the contest should wait for a confirmation e-mail before submitting the video. Please allow up to 24 hours after registration for the confirmation e-mail.
All submitted videos will undergo an initial screening process from the Ohayocon AMV Liaison. Once this screening is complete, a confirmation e-mail will be sent back to the editor confirming the received video(s). This confirmation e-mail will also include if the video passes or failed the screening test. If it passed, it will go to the proper queue. If it failed, then there will be either instructions on clearing up the infractions or a notice that the video has been outright rejected, depending on the issue at hand.
For videos that were submitted for the contest and passed the initial screening test, once the registration and submission deadlines end, this queue will be sent over to a selection committee who will then screen them, grade them, and help decide the official Ohayocon 16 AMV contest list. So to clarify, just because the video passed the initial screening, does not mean that the video is automatically entered into the contest.
Registration and video submission begins on October 1st, 2015.
The registration form will go offline at the end of the day December 15th, 2015.
All registered videos must be turned in by the end of the day December 20th, 2015 at 11:59 PM EST.
All submitted videos are automatically authorized to be screened and distributed for the purposes of Ohayocon 2016 convention dated January 15th – 17th 2016. All physical media submitted will become property of Ohayocon and will not be returned.
Exhibition Information:
The exhibition showing is for any submitted video that passes the initial screening test but is not voted into the contest and for any video submission that was specified to only be shown during this showing. This is so all submitted and approved AMVs get shown at Ohayocon. In addition, the exhibition showing is also for AMVs which has won more than 4 awards this past contest season. These will typically go to the front of the line so that our attendees who were not able to make these contests can see these works. However, please keep in mind that this cannot be guaranteed due to potential time and scheduling restraints. There will be two overflow showings at the convention.
Contest Rules:
• Editors submitting to the contest or exhibition are not required to attend Ohayocon 2016.
• However, editors who would like to participate in the editor’s choice voting are required to attend as well as have a video in the contest or exhibition showings.
o This voting process will take place during the public screening of the AMV contest. For further details, please contact the AMV Liaison via e-mail.
• Collaborations or multi-editor projects (MEPs) will be accepted. No more than 3 people are allowed to participate in the collaboration. All names of the collaborators are to be included when filling out the registration (even if a studio name is applicable). Please see the contest registration info for more details.
• Editor(s) are allowed to submit up to two videos to the contest. Multiple contest submissions must be in different categories. For those who are submitting a collaboration/MEP video, all names used in the submission will count as submitting one AMV. Any solo submissions afterwards will count as a second entry and would have to be in a separate category from the collaboration.
o Although the “advanced category” is a specialized category which will receive its own award, it is possible to submit two videos with one of them going to the “advanced category” and the other going to the regular categories so long as they pass the initial screening tests. Otherwise, the same rules apply.
• All submitted videos must be registered in full using the online registration form. Please see the appropriate forums for the link to the registration form.
• Only videos created after January 1st, 2015 (first time Ohayocon entry) will be allowed. This will be enforced to the best of the AMV liaison’s ability. However, it is requested that all editors please use the honor system for this.
• Although we at Ohayocon appreciate all award winning AMVs, please note that only videos that have won no more than 4 major awards (category, show, audience choice) will be accepted for the contest. This way, the Ohayocon AMV contest can offer a fresher contest list from other contests.
o This rule does apply to the “advanced level” category as well. The advanced level category is for editors who have had multiple award winning AMVs.
o We will however accept these award winning AMVs for the exhibition showing. Registration rules still apply.
• The video length must be more than 1 min (60 seconds) long and less than 5 min (300 seconds) long.
• The following footage types are accepted:
- Anime (Japanese based only)
- Manga (Japanese based only)
- Video Games (Japanese based only)
- Non-Japanese based footage but only up to and no more than 20% of the video.
• The video’s content must be PG-13. For audio content, no songs or other audio with racial content (deliberately expressing the superiority of one race over another), sexually explicit content, or the “7 words you can never say on television” (you can submit “language” as long as you edit/bleep words sufficiently). For video content, no gore (a little blood is acceptable but not much beyond that), and any and all bodies need to be covered with at least 45% of clothing (no private parts shown). Innuendo is acceptable as long as images and words are not explicit.
• Please submit the video in one of the following formats only:
- .avi
- MPEG-2
- .mp4 (preferred)
- .wmv
• Each video can have no more than two audio source types (musical, spoken-word, trailer, or otherwise).
• There are no banned songs or audio clips. However, please make sure they meet the PG-13 rules.
• Both the contest and exhibition will be shown via DVD. In other words, all videos will be burned on a DVD for both presentations. It is not required, but it is recommended the video resolution is 720 x 480, the aspect ratio is 4:3, and the frame rate is 29.97 fps. All videos submitted that are not of this scale will be scaled down to this format, doing so without stretching or reducing the video quality, as best as possible. Please make sure the audio is 2-Channel or 48000hz. Please do not letterbox as this tends to have a negative effect on video quality of the AMV.
• The following will not be allowed in the video:
- Audio sound (not video footage) from any anime or video game that is not licensed for commercial distribution in North America, Europe, or anywhere outside of Japan/Pacific Rim area. Audio sound from an anime or video game that is licensed for commercial distribution in North America, Europe, or anywhere outside of Japan/Pacific Rim area will be allowed.
- Bumpers or Credits (Credits are described as any video related information such as editor name, AMV title, etc.) shown at the beginning or ending of a video. This also includes “Thanks for Watching”, “Subscribe” or something similar. Uniform bumpers will be provided in the contest and exhibition presentations for all submitted and qualified AMVs) This may be allowed if such identification is done creatively in a way that cannot be easily removed. However this, like all other rules, is left to the coordinator’s discretion.
- All logos
- All watermarks
- Screen Names
- Fan or commercially produced subtitles (This only pertains to the video source of the AMV or GMV. Editors are allowed to create their own subtitles or any other text for any reason of their choosing (ex: for translation purposes) as long as it relates to the AMV. Please keep in mind that this will be shown on a DVD format, which may stretch the video out, resulting in the subtitles getting cut off)
Clean-Up:
As of October 1st, 2015, all rules shown above will be deemed final and non-negotiable. However, any rules that are deemed confusing and/or unreliable to a point which hinders the contest must be addressed with the Ohayocon AMV liaison. The final say and any announcements on the matter will be at the discretion of the Ohayocon AMV Liaison. All questions on rules, registration, etc., must be submitted to the following e-mail address: amv@ohayocon.org . All physical submissions must be mailed to the following address:
Ohayocon AMV Contest
6499 Nottinghill Trail Drive
Canal Winchester, OH 43110
Registration form: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ansmW ... wER9_j3TCI
