The Lip Flapper : Volume 11.4 - Those That Lead

[CodeZTM]

Disclaimer: These interviews are not associated with a-m-v.org, and do not reflect the opinions of its administration.

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Description

Welcome to the Lip Flapper! Each week, we delve deep into the community and get a good look into both individual members as well as group discussions on various issues that surround our hobby.

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This Week in "The Lip Flapper"

This week is all about AMV contests and conventions! We talk with contest and convention coordinators, people who have been to conventions, those that judge AMV contests, and naturally just everything about them!

We have a 4 part series, finished up with an AMV Review on Friday with an action video that doesn't suck!

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The Panel

As somebody that has operated an AMV Contest or Anime Convention, what's something that you want to tell potential contestants or participants? Perhaps advice, or just something that you want to DRILL into their heads?

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My situation is a little different than the typical convention situation, but as the guy that runs Project OrgEditor, there are a few things I want to mention for this year's contest.

1) If you sign up, PLEASE sign up with the intention of competing all the way through. I realize that there are just some things that can't be helped down the line, but having nearly half of the contestant pool drop out during the first round? That's very disheartening for both myself and the other contestants.

2) Naming your files the correct naming format is lovely. I hate having to re-name Sequence01-3.zarxgui264.mp4 and go through a scourge of pms to figure out who sent what.

3) Reading the rules before you sign up is lovely. I can't tell you how many questions I got asked last year via MSN that could have been found within 2 minutes in the rules/FAQ thread with the "find" function.

4) Advice wise? Since this is an extended iron chef with a lot of twists and turns, ripping and preparing a wide variety of footage is almost always the best thing to do before the contest actually begins. This way, you can spend 2-3 days experimenting with different types of footage, and if they do not work out, you're not stuck re-ripping footage halfway through the week.

5) If you do not know the time zone conversion to my date/time zone for the deadline, ask this before the contest starts. This way, confusion is avoided, and you're not handing in a video 2 days late.

I know that seems like a lot of really obvious things, but they're some of the more common problems that I faced.

For starters, people need to get better at naming their files. Submitting a video named video.avi is just not OK. The name of your video file should have relevant info in it like your name and the title of the video. And on that note, I don't understand why some people refuse to think of titles for their videos. Most of the time, I have a title thought up for a AMV long before I even start it. Of course, sometimes the title changes during the editing process, but I rarely get to the rendering stage without having at least a general idea of what I want it to be called.

Also, you should always look at the content guidelines for the contest that you're submitting to, and try to adhere to it. Being on the borderline of the content guideline is not something that usually awards you extra points. If anything, it just puts the judges in a sometimes difficult position.

READ AND FOLLOW THE RULES! Seriously, the most annoying thing for a coordinator is having to disqualify a good video entry simply because the editor didn't follow the rules. Rules are in place in order to make life easier for a coordinator and often to ensure the best compatibility for the final viewing format. If we allow 1 video to get in even though it didn't follow the rules what does that say to the others who did?

Also, coordinators are human and we often can and do make mistakes. We do our best to ensure that doesn't happen but that doesn't mean we don't screw up from time to time. Be understanding about that. Any good coordinator will do everything in their power to make up for the error. It's like the saying you can go farther with sugar rather then vinegar. You have a right to be angry, and to have your problem fixed, but as in most situations there are ways to express it that will make the situation more pleasant for everyone.

3) Technical aspect of making an AMV is EASY. If you don't want to spend a few hours over it (or ask some friend to help out), you're probably not dedicating it enough.
Also, AMV contest is not a BETATESTING FIELD. If you have half-assed AMV, don't send it in just so you can see the crowd react. You're supposed to send in polished piece and doing otherwise is like saying "Hey, you got good vids, but I don't care about making something as good, throw this in."
Oh and one last thing. Saying "I can't do anything like [insert any good editor's name here] in my life" is a lie. You can do it, you just don't want to try that hard.
(inb4 controversy)

FORMAT YOUR FILENAMES LIKE I ASKED YOU TO – PLZKTHX!!!
Also, thanks for submitting, we couldn't do it without you. Perhaps come by one year if you have the time.

The best advice I could give to editors submitting for a contest is to be professional when dealing with the convention organizers. From experience, I can say that there are many out there who do not take rejection from a contest lightly, and even more who try to ram themselves down the throats of the convention staff and administration to get their way. They should understand that a convention doesn't simply reject a video because they want to, it's rejected for particular reason(s). Understanding those reasons is an important step towards eventually producing video projects that actually may get into contests in the future. Also, being rejected at one convention contest does not mean that editor couldn't later turn it over to another convention contest whose rules could accept the video. So, it's a lot of stress and anxiety that really people shouldn't have. They should learn to let it go and move on.

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Monthly Calendar

February 6: xDreww Interview
February 13: Fanservice Panel
February 20: Magnus Interview
February 27: Convention/Contest Panel

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Past Interviews/Discussions

Shin-AMV
Pwolf
Scintilla
Lip Flap
AimoAio
Youtube Panel + Bonus BakaViking Interview
Kosmit Interview
Youtube Panel Pt 2
xDreww
Fanservice Panel
Magnus
Convention Panel : Judges

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Next Time on "The Lip Flapper"

Join me tomorrow evening when I review an action video that doesn't suck!

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A Fun Contest?

You may have noticed that I used a lot of interesting images for banners this week. Well, that's for a purpose!

Each of these images are from an AMV of a prior interviewee (a full interview, not a panel). If you can successfully name all 4 AMVs that these screenshots came from, you can get to develop a panel for the Lip Flapper over any (appropriate) topic of your choosing!

HINTS:

1) All four of these screenshots are from AMVs made from a prior full interview.
2) All of the AMVs were released after 2010.

[Kireblue]

There was one last thing that should have been added to my part

And lastly, don't upscale your videos. You may not notice this, but up scaling your video sometimes causes the colors to fade and the video to have a dark and foggy look. So unless a anime convention specifically asks for a certain resolution, you shouldn't really be up scaling your video to 720 or 1080p if your source footage wasn't already that resolution.

oh and the screencap thing was was too easy

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11.4

[CodeZTM]

There was one last thing that should have been added to my part

And lastly, don't upscale your videos. You may not notice this, but up scaling your video sometimes causes the colors to fade and the video to have a dark and foggy look. So unless a anime convention specifically asks for a certain resolution, you shouldn't really be up scaling your video to 720 or 1080p if your source footage wasn't already that resolution.

oh and the screencap thing was was too easy

11.1
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And we have a winner. That was easier than I thought. XD

[JaddziaDax]

Question: do you guys offer the type naming convention you want in the rules? Since this seems to be the biggest issue, I just wondering. I have come across many contests that don't offer naming conventions.

[ngsilver]

For every contest I've been a part of we've supplied a naming convention. Using the entry system that Youmacon and ACEN uses, it gives you the exact file name based on the information you enter for your video.

[BasharOfTheAges]

Question: do you guys offer the type naming convention you want in the rules? Since this seems to be the biggest issue, I just wondering. I have come across many contests that don't offer naming conventions.

Yea, in the rules every year. I'd even be fine with mistakes that were close, but less than 1/4 of the entries I get even try.

I hate having to open page after page of word documents, text files, outdated word processing documents that won't open on modern systems, PDFs, jpgs, etc, to copy info down to do title cards when I asked the person to include pretty much all of the info I needed in the file name. It makes the title cards take a week to complete.

[CodeZTM]

Usually I always offer a naming system. What really irks me though is that mine isn't even difficult. "Video x.extension" is all I ask for, where X is your contestant id.

[Kireblue]

The issue of file names is more of a pet peeve than a actual problem. I don't usually offer name suggestions since I'd eventually have to change them regardless, but I kinda fell that putting the video title in its file name is something so basic that everybody should already have their own personal naming convention/ format. And since most people actually use a naming format that's sufficient enough, I've never felt the need to impose one on them. Its the occasional comp.avi vids that get submitted that just gets on my nerves.