Might I suggest a way out of the cathartic shouting into the void?
We know a few things to be true:
- Bury a Friend is dope -- people really respond to it in audiences and that should make the editor super proud
- AX, perhaps deservedly, got a rough start with the advent of this thread and that has at least not helped build a bridge between the new coordinators and the editing community
I hope we can look dispassionately at this and recognize that fans at AX really suffer for our indignation if this contest craters and those kids in the audience that would be so inspired by seeing a sweet AMV that they would start editing themselves will just leave saying "meh" instead and completely withdrawing from the contest perhaps feels noble, but isn't a plan that puts the fans first.
If the coordinators respected their own clear rules, leaned into the distrust they've garnered, and did the hard work to reverse the stigma they're saddled with, we'd all be good. Those of us that feel very begrudged the the history at AX can still be begrudged and those of us that don't really have any connection to that get to move on and watch a contest crawl back to life -- and seeing that would honestly be pretty cool.
So first stop on the train ride to a sweet contest that adds positivity to the community is to get the coordinators to keep a level playing field. I think we all agree that's a basic trust thing at the foundation of any contest with freshness rules. There are two simple options: 1) the coordinators pull "bury a friend", or 2) if not, mtagstyle should do other editors a favor and ask to pull the video. The latter sucks, but hey, I've had to pull a video after Maboroshi graciously called me out for breaking freshness rules on accident and it was really no big deal.
If that doesn't work, I will commit to pulling my video from the contest a week from now. If coordinators are waiving the rules to increase quality submissions, then hey, let's take away what they seem to really care about to make a stand instead of ranting here about it. If you're new and just totally pumped about being in the contest, I don't want to pressure you to remove your video -- you do you -- but for anyone who is willing to remove their video, (gets on soapbox) join me on the 25th of June! We shall remove our videos, not for ourselves, but for a specific change that helps others!
GuyFawkesAMV wrote:Remember, remember, the 25th of June
The Freshness Rule Treason and Plot;
I know of no reason why the Freshness Rule
Should ever be forgot.