Judging AMVs: a rigorous approach

[Therax]

There are people who enjoy making "flavor of the week" videos, and there are others who enjoy watching them. It's all a matter of perspective, and I don't think that your contest is going to change that, or that the people who watch your contest are going to care. They're simply watching it to have a good time.

I think this gets to the heart of the matter. There are those who enjoy watching "flavor of the week" or "one trick pony" videos, and the current contest structure is actually very good at collecting these types of videos, rewarding them, and making them easy to find by providing lists of winners.

My goal isn't to change the types of videos being made. That isn't going to happen. Nor is my goal to change the people entering the contest, or to change the people viewing it. It is to provide an alternative system of collecting balanced videos, rewarding them, and making them easy to find by generating lists of "winners." This is a goal I don't feel is being served presently.

There are over a hundred thousand videos listed on a-m-v.org. Finding videos to one's personal taste is difficult, and going through the forums, or downloading at random isn't feasible. AMV contests in general do a great job of filtering down the sea of videos and helping fans find videos they might want to watch. The current style of running contests tends to select certain types of videos. I'm proposing a different type of contest, to select different types of videos.

Some people like balanced videos. Some don't like them, preferring purity of concept, or simply don't care. That's entirely fine, and if you're not interested in searching out balanced videos, the contest won't interest you, and nor will this thread.

If you think the idea of searching for balanced videos is a bad one, then I thank you for your time in reading this thread, and ask you to move on. If you think the idea of searching for balanced videos is something that might be worthwhile for you, then I welcome your comments and suggestions on how to make that happen.

[Orwell]

My latest undertaking should answer this thread.

Six months and a lot less sanity later....

[BasharOfTheAges]

You just enjoy calling me out, don't you

I was kinda of the impression that Doki did the same thing with Hell0 Fairy too... But you know that was just inference on my part, not him actually telling me.

[inthesto]

Audience members may be sheep, but even sheep get it right, sometimes. Further, if they're all idiots and vote stupidly, thus honoring undeserving videos, it would be true that videos that win at conventions do not deserve to win. This is just not the case - videos that receive awards may really deserve those honors - regardless of what peevish AMV editors think who believe their dipped-in-gold artiste's vision is just too sophisticated to be appreciated by the rabble.

Did I mention how stupid and worthless people are? Because if I did, I obviously did not emphasize my point enough.

[dokool]

You just enjoy calling me out, don't you

I was kinda of the impression that Doki did the same thing with Hell0 Fairy too... But you know that was just inference on my part, not him actually telling me.

I'm pretty sure his was more 'the joke's on the audience," while mine had more contempt and vitriol behind it.

[Adv1sor]

Look at it this way, which movies do you tend to enjoy the most?

The Oscar winners or the blockbusters?

Or which show do you find more entertaining, the Oscars or the MTV Movie Awards?

[Beowulf]

In all seriousness, if anyone is trying to get a legitimate balanced contest off the ground and needs, judges, send me a PM. I'd gladly judge it or help out in any way.

I'm very opinionated and judgmental but I'm also very GOOD, so it will balance out

[mikestrife]

In all seriousness, if anyone is trying to get a legitimate balanced contest off the ground and needs, judges, send me a PM. I'd gladly judge it or help out in any way.

I'm very opinionated and judgmental but I'm also very GOOD, so it will balance out

I was at Anime North this year and in the AMV creators party that weekend we were discussing how the judging was and who we thought should have won and so on. This post just reminded me because two of the guys there were saying how Beowulf should be the judge of any amv comp.

[Ingow]

Beowulf should be the judge of any amv comp.

[DriftRoot]

Please don't slap a "YOU SUCK BECAUSE EVERYONE LIKES YOU" label on award recipients just because they won and you're feeling whiny. Bad, bad idea. A better idea would be to try your hand at making a crowd-pleaser, win an award and prove your point. If it's that easy to make fantastic crap, then go for it.

1. Most of the time they suck because they suck. People with taste and know about editing can tell you that.

2. It's been done a few times before. If anyone wants to admit one of their "contempt for audience - and done to prove a point" videos was just that they can (and should do so in this very thread if they're so inclined). I can point to a few that are most likely that kind of video.

1. This is my point, getting whiny about who/what wins at conventions based on the premise that audiences will pick undeserving videos ignores the fact that if "most" suck, then "some" don't suck, and so audiences can't be complete morons - just really close to it.

2. I know it's been done, and it's been admitted by some people. If an editor is just out for name recognition in the fan community and cares less about a "balanced" AMV, then hey, that's their choice. I think it's the editors who want these unbalanced AMVs considered creationary genius that folks have issues with.

Did I mention how stupid and worthless people are? Because if I did, I obviously did not emphasize my point enough.

I think you did, but it's fun to add some nice imagery to that concept. I'm picturing the AMV contest is over, the announcer is asking the winners to come up on stage, the audience is milling around like unwashed, illiterate peasants and the nonwinning editors are skulking in the wings - rotten tomatoes in hand. Ah, I can almost smell them now.

Wait, that's our office fridge.