OTAKON: BASIC AMV Rules for 2007

[hackerzc]

Otakon's AMV contest is going through a slight transitional period at the moment. Things are changing hands, and changes are being made based on input we have received.
Because some of the details are up in the air at the moment it will be impossible to release the full rules and submission form until all items are settled. We had planned on releasing everything on Otakon's website some time in December, however as I am writing this the final release date is unknown.
Because we are unsure of exactly when every detail of the rules will be finalized, here are some basics that should aid everyone in starting their 2007 entry:

• -NUMBER OF SUBMISSIONS:
  One (1) AMV submission per person or group of collaborators.
  
  -NO TROLLING/OLD AMV's:
  Only music videos that have not already won awards or prizes at other conventions' AMV contests may COMPETE. Videos that have won awards at other conventions may be sent as non-competing entries to be shown in the general screenings. NO ENTRY that has previously been shown at Otakon may be submitted again. No entries older than 2 years.
  
  -NO CONFLICT OF INTERESTS:
  Staff and Guests of Otakon may submit AMV's for screening, but are not eligible to compete in the anime music video contest.
  
  -FORMAT:
  720x480, NTSC (29.97fps) video.
  
  -COMPONENTS/INGREDIENTS OF SUBMISSIONS:
  A) Your AMV must be set predominantly to some kind of music (certain bands may be prohibited from use at a future date), and must use predominantly anime footage (kaiju or sentai footage is also ok, but no live action film [eastern OR western] is allowed).
  B) NO subtitles or dubbed sound from licensed commercial translations, or footage with random subtitles from fan-subtitled anime is allowed (you are allowed to use any sound effects, dubs, or titles of your own creation however).
  
  -DURATION OF SUBMISSIONS:
  No shorter than 30 seconds, No longer than 6 minutes.
  
  -NO CREDITS AND BUMPERS:
  Do NOT create your own video credits or bumpers (advertising your studio, or containing credit information) to your entry.
  
  -NO LOGOS:
  No codec trade marks (including DivX, XviD, WMV, etc), TV Network logos (Cartoon Network, Anime Network, etc.), or any other type of commercial watermark. This also includes your studio logo.
  
  -NO OBJECTIONABLE CONTENT:
  Entries must be suitable for viewers under 21 years of age (this means children as well).
  
  -NO NON-AMVs:
  No Parodies, Commercials, etc.
  
  -NO AMV-HELL VIDEOS:
  Due to numerous objections/complaints, we no longer allow "AMV-HELL" style entries (any entries we receive like this will be reviewed on a case by case basis).
  *NOTE, this rule is highly subject to change before the final rules are posted*
  
  -CONTEST DEADLINE:
  As yet unknown, expect a late May date (subject to change).

Please be aware that these are just some of the key things you need to know so you can start work on your entries, and should be used as a general guideline. Everything here, as well as final format requirements and submission address will be covered in great detail once the full rules are made available.

Please use this time to give us any feedback you may have before the rules are set in stone. The AMV feedback thread on Otakon's BBS can be found here: http://board.otakon.com/viewtopic.php?t=10094

[Scintilla]

Obligatory technical clarification question:

-FORMAT:
720x480, NTSC (29.97fps) video.

Are 23.976fps MPEG-2s with the 3:2 pulldown flag set still acceptable?

[Adv1sor]

-NO AMV-HELL VIDEOS:
Due to numerous objections/complaints, we no longer allow "AMV-HELL" style entries (any entries we receive like this will be reviewed on a case by case basis).
*NOTE, this rule is highly subject to change before the final rules are posted*

What the? What "objections/complaints" would anyone have for these highly entertaining style of AMVs?

[Fall_Child42]

I'm especially concerned with

-COMPONENTS/INGREDIENTS OF SUBMISSIONS:
A) Your AMV must be set predominantly to some kind of music (certain bands may be prohibited from use at a future date)

Why would a certain band be prohibited? Does this not seem a tad much? I have no idea what the reasoning behind this would be but i'm guessing

A: Songs are not suitable for people under 21

B: Band is used to often and the videos that use that band suck.

A is fixable through radio edits, and has already been covered by the "under 21" rule

B just because a bunch of videos to a band SUCK doesn't mean that using that band is going to Make the video suck, that right there is a logical fallacy.

If there is another reason I'd like to know what it is and the judges reasonging for telling us what bands are and are not music or acceptable.

[Scintilla]

I'm especially concerned with

-COMPONENTS/INGREDIENTS OF SUBMISSIONS:
A) Your AMV must be set predominantly to some kind of music (certain bands may be prohibited from use at a future date)

Why would a certain band be prohibited? Does this not seem a tad much? I have no idea what the reasoning behind this would be but i'm guessing

A: Songs are not suitable for people under 21

B: Band is used to often and the videos that use that band suck.

A is fixable through radio edits, and has already been covered by the "under 21" rule

B just because a bunch of videos to a band SUCK doesn't mean that using that band is going to Make the video suck, that right there is a logical fallacy.

If there is another reason I'd like to know what it is and the judges reasonging for telling us what bands are and are not music or acceptable.

I'd like to add that using overused music will usually put a video at a disadvantage in the prescreenings, giving it less of a chance to make the finals. If the video is actually good enough to make it (see "Faithless", the LP/NGE video from Otakon 2004), it will.

Only other reason I can think of is trouble with the record labels, but Otakon's one of the cons that's big enough to be able to pay them off every year...

[hackerzc]

Obligatory technical clarification question:
Are 23.976fps MPEG-2s with the 3:2 pulldown flag set still acceptable?

I edit progressively in 24fps myself and yes, 3:2 Pulldown would change the speed to 29.97fps (via duplicating frames) conforming to the NTSC standard we use.
All of this will be covered in greater detail (including bitrate info) once final submission format details are released in the rules.

What the? What "objections/complaints" would anyone have for these highly entertaining style of AMVs?

Search for any Otakon post-con AMV threads. You should be able to locate the instances of this. The main reason however, was that when relating to comedy specifically, AMV-Hell style video are considered to be in a class of their own as they can be considered a "ringer" in the category. A helpful analogy would be "it's like having a comedy video in romance.... the funny video will always win".

AMV-Hell type videos have their place, and in no way am I saying they are not entertaining. It has simply been decided that for this AMV contest, such entries create a general bias in their favor, and therefor are not being allowed entry into the contest at this time.

As has been stated, each video fitting this style will be subject to review before it is accepted or declined for the contest. Further more, this rule is subject to change before the full rules are released via Otakon's website, and as such will see changes/refinement between now and then.

Why would a certain band be prohibited? Does this not seem a tad much? I have no idea what the reasoning behind this would be but i'm guessing.

The reason has to do with the ASCAP General License, and legality pertaining to the use of certain performers music at con. I can/will not go into further detail on the subject at this time.

• I would like to further go on to say that all Basic Rules that have been set forth in the original post are to be considered current policy for the AMV contest and are not open for debate. They are meant as an aid to help editors begin their 2007 entries before the full and complete rules are released. With the exception of the AMV-Hell rule (which will likely be further expanded and wording changed), it is very unlikely that there will be any future changes to what has been outlined above.

[genestarwind21122]

Well I think the bands should be stated now. If Otakon wants to avoid pissing off more creators. Tell Otakon that they need to do this. What if you were working on amv right now for Otakon and then they say oh that band is not allowed to be used in our contest. This puts the creator at a disadvantage. Westbrook not to jump on your back but in all seriousness we need to know what is and is not allowed. I know I'll be starting my Otakon video within a month from now.

[Adv1sor]

What the? What "objections/complaints" would anyone have for these highly entertaining style of AMVs?

Search for any Otakon post-con AMV threads. You should be able to locate the instances of this. The main reason however, was that when relating to comedy specifically, AMV-Hell style video are considered to be in a class of their own as they can be considered a "ringer" in the category. A helpful analogy would be "it's like having a comedy video in romance.... the funny video will always win".

AMV-Hell type videos have their place, and in no way am I saying they are not entertaining. It has simply been decided that for this AMV contest, such entries create a general bias in their favor, and therefor are not being allowed entry into the contest at this time.

hmmm, I've always adhered to the philosophy of, their contest, their rules. In other words, whatever you say the rules are, so they are and no one should really complain as we each have the option of submitting entries under these rules or not. However, since this rule is not yet cast in stone, please allow me a little rant of sorts. (Note that I myself have yet to try and make an AMV-Hell type AMV.)

The main objection I have is that, this is a contest. In my opinion, the winner of a contest should be the best video submitted. I believe that you do an injustice to the AMV fans, which far outnumber the AMV creators, by not allowing the best of the comedy videos to compete simply because they might be far better than the other competitors. Furthermore, you do an injustice to those of us who will compete. I consider myself lucky if I even make it into a contest. But, if by some weird stroke of luck I ever won, I wouldn't want to think that I won because the best were not allowed to compete.

[Scintilla]

Obligatory technical clarification question:
Are 23.976fps MPEG-2s with the 3:2 pulldown flag set still acceptable?

I edit progressively in 24fps myself and yes, 3:2 Pulldown would change the speed to 29.97fps (via duplicating frames) conforming to the NTSC standard we use.

I know what 3:2 pulldown does; I'm not talking about actually doing it myself before encoding. I'm talking about encoding at 23.976fps and setting the flag that tells the <i>hardware</i> to apply the pulldown automatically.
Most cons handle such MPEG-2s fine, but I can imagine that there's always a possibility that some playback hardware doesn't handle it correctly, so it never hurts to get this clarified in advance.

What the? What "objections/complaints" would anyone have for these highly entertaining style of AMVs?

Search for any Otakon post-con AMV threads. You should be able to locate the instances of this. The main reason however, was that when relating to comedy specifically, AMV-Hell style video are considered to be in a class of their own as they can be considered a "ringer" in the category. A helpful analogy would be "it's like having a comedy video in romance.... the funny video will always win".

Except in 2005. I thought that was plenty enough proof that a segmented video in Comedy was by no means a sure winner.


*grumble mutter A SONG FOR EVERYONE growl grumble...*

[jbone]

Well I think the bands should be stated now.

Unfortunately, I need to take Westbrook's side with this one:

Otakon can in no way predict whether a band's representation will suddenly offer a "cease and desist" between now and the con, so there's no way to list ALL the bands right now.