Otakon AMV contest- next year

[Toji Fujawara]

Ok what the hell i put my 2 cents in. Ok as stated by everyone cutting the pre-screenings out sucks. Next making an earlyer dead line. That really doesn't seem to effect me much and was best stated by

Many AMV creators know when the cons are and can keep track of deadlines and plan their time. I know many people who don't start until the last minute too ... so I don't see an earlier deadline as being that bad of a thing.

Ok other then that the only real solution i can see is making geting more help. I mean as it has been stated before Otakon is a huge amv contes and 2 people running it alone is a hell of alot of work. Get some help. The stricter pre-screening and multiple pre-screenings aren't that bad of an idea. So lets see out of the proposed solutions i have to say your best 2 are:

1)Earlyer pre-screening

2)more help

P.S Im toying with a notion in my head that might work but its only on paper at the momment if it comes out to any kind of sence in the next few days ill post it.

[aluminumstudios]

First of all, I just want to point out that "getting a larger staff" is not one of the three things listed in his post. Perhaps an e-mail would've been more suited for that. We have to remember that he is running the contest, not us, but I'm sure he's open to suggestions.

He said "I'm looking for feedback on this thread" and "If you can think of another alternative, speak up." so this seems like the place for discussion of alternatives, even if not originally mentioned by him.

Also, he is the coordinator, but the contest is for the benefit of #1 - the thousands of people attending Otakon and #2 - the AMV creators. So input from those groups is important and I'm glad he seems to think so too.

I don't think there is one solution to this large challenge, probably a combination of more and earlier pre-screenings (possibly with an earlier deadline), more strict requirements (disqualifying videos before the pre-screening if they obviously violate rules or quality standards such as subs, watermarks (I'd like to see that darned DivX logo be a disqualifying factor), inappropriate content, etc.), and additional people to help out. More people helping out doesn't necessarily mean that the central coordinator has to give up his position or share coordination responsibilities too much, it can be as simple as delegating specific responsibilities such as running pre-screenings, pre-filtering the videos looking for ones with obvious disqualifying factors, etc. to others.

[Mroni]

Would this mean I can't submit my plushie vid Lol. Charging at the door for the prescreenings isn't a bad idea. If you want to see the competition early you have to pay. Oh well that's my 2 shillings.


Mr Oni

[Senta]

Charging at the door for the prescreenings isn't a bad idea. If you want to see the competition early you have to pay.

It's not a bad idea... it's a HORRIBLE idea. How would charging people who volunteer their time to prescreen even help solve the problem mentioned by the opening post? Too many prescreeners isn't the problem.

[aluminumstudios]

Charging at the door for the prescreenings isn't a bad idea. If you want to see the competition early you have to pay.

It's not a bad idea... it's a HORRIBLE idea. How would charging people who volunteer their time to prescreen even help solve the problem mentioned by the opening post? Too many prescreeners isn't the problem.

Charging for pre-screenings wouldn't be good, but it's not unheard of to charge entrance fees for various types of contests in other fields. Perhaps a nominal charge (like $5) to enter the AMV contest (due when you send in your signed paper) would help. This money would go to support the contest and it's growing costs. It could also help reduce the overwhelming number of entries by discouraging those who may not be serious about it and are just sending a video for the sake of sending it. If Otakon did this, then perhaps they could offer the option of having your video screened in the screening room, but not be eligable for the contest if someone doesn't wish to pay the nominal (keyword - nominal, so anyone can afford) entrance fee.

I can imagine some people having a strong objection to this idea, but if you stop and look at how other types of contests and tournaments are managed (and manage to survive) it doesn't seem completely unreasonable of a concept. The important thing is to ensure that the cost is low enough that anyone capapble of making a video could afford it easily and that there is an option to have a video screened without competing.)

Speaking of screening, is there any type of option for someone who might want to have their video shown at the con during the AMV screening but not necessarily be part of the contest? I've run into a numer of people before who were intersted in simply having their video seen and who weren't necessarily focused on being in the contest. The AMV screening rooms were packed last year, it was really nice too the way posterboards were placed outside listing the videos that would show during the different time frames. Perhaps an additional thing to consider to help with the growth is to offer an option to have the video screened during the con, but not up for the contest. This way you may have fewer to pre-screen for the contest (since these would only have to be checked quickly to make sure it has appropirate content by the coordinator?)

Just some thoughts ...

[genestarwind21122]

You really can't do that. That would be like gathering all of your music videos together and saying I'll burn them to disk and you give me $5.00 to support my computer and burner. The whole thing about amv contest are they are suppost to be free of charge. I wouldn't mind an earlier deadline like I said before. Charging for things and getting rid of prescreenings I think are out of the question.

[aluminumstudios]

I think charging to see the contest and charging to enter a video into the contest are two different things (and I'm suggesting charging an entrace fee which is far different from charging for your work.) Theoretically the constest is funded by con registration fees. The amount of money that the growing contest recieves may not be enough, so I was suggesting a nominal entrance fee as an alternative to help cope with the growth (and pay for costs associated with pre-screenings, resources and materials needed to handle the large number of submissions, etc.) Most large, organized, competitions have an entrace fee of some kind (I remember paying $30 or more years ago to enter Tae Kwon Do tournaments for example.) I've also been to cell painting workshops and such that charged a nominal fee because the event consumed resouces that had to be supported somehow ...

[iserlohn]

Too many prescreeners isn't the problem.

Ain't that the truth. All you have to do is say "prescreenings are this weekend" and anyone who watches AMVs wants to tag along. IMHO the more the merrier until they start demanding compensation for the mental anguish caused by watching 6-8 hours of AMVs at a time.

Charging for pre-screenings wouldn't be good, but it's not unheard of to charge entrance fees for various types of contests in other fields. Perhaps a nominal charge (like $5) to enter the AMV contest (due when you send in your signed paper) would help.

I'd be up for this. I still say, though, that the fastest way to drop submissions in the Otakon prescreenings is to force people to buy a prereg.

Speaking of screening, is there any type of option for someone who might want to have their video shown at the con during the AMV screening but not necessarily be part of the contest?

IIRC this has always been on the contest reg form, but it still means filling out the contest form to get your video shown (since it has all the grouping information and the "you can show my video" waiver). At that point I'd imagine most people go "why bother" and leave it in.

Also, I believe one of the goals of prescreenings on the administrative side is to compile all the non-contest tapes in advance as a way to get organised early, calculate runtimes, make sure nothing's glitched, etc. In 2002, the prescreening tapes were shown as-is in the fan programming track. In 2003 they were redone as the prescreening tapes themselves were rushed out 48 hours before the event.

[Nightowl]

Charging people to enter a contest that uses copyright prohibited material, technically, is VERY illegal - there are many small film festivals that have been shut down due to legal issues for doing the same thing. Some festivals try to bypass the laws by having a disclaimer and/or forcing the entrant to sign that they have obtained permission. There are two problems with that - one, it's the contest/festival's ultimate responsibility to check for copyrights; and two, should an entrant's work be shown and they did sign said document, they can also be held accountable. I know I'm not willing to go to court over an AMV contest... The only reason legality would truly matter in this case is Otakon is huge. There's always the chance some RIAA misfit could be in the audience, waiting for the chance to pounce. In this Bush climate of insanity, I wouldn't doubt it.

Besides, is money really the question here? There are better ways to cut back the contest... Making money an issue as far as AMVs go, for me, will never happen unless the legal issues get ironed out. We're safe for now. If the contest isn't running low on funds, then there's a monetary return on the AMV contest. You guys could get some bean counters in there, route the money into the rest of the con, spend a little extra on the contest itself; however, if it was working as-is, there is still a legal issue once money exchanges hands.

Charging people to enter isn't actually an option, right? I mean, this is about getting less entries, so one person doesn't go insane...

Personally, out of all of this, I HATE the idea of a cutoff (i.e. amount of videos in the contest), as I'm a last minute entrant myself. I like those few extra seconds to perfect one shot. But that's just me. Also, I like the ideas of more people handling the tapes. It's not hard to get people to work for a con, let alone an AMV contest, free of charge. In my opinion, that's the simplest way to take care of things.

You know, one reason I like the Otakon AMV contest is that it's run pretty much like a film festival, minus a panel of judges judging your work and the whole money situation. A bigger staff would probably help. Pre-screenings are not that different from staff. Pulling back the entrance date is cool too. A deadline is a deadline, regardless. Hell, most festival deadlines are six months in advance due to the number of entries. If money isn't an issue, don't consider it. If it is, call a lawyer. A good one.

-N

[aluminumstudios]

Charging people to enter a contest that uses copyright prohibited material, technically, is VERY illegal
-N

It was just an idea of how to to get resources and possibly scale be some entries, I didn't think of that! Money wasn't mentioned as a current need, I was just throwing a suggestion out that sounded good before reading your post.