TheAX AMV Contest 2009 Finalists are...

[Melichan923]

I highly recommend Air, Clannad and Kanon 2006. I've never seen the original Kanon but I plan to very soon.

Seriously? I thought I saw snippets of the original Kanon in your vid. Then again, I've only seen just a couple of episodes of it, and have yet to see any of new Kanon... ...which I think now is probably a good time to rectify. [digs through DVD collection...]

Yay! You won't regret watching Kanon. ^_^

Hm, I believe you are thinking of the parts with ONE: True Stories. The animation style is a little different on ONE (it's an older show).

[SheeGee]

man im really excited to see the vids for this year!
but it wont be in nokia huh....=(

oh yea melichan. i loved ur Key-themed vid at fanime! almost got teary-eyed watchin it lol

[Rider4Z]

the nokia was a treat, but honestly it didn't have that hardcore convention feel to me. so i'm not disappointed

[MisterFurious]

the nokia was a treat, but honestly it didn't have that hardcore convention feel to me. so i'm not disappointed

I disagree. Convention halls are designed to be meeting rooms, not screening rooms. The sound systems usually leave much to be desired, meaning we rely on the ingenuity of the AV staff to make our videos as presentable as possible. Plus the chairs are awful.

By contrast, the Nokia Theater was designed as an entertainment venue, with state-of-the-art projection and audio systems to present our videos in the best possible circumstances. And the seats are so comfy! Can you honestly say you would prefer the spine-crushing chairs of a convention hall to those that are actually designed for someone to sit in for hours? Hardcore, yes, but I am no impervious to pain.

Having the AMV contest at the Nokia Theater felt like AMV's were "going to the show", being elevated to the status of an event like a concert. We even had to have tickets like the ones you would buy for a concert. The last time we had something similar was at AX 2000, when the AMV's were screened at the Long Beach Arena. It felt nice then, and it felt nice last year, too. Granted, it wouldn't feel as special if we got to do that every year, but I will still miss it.

[Stryyder]

Gotta say, I agree with that assessment, Brad. But from what I've heard, it was HORRIBLY costly to the SPJA to use it. It would be nice to have again, but I can understand why they aren't going to. I have a feeling we'll be in that large room where they had the closing ceremonies last year.

@Ryv: Actually, if I remember correctly, WiredKnight's vid was kept out based on the "parody" rule, same reason as Kevin Chou's "The Rings" the year before. There was another vid, don't remember exactly, but it may have been Dokurochan, that was kept out because of constant blood shed, as the crazy girl killed him in every other scene, lol.

[Melichan923]

man im really excited to see the vids for this year!
but it wont be in nokia huh....=(

oh yea melichan. i loved ur Key-themed vid at fanime! almost got teary-eyed watchin it lol

Aww, thank you very much! That means a lot.

Being at Nokia Theater and seeing AMVs there would be beyond amazing, but the cost was probably waaayyyy too much. It's more than understandable especially in these hard times that it's not happening. People's butts won't be as comfortable as in Nokia and they might be a little squished etc. as MisterFurious mentioned, but there is always getting up and stretching real quick every hour or so. I've never been able to make it to Anime Expo yet, but maybe the AMV screening rooms are big enough to do at least that?

[Castor Troy]

the nokia was a treat, but honestly it didn't have that hardcore convention feel to me. so i'm not disappointed

The only minor problem with the Nokia showing last year in my opinion was the room wasn't filled to capacity due to it being a thursday night where the majority of con goers come on Friday-Sat. It just felt kinda "empty" to me for some reason. Plus I didn't like the "ticketed" seating.

Being at Nokia Theater and seeing AMVs there would be beyond amazing, but the cost was probably waaayyyy too much. It's more than understandable especially in these hard times that it's not happening. People's butts won't be as comfortable as in Nokia and they might be a little squished etc. as MisterFurious mentioned, but there is always getting up and stretching real quick every hour or so. I've never been able to make it to Anime Expo yet, but maybe the AMV screening rooms are big enough to do at least that?

The AMV screening rooms are usually huge (6000+ people) and are always packed (except for Nokia last year) which is why alot of people put so much emphasis on getting into AX every year.

[DigitalPanther]

Gotta say, I agree with that assessment, Brad. But from what I've heard, it was HORRIBLY costly to the SPJA to use it. It would be nice to have again, but I can understand why they aren't going to. I have a feeling we'll be in that large room where they had the closing ceremonies last year.

Actually you are close. We swapped with Reg. The room that was LP1 (closing ceremonies) last year is Reg this year. The room that was Reg is now Main events.

While I agree that the Nokia was an awesome venue it wasn't without its issues. The cost was indeed very very expensive (over 1/4 Mill just for Nokia costs) but the cost wasn't the only issue. Who knows, maybe if the economy improves we can return to it one day but I don't foresee it happening soon. So we are using Hall A for now.

-DP

[DigitalPanther]

The AMV screening rooms are usually huge (6000+ people) and are always packed (except for Nokia last year) which is why alot of people put so much emphasis on getting into AX every year.

The room we will be having Main Events and the contest in is currently specced for 6800 people give or take about a hundred. It is by far the largest room we have on site. The next largest will be LP1 (which is in Petree Hall where 35mm film was last year) at around 2k seats (we are finalizing the layouts of it now actually.)

I agree with Brad that the sound won't be quite as nice as it was in Nokia last year (what with its custom tuned and specced for that venue that was specifically built for such things) but we are working with what we have to do the best we can. It won't be perfect but we will do the very best we can I promise you that.

-DP

[Rider4Z]

I disagree. Convention halls are designed to be meeting rooms, not screening rooms. The sound systems usually leave much to be desired, meaning we rely on the ingenuity of the AV staff to make our videos as presentable as possible. Plus the chairs are awful.

By contrast, the Nokia Theater was designed as an entertainment venue, with state-of-the-art projection and audio systems to present our videos in the best possible circumstances. And the seats are so comfy! Can you honestly say you would prefer the spine-crushing chairs of a convention hall to those that are actually designed for someone to sit in for hours? Hardcore, yes, but I am no impervious to pain.

Having the AMV contest at the Nokia Theater felt like AMV's were "going to the show", being elevated to the status of an event like a concert. We even had to have tickets like the ones you would buy for a concert. The last time we had something similar was at AX 2000, when the AMV's were screened at the Long Beach Arena. It felt nice then, and it felt nice last year, too. Granted, it wouldn't feel as special if we got to do that every year, but I will still miss it.

aw gee brad i was tryin to be optomistic X(