Tora-Con 2023 AMV Contest - Deadline Feb 4th

[SpuddStaaa]

Hi there any updates on how it all went?

[Tora-Con AMV Contest]

Hello everyone.
Sorry for the radio silence. I was waiting for our webmaster and social media team to put together a pretty Contest Winners page that I could link to for this announcement, but alas. I found out today that our webmaster is currently out of state without a computer, and I do not wish to wait any longer. I'll let you all know when the official page is up, for anyone who is interested.

Without further ado, below is a list of the Tora-Con 2023 finalists! Winners are highlighted in red. There were a few double-winners. As noted in our rules, this is possible as long as one award is from the judges and the other award is from audience voting. This list will also be emailed to all finalists. Winners will be emailed separately as well.

Action:

1. Shattered Psycho
Editor: SpuddStaaa
Audio: Burn the House Down by AJR
Video: Mob Psycho 100

2. STAR WALKIN - Joestar AMV
Editor: Volcaic
Audio: Star Walkin' by Lil' Nas X
Video: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

3. Slay the Slayers
Editor: Nuke
Audio: Black Veins by Adept
Video: Demon Slayer

4. Praeter's Symphony
Editor: VAERYN
Audio: In Your Head by Rival x Cadmium (ft. Micah Martin)
Video: Project Scard

5. Fire Force - Sentinel
Editor: Blue Rabbit Entertainment
Audio: Sentinel (Original Mix) by Midnight Conspiracy & Cenob1te
Video: Fire Force

6. High Hopes For A Season
Editor:SonsofKorhal9
Audio: High Hopes by Panic! at the Disco
Video: Various
Action Category Winner / Judges’ Choice Winner

Romance:

1. Wunseirmein
Editor: UnluckyArtist
Audio: Dark Horse by Christina Grimmie
Video: Call of the Night

2. Aggressive Years
Editor: Tyken
Audio: Selfish Years by Honestly
Video: Aggretsuko

3. Times Like These
Editor: Synæsthesia Productions
Audio: Times Like These by Foo Fighters
Video: Summer Ghost

4. Love Persevering
Editor: Anonymous
Audio: Lift Me Up by Rihanna
Video: Ride Your Wave
Romance Category Winner

5. Autumn
Editor:PiercedSky
Audio: All Too Well by Taylor Swift
Video: NANA

6. Villain
Editor:Pyrothemusical
Audio: Villain by Stella Jang (English cover by nmngh)
Video: Call of the Night

Upbeat:

1. Summer Holiday
Editor:Lelani
Audio: Summer Days by Martin Garrix (ft. Macklemore & Patrick Stump)
Video: Polar Bear Cafe
Upbeat Category Winner

2. I Want a Girl
Editor:AMVunit03
Audio: Short Skirt/Long Jacket by Cake
Video: Cowboy Bebop

3. Horsing Around
Editor:Always Drafts
Audio: Getting Along by Royal Republic
Video: Uma Musume, Umayon

4. 5 Minutes To Save The World
Editor:ResyAMV
Audio: 4 Minutes by Madonna (ft. Justin Timberlake)
Video: Tiger & Bunny

5. Bocchi the Video Star
Editor:F-Zero TV
Audio: Video Killed the Radio Star by Lolita no.18
Video: Bocchi the Rock
Artistic Merit Winner

6. Take Me With You
Editor:SonsofKorhal9
Audio: Cross My Heart by Marianas Trench
Video: Various
Best in Show Winner

Comedy/Parody:

1. Actual conversation between Koga and Inuyasha
Editor: Rider4Z
Audio: "Don't Talk to Strangers" skit by Max Forrest
Video:Inuyasha

2. The Retired Yakuza
Editor: Nuke
Audio: Rubberbandman by Yello
Video: The Retired Yakuza

3. Flying Purple Servant Eater
Editor: Mooncell Automaton
Audio: The Purple People Eater by Sheb Wooley
Video:Fate/Stay Night

4. Super Loid Bros
Editor: SpuddStaaa
Audio: Super Mario Bros music & sound effects
Video:Spy x Family
Comedy/Parody Category Winner & Editing Skills Winner

Drama:

1. Left Outside Alone
Editor: Takeshi
Audio: Left Outside Alone by Anastacia
Video:Violet Evergarden

2. Last Dance
Editor: Lelani
Audio: Swan Lake (Epic Trailer Ver) by Hidden Citizens
Video: Dance Dance Danseur
Drama Category Winner

3. Tribute to the Shield
Editor: Speedy180
Audio: Face the Fire by Shangrii-La
Video:Shield Hero

4. Battlefield Sleeps
Editor: VAERYN
Audio: Battlefield by SVRcina (NightcoreReality remix)
Video: What Do You Do at the End of the World?

5. Koe no Katachi - Everything Will Be Okay
Editor: Blue Rabbit Entertainment
Audio: Everything Will Be Okay by Edward van der Merwe
Video: A Silent Voice

6. Sad Trombone Noises
Editor: Troubleclef and SeanPNG
Audio: Running Up That Hill by Feed the Biirds
Video: Death Parade

Trailer/Other:

1. Together
Editor: Pyrothemusical
Audio: Tsukiyo no Ongakukai by Akiko Shikata
Video: Spy x Family

2. Black Mamba
Editor: Athrun
Audio: Rise to the Top by Brawl Stars
Video: Kuroko's Basket

3. The Sky Beast
Editor: SilkAMV
Audio: The Sea Beast Official Teaser
Video: Drifting Dragons

4. Wings Out
Editor: Gestalt
Audio: Knives Out Trailer 1
Video: Umineko When They Cry
Trailer/Other Category Winner

5. Eren Yeager - The Founding Titan
Editor: ENITZ
Audio: Black Adam Official Trailer 2
Video: Attack on Titan

6. Southern Fried Telenovela
Editor: drewaconclusion
Audio: A Recipe For Seduction Trailer
Video: Food Wars

[Tora-Con AMV Contest]

For anyone who wants to know how the "in person" event went:

Well, this was probably the most technically-challenged Tora-Con AMV Contest I have had to run, for 2 main reasons.
1. Last year, the Rochester Institute of Technology (the college that hosts Tora-Con) informed us that all video screenings needed to be subtitled, including the AMV Contest. This is largely due to the fact that RIT is also home to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, and as such there is a large deaf/hoh community both on campus and in the city at large. However, it did put a lot of extra work on our staff to subtitle all of the videos in the two weeks we had between determining who the finalists were and the contest itself. My brand-new assistant, who has never subtitled anything before, was a real MVP and did half of the subtitles by himself. I do have those .ass files available if any finalists are interested in having them--just email me.
2. My husband, who helps with the contest (he's sort of a "shadow coordinator"), is a video fidelity fanatic. As such, we use UTVideo for everything. This is a lossless codec and results in some truly monstrous files. Our final AMV Contest screening file was 131 GB. It turns out that I did not have 131 GB free on my computer, and the export failed... twice! I was waiting for the final export to finish Saturday morning of the con because my second attempt the night before had failed! A rather frantic situation for me, as I like to have everything ready to go well in advance. This should not be a problem next year--after explaining the situation to some other Tora-Con staff, someone donated 20 TB to us to use for both the AMV Contest and all of the Tora-Con videography files (which we are also responsible for storing)!

Despite these setbacks before the con, the actual screenings on Saturday and Sunday went off without a hitch. We had relatively few attendees on Saturday, due to the fact that a very large winter storm hit our region on Friday night. The con was very quiet the following morning. This was the first year in my memory that I had more attendees during the Sunday screening. The Sunday screening was pretty lively, with audience reactions and such. Overall, the AMV Contest was well received and was noted as a "favorite event" by a few attendees in our convention feedback survey.

I want to again thank everyone who submitted a video to our contest, even if it was not chosen as a finalist or as a winner. Having so many great AMVs submitted is what allows our contest (and the contests of other conventions, I am sure) be a wonderful experience for our attendees. I'll keep working to have our content guidelines loosened, but don't hold your breath. I look forward to everyone's AMVs next year!

[Tyken12]

Sorry to hear about the tech difficulties. Those are always rough, when contest running is stressful to begin with.

Thank you for the chance, I'm glad my Aggressive Years got to compete again (and I sure as hell don't mind losing to Lover Persevering, I cry everytime at that one). Look forward to next year!

[Rider4Z]

Got my plaque and snacks, thanks!