Nekocon MAIN AMV Contest WINNERS

[KeiichiFace]

I guess since it was never explicitly stated that the contest was "G," "PG, "PG-13," etc (or, not anywhere I can find), I can't really complain. But I think cons need to be more explicit as to their standards in terms of what the video can be "rated." I always seem to assume that contests are PG-13.

Edit: This isn't anything to do with you, Gene! This is just a random thing I think cons should do. You just keep trying to keep parents from rioting.

[GeneralGuyAmv]

Guys, calm yourselves. Gene is an amv maker just like all of you and you're putting a ridiculous amount pressure for nothing on him. He did said he would reconsiderate things, wait until then before becoming apeshit .

[BasharOfTheAges]

Guys, calm yourselves. Gene is an amv maker just like all of you and you're putting a ridiculous amount pressure for nothing on him. He did said he would reconsiderate things, wait until then before becoming apeshit .

Who's not calm? Sounds like someone's projecting.

[GeneralGuyAmv]

Enough with usuless trolling. It's worth nothing.

[AngelDragoon]

Somehow I had a feeling something like this was going to happen...

I'm sure most people, including myself, understand the reasoning behind checking appropriateness with the higher ups. A parent who doesn't understand conventions, let alone the content that could be in amvs, and becomes irate over their children seeing things he or she didn't want them to is a lot more important to said convention than a few frustrated editors being unable to show their work. An angry parent can affect sales and future attendance of others who may have wanted to participate in the event. Considering you had issues with a coordinator showing things before, I'm not surprised by the con erring on the side of caution. It's better to do this than to not have a contest at all.

That being said, communication is key, whether between the editors and the department or the department and the convention itself. Unless you didn't know about this 'passing it along for questionable content' rule, it should have been stated in the very beginning this would be procedure and what grading to go by, (G, PG, PG-13, etc). Even if it wasn't made apparent, videos should have been screened at least within a week or two of receiving them and if they seemed the slightest bit questionable, the editor should have been made aware that they might need to make a censored version available or risk disqualification, (or even had the option of sending something else). Granted, you may not have even known the issue with the last coordinator, but some kind of standard should have been set by the convention from the get-go to avoid these kinds of problems. What if all you had were those 30 entries? Or what if all 90 of those videos were questionable in some form or another? Stuff like that should be thought of in advanced. Furthermore, for almost a third of videos to be potentially disqualified – after the editors spent the time and energy not only making the entry, but deciding to send it to this particular convention – appears inconsiderate and, frankly, disrespectful to everyone that entered, whether these were thought of as consequences or not. (I'm not saying this is true, but it could look like this to some).

Please don't take this as a personal attack, because it isn't. Everyone has slip ups, especially when one has a life and had one too many things on their plate at a time. I'm not going to sit here and condemn you for mistakes made when you're new to running this particular contest and dealing with the head staff and rules you may not have been aware of until now. (Though not everyone has to be so forgiving). However, learn from it and note what parts of the contest needs fixing in the future. One person's idea of acceptable content may not be someone else's, and it's better to be on the safe side than to have this devolve into...well, this.

Hope all goes well for you guys regardless, though.

[ShodanKid]

Okay, okay, I'm not clear on this pile. The rules do state:

The following excessive materials are not allowed: nudity, violence, racial or verbal obscenities.

This automatically tells me PG-13, or possibly PG, but this is a pseudo-science anyway. Can I then have my one f$&@ and a whole bunch of s@&$s as language if it were outlined as PG-13? Can I then be as brutally violent sans any blood and I should be cool? We all have different ideas on what content can service what. Decapitations already sound excessive. Kill La Kill pushes the line just enough that for a friendly event, one explicitly not marked as an 18+ event, at a convention would gather controversy by having an idea of just what they edited together, the very definition of editing. I had a video whose early version had no excessive violence on-screen yet felt like all the character was doing was brutally murdering people. I'd expect that to have gotten the boot in most competitions.

Communication is key, but I also do not see any post on this or the other thread clarifying what 'excessive' means. Or what to consider. And in the end, it's up to discretion anyway. Consider it a judgement factor. I mean, some videos dont make it into competitions because they aren't of caliber to some other entries, but I don't ever see this under the rules. If I don't get into a competition, shall I call foul? Or must I leave the discretion of qualifying factors to the judges to deem a video of a competition in not only its quality but also its adherence to the rules when it comes to defining excessive?

I'll surely draw some hate but the only thing I have to remark on is handling issues regarding how the submission process has gone...it just felt like more work than it should have been. But withdrawing over reasonings as being outlined...sorry, I really don't get it. I'm unsure if the minimal violent video I sent may have been one of the DQd...it was a risk I took. I certainly don't consider it excessive, but you might. Anyone might.

[Gene Starwind 21122]

Again I apologize for the confusion. These were the rules I had for Anime Mid Atlantic and Nekocon did approve them. I should have put more detail under what is consider excessive and list examples.

Now that I have a better idea of what Nekocon wants, I'll be better prepared for next year if I'm back.

Gene

[BasharOfTheAges]

But withdrawing over reasonings as being outlined...sorry, I really don't get it.

Principles are occasionally a confusing thing to explain for people that don't have them. I can't support this degree of censorship. I didn't submit any objectionable content whatsoever, and was not disqualified. My motives are not self-serving - This is purely a principled stance. If other people are comfortable with supporting this sort of thing, or care more about the validation and ego stroking that come with all the trophies, that's their call.

[Squancho]

The thing I've found through my experience is a coordinator has more freedom to use personal discretion the smaller their convention is.
Anime Mid Atlantic is small and billed as "Kid-friendly" but the upper chain never asked questions or made waves about anything that was shown.
They were pretty "hands off" with AMVs.
Zenkaikon and Nekocon, both approaching "medium" range, have been pretty good about keeping a fair hand on things, only stepping in when concerns are raised (in terms of "questionable" content) during the entry submission time frame.
Still, they would leave the final decision to the coordinator.
Katsucon, a larger event, keeps a stricter hold and are particularly scared about "legal concerns" and "concerned parents" so they're adhering to a "Disney PG" standard.
Coordinator discretion is slowly diminishing there as attendance grows and the written law takes priority.
I mean Otakon has their lawyers look at everything before finalists are determined if that tells you anything.
So, as far as I've seen, the level of discretion allowed AMV coordinators has been relative to an event's size.

[ProjectBarcodeError]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTkHT6UHqkI