Anime Expo 2014 AMV Competition - Finalist List POSTED!

[MaboroshiStudio]

Flashes of Light was in my top 5 for the category btw.

Thanks for letting me know... I know making the cut at AX is brutal. I also know Flashes is uber subtle and a style from a era past which some judges don't dig which is fine. I will admit since returning I found it disappointing how few cuts it has made, but the ones it has made it has done very well winning at 3 out of 5 contests. Still I see some of the drama videos that win and I ask where is the drama / emotion / story... but drama was my bread and butter back in the day so I am very opinionated in regards to that genre.

I am also my own worst enemy as I make videos I want... the audience is the last thing I think of as I want to take them on a journey vs me serving them what they want on a platter. So honestly I often don't find a great degree of artistry / difficulty / originality / risk in the pandering types of videos that win. Has nothing to do with the fact if I enjoy them or not, but I def recognize the amount of effort that goes into them.

Nic's is the type of video that love... not the norm and Time Falls Away by AdventLostKaichou was another video that resonated with me.

I do question how a anime hell type video was even in comedy, but that is just me as I don't even consider those music videos and more a parody.

Now in regards to fan pandering I plan on doing some and when I do I will have zero issues calling myself out if I make one of those that wins big time... and Kevin Caldwell where ever he is can smile on the inside.

[dokidoki]

I personally feel that these fan-pandering, aiming for the lowest common denominator entries end up hurting AMV contests.

Plus ça change...

[Castor Troy]

I personally feel that these fan-pandering, aiming for the lowest common denominator entries end up hurting AMV contests.

Plus ça change...

You did it in style, Tim.

[Pwolf]

a style from a era past which some judges don't dig which is fine.

/me feels old now

[MaboroshiStudio]

a style from a era past which some judges don't dig which is fine.

/me feels old now

Wise... seasoned lol

[Pwolf]

a style from a era past which some judges don't dig which is fine.

/me feels old now

Wise... seasoned lol

a little jaded and cranky sometimes as well

[Donaithnen]

Well first let me say that while looking for a full list of the finalists i was astounded to find myself being used as a reference for the secret drama of the 2007 contest

Second of all, since i couldn't find an actual list of the finalists in this thread (though it's certainly possible i missed it, almost 60 pages, geez!) i went and typed one up myself. Probably with a bunch of typos. And my usual very amateurish observations appended to the end, which everyone with the actual skill and experience to create an AMV should feel free to ignore

Anime Expo 2014 AMV Contest Recap

[Castor Troy]

Well first let me say that while looking for a full list of the finalists i was astounded to find myself being used as a reference for the secret drama of the 2007 contest

Second of all, since i couldn't find an actual list of the finalists in this thread (though it's certainly possible i missed it, almost 60 pages, geez!) i went and typed one up myself. Probably with a bunch of typos. And my usual very amateurish observations appended to the end, which everyone with the actual skill and experience to create an AMV should feel free to ignore

Anime Expo 2014 AMV Contest Recap

Awesome, thanks!

[Tearx]

well, to be honest I have not really seen 80% of the entries for this year. But hearing all this I wished to chip in a little bit of my thoughts..

If AX's AMV contest was meant to to satisfy editors, just the editors, then why is there an audience? Just like film, yeah you might get upset the Frozen won at the Oscars, but in the end Frozen broke records at the box office for a reason, right? If the contest was meant for the editors and only the editors then they would be the only ones voting. The contest only exists to please and gather an audience. However, I must admit that everything up to the contest could still be worked on; such as, the picking/voting process for the finalists. Once again I can not say much about this because well.. I wasn't there during the contest, but before drama adds or if your raging and reading this, please consider why amv contests at cons are provided in the first place.


kthnxbye

[purplepolecat]

I have to disagree with a lot of the criticism that is being directed at Animu Stew.

I admit that when I first watched it, on my own, I was underwhelmed. After seeing its effect on the AE crowd firsthand, I think I may have misjudged it.

First of all, let's torpedo the notion that doing this sort of video is easy. It is not. We know this because we have all seen clip show videos like this, some from respected editors, that have failed miserably. A lot of the editors criticising Animu Stew would have a hard time replicating it.

Yes, it's lowbrow humour. Like hitting someone in the face with a pie, which is also nowhere near as easy as it looks. It's all about the timing. It's also a little unnerving, because the laugh is involuntary, and there's no way to rationalize or explain why it's funny.

It's easy to characterise the crowd as dumb because they react more to this kind of humour than the more intellectual "I see what you did there" humour. This is not fair, we know that the crowd is smart because as Ryan pointed out, they often pick the smart entries. But they also want the big laughs. Don't hate them for that.

The place I draw the line is videos where the source audio provides all the laughs, and the video track is just a token effort to make it look like an AMV, maybe with the popular anime character du jour and some lip sync. THAT is what I call lazy humour, because the editor didn't provide any of the funny. Anime Stew at least steers clear of this pitfall.

So in conclusion, I don't have a problem with an award that's based on the audience vote going to a video designed to pander to (which is just another way to say "entertain") an audience, and I wouldn't criticise someone for exploiting this.