As a few of you may be aware, Kigacon 2020 has officially been postponed. This decision was made in tandem with Christopher Newport University (the university the convention is hosted on) and their decision to prohibit gatherings of more than 100 people. Over the past week, I have been in constant communication with the heads of the convention. Obviously, this is a situation no one is happy with, but one everyone feels would be beneficial to public safety.
A new date has NOT been set. One probably won't be set in the immediate future until a handle is gotten on this epidemic. As for the AMV contest, we had literally JUST solidified and playtested our entrants. Part of the reason it took so long was the constant communication with convention guests, artists, vendors, our University Liasons, and every staff member pulling extra weight beyond their station to deal with this unusual situation.
Numbers and a list of all entrants and finalists will as such be posted this afternoon, cause it's no fair to keep you guys waiting.
If a Kigacon happens this year, the AMV contest as submitted and finalized will happen this year. Prizes will only be awarded if a vote by a convention audience happens.
If it gets outright cancelled this year, then we will re-evaluate. I won't make any decisions until I have a clear picture of what is going on.
In the meantime, stay safe, wash your hands for at least 20 seconds, avoid face touching, stock up on essentials, be mindful of what and who you touch (including doorknobs handles, and guardrails). Don't be a jerk and hoard supplies. Gloves, soap, and towels, yes. Face masks are for people who need them, they will NOT protect you from catching the virus, just spreading it. The Vulcan greeting makes a fine handshake replacement. Be excellent to each other.
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Contest closed for submissions.
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We are extending the deadline by 3 days.
Current submission count: 48.
Current category count as of 10:21 PM (EST) on Sunday, February 23rd.
Total: 48
Trailer: 3
Action: 7
Drama: 8
Romance/Sentimental: 11
Upbeat: 10
Comedy: 6
Surreal/Trippy: 3
We would need at least one more Surreal/Trippy and one more Trailer to make those categories viable. That said, we'll take all submissions up till the new deadline.
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OOOOOOKAY! So, elephant in the room: Last year was NOT good for my mental health. We had some...shall we say...interesting turns of events with regards to life that sort of kicked me down someplace dark. Please do not worry, I am fine, I just let a lot of things slide that should not have slid. It took several months to properly re calibrate my brain-space. So I sincerely apologize for the unacceptable delay in sending out prizes. The have been delivered as of today (check your email). This year, I pledge to get them out within a week of the contest airing.
The cut off date for this year is February 23rd, 2020 at 11:59 PM. The contest itself will be on the 14th of March. I am aware that this is early, and there MAY be an extension of a few days, but that is not a guarantee.
Here are the rules:
1. The categories will be
Trailers,
Action,
Drama,
Upbeat/Dance,
Romance/Sentimental,
Comedy/Parody
Surreal/Trippy (BONUS CATEGORY)
In the event of there being less than 4 trailers, the trailers submitted will be moved into the category most closely related to subject matter. Categories that do not receive at least 4 entries may be merged with their nearest counterpart; for details on how this may work, SEE THE BRACKETS BELOW. That is, if there are not enough entrants within each category, we will combine them into the category next closest in the parenthesis bracket. If you submitted to more than one category, and categories you submitted to end up merged, both your entries will still be counted, provided they both become finalists.
(((Action, Upbeat/Dance) (Trailers, Comedy/Parody)), (Drama, Romance/Sentimental)) (Trippy/Surreal BONUS CATEGORY)
For the past two years we ended up introducing the bonus category of Surreal/Trippy due to the higher-than-normal volume of submissions that just...couldn't be categorized correctly under normal, human parameters. It was hugely popular with our audience, so we are bringing it back this year! In the event that we do not receive enough entries in this category, they will be merged into their closest relevant category, as best as we can judge.
2. Please ensure your video is in one of the following resolutions.
1920x1080,
1440x1080
1280x720,
960x720
848x480.
720x480 (MPEG 1 & 2 Exclusive, See rule 4)
640x480
3. We accept the following frame rates: 23.976, 24, 29.97, 30 and 60. If your submission is not in one of those, it will be rejected outright.
4. Please only submit in 720x480 if you plan to encode in MPEG or MPEG-2. Entrants submitting in this format and at this resolution are encouraged to submit in 4:3 Flagged MPEG-2, at either 29.97 fps, or 23.976 with 3:2 pulldown selected (see Scintilla’s guide for the best way to do this. If widescreen footage is used, follow the guide on how to letterbox it). If you are encoding in MPEG-2, please encode your audio as MPEG-1 Layer 2 or AC3. MP3s, WAVs, and others will not work and we will be forced to convert them.
5. We accept the most file formats and methods of compression, however, we will not accept .mov or .wmv files. If you are using Windows Movie Maker, please output to AVI. If we are unable to convert to .MPG, we will attempt to contact you.
6.There is a file-size limit of 2 Gigabytes.
7. No studio bumpers or official logos. If we can’t remove it, and you can’t get us a clean version, the video is disqualified.
8. No audio from the official English dubs.
General Rules:
9. No nudity, or excessive gore/violence. Keep it PG-13.
10. Run time may be anywhere between 1 minute and 6 minutes. This will be strictly enforced.
11. Each entrant is permitted a single entry per category.
12. Acceptable footage includes Anime and Japanese Video Game footage. ‘American’ anime such as Afro Samurai, Animatrix, etc. is accepted, so long as it is at least partially animated by a Japanese Animation Studio.
13. Audio must be primarily music and may not include excessive dialogue/narration. The exception is videos that qualify as “trailers.”
14. Entries will be sent through an upload site such as DropBox, Google Drive, or through the AnimeMusicVideos.org catalog. The key thing here is that the video must be DOWNLOADABLE. We do not accept Youtube URLs. With the exception of AnimeMusicVideos.org, one should not have to register or pay anything to be able to download a video. If we find it’s behind a registration wall/paywall, we will ask for another link. If you do not provide one, you will be disqualified.
15. Entrants who knowingly attempt to circumvent these rules will have ALL of their submissions disqualified.
16. Videos will be accepted regardless of past victories in other contests, as long as they have been made between March 3th 2019 and the deadline (February 23rd, 2020). NO ANTI-TROLLING RULE!
17. We reserve the right to reject any video for any reason whatsoever.
How to Enter:
Send your submissions to kigacon@gmail.com with the subject line “AMV CONTEST ENTRY 2020.” If you do not submit it with that subject line, there is no guarantee we will enter it. Videos should contain either the studio name or the name you want to appear on the ballot, followed by a dash and a video title, like this: “Studio name – Video"
In your email, include a link to download your video, and a TEXT FILE (that means .txt)
containing the following:
Name (Please use your real name)
Video Title
Source Anime
Song Used
Song Artist
Category desired (we reserve the right to change this)
Email (again, this is in case we have to contact you. We will not give away your email for any
reason).
Address.
Are you attending the con? (Y/N).
We will email you when we have received and tested your entry to play on our system. The later you send your entry, the later we will get back to you. If you send at the last minute, you will NOT receive confirmation until after the deadline has passed, and there may not be time to resubmit if something goes wrong!
Contestants found to be falsifying information will be disqualified AND permanently banned from this contest.
Awards include first place in each category, Best in Show, and Coordinators choice.
Each category winner, Best in Show, and Coordinators Choice, shall receive a $25 gift certificate to Amazon.com. No runner up prizes. There will be an honorary Con Chair choice, but no prize associated. just bragging rights.
NOTE: PRIZES SHALL ONLY BE AWARDED TO UNITED STATES CITIZENS!.
If we receive too many entries to screen during our allotted time, finalists shall be determined by a panel of four judges, including myself. Judges shall be barred from voting in the final contest.
Entrees will be examined based on originality, editing skill, video/audio output quality, and entertainment value.
