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Random Comments Otakon Pre-Screening 6/22 and C-SMAC
2002-06-26 00:37:09
OTAKON PRE-SCREENING 6/22
-One good advantage about using your brother's cell phone for the day: it comes in handy when a group needs to order a pizza, but the pay phones don't work.
-Almost a year after premiering at Otakon, This is Otakudom still is something that is popular among otaku fans. When the pizzas arrived, some of the guys said "Pizza" a la the video ops workers in the film. Also, when the group was watching the Otakon 1996 AMV contest tape, as soon as Duane Johnson's video appeared, there came the obvious quotes about that AMV contest in This is Otakudom.
C-SMAC
-With summer now here, that means the club meetings are currently held in a regular classroom as opposed to a room with tables and a projected screen.
-The main thing that is popular among the people at C-SMAC: Rejected, a short film about a guy whose animated commercials keep getting rejected. Very quoteable and definitely has a lot of replay value. ("MY ANUS IS BLEEDING!" "YEAH!").
-While things were usual last meeting, the meeting before that was very different with the group watching Shaolin Soccer (definitely a major laugh-riot) and an episode of Jungle Guu. When it comes to Jungle Guu, I hope the club would more episodes, as well as include the fun OP.
Ciao. -
Second Otakon Pre-Screening Comments
2002-06-22 22:58:43
Today, I attended the Otakon pre-screening at College Park. Here's a few comments on today's pre-screening:
-I have to agree with Iserlohn as this year's contest won't be exciting as year's contest, as most of the videos were basically average. However, there were still a few good videos at both screenings that I atteneded (at least one per category).
-After talking to VicBond007, I definitely need to rewatch the two videos of his that I downloaded.
-During lunch break, part of the the 1996 Otakon AMV contest was shown. Boy how AMV technology improved in 6 years.
-Finally, another thing that would make the anti-Pandora's Cube people mad: Today, when stopping at the store, I saw that they had bootleg VHS copies of Spider-Man and Attack of the Clones.
That's all I can think about concerning today for now. -
Otakon Pre-Screening Comments
2002-06-08 19:54:29
Today, I headed to UMBC to help with the pre-judging of the Otakon AMV Contest. Obviously, I will not be able to mention what videos were played at this screening (as well as my comments) until after Otakon. Instead, I'm sticking to some comments about the things going on at the pre-screening itself:
-Since I had no idea about seating at these pre-screenings, I arrived at the college around 8:00 AM. However, I now that that next time, I should arrive there a little later.
-The rating system for the videos (-2 to +2) was simple for me, as I gave postive scores for videos that I felt would possibly be good contenders for the contest, negative scores for videos that I felt needed some work (output wise or structure wise), and 0 for those videos that I didn't care that much about.
-Before the showings of the videos, Matt announced some interesting news about Otakon and fan-made videos and parodies besides the AMV contest. However, while I'm allowed to speak about it, I think it is best for Matt to mention it.
-One big bummer: the best video of the screening IMO was sadly one of those non-competing videos (not naming names here).
Personally, I am willing to do another round of pre-judging (no matter which convention it is). Unfortunately, I have to work next Saturday. Oh well.
Joe Klemm -
Animazement AMV Contest Comments
2002-05-26 23:35:39
Here's my comments on the AMV contest:
First Place: Frontier Psychiatrist to Black Heaven. Does have some eerieness to it. Definitely something that's artistic while showcasing the world of Black Heaven.
Second Place: Tenth Man Down to Gundam 8th MS Squadron. Wasn't on my list of videos that I was impressed at. However, considering that this is the same person who made the Commissar video at last year's Otakon, the second place win wasn't surprising.
Third Place: Chop Suey to Angelic Layer. One of two videos made my people from the anime club I'm in, C-SMAC (the other being a video set to Soul Taker). Personally, I wondered how Senta would make this video a hit, considering all the Evangelion videos set to this song. As usual, Senta was able to make it worth with a good beginning and some good choice footage for the bridge (especially when you consider Icchan as somewhat of a father figure to Misaki).
Honorable Mention: It Wasn't Me to Urusei Yatsura. That's our Ataru. The type of guy who'd flirt with girls other than Lum, and the video's concept (him taking Cherry's advice to say it wasn't me) makes a good story to acommpany the song. Plus, it makes Cherry (as in the deranged monk, no the kawaii Saber Marionette) look somewhat cool.
Fan's Choice (forgot the actual category name): The Devil Went Down to Georgia to Violinist of Hamelin. The video well-deserved this award, considering how well the creators set this song (about a fiddling contest between a human and the Devil) to a show about a jerk of a violinist. I can't wait for this video to be downloadable
Straight Jacket Award: Space Madness to Cowboy Bebop: Ed as Ren Hoek leads to a fun video profile of everyone's favorite computer hacker.
Other comments:
A lot of variety when it comes to anime titles that appear in this video. Along with the the anime titles mentioned above, there's also some videos to the Big O and Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne.
One video that suprisingly worked was a video that set Weird Al's Jurassic Park to the first Pokemon movie. The only thing that could make the video better is to use DVD footage (instead of VHS).
Finally, it seemed that someone is trying to copy the success of the Happy Boys and Girls AMV that appeared on Otakon last year. However, despite some interesting clip choices (Evangelion and Escaflowne) and some anime titles that usually aren't used in videos (Yu-Gi-Oh, Digimon, and Unico), there's one thing the video lacks: structure, as most of the clips appear random. -
Animazement Comments
2002-05-26 23:09:45
I had a notebook full of notes about the convention, however it seems that I forgot to get it out of the car I rode to the place along with my camera and my photos from previous conventions (hey, I'm a little stressed out due to having to work tomorrow, so I was so busy thinking about work that I forgot to take them out), so I'll try to remember my trip by head, with the AMV's in a later journal topic.
THURSDAY:
I arrived with my anime club at 4:00 and checked in. After unpacking and me taking a shower, the group headed off for dinner at Bryan's and a supermarket. Interesting thing that I noticed: the 2x6 12 packs that the store had. Upon returning to the hotel, I got my badge and attended the pre-convention festivites. After watching Battle Royale, I called it a night.
FRIDAY:
The morning is was slow, though I did take a few cosplay pictures. Then, it was off to the dealers room for some serious spending. One problem: it seemed that when I tried to buy the Evangelion box set, my credit card was denied. So, I had to pay for it with cash. Luckily, the credit card worked fine after that. Interesting thing at the dealers room: plushies based on episode 8 of Love Hina (which I bought one of). That evening, I got the voice of Mendou from Urusei Yatsura to sign a DVD cover, then attended the AMV contest. Later, I saw Evangelion ReDeath and then attended Anime Hell. One things for sure: I am now a fan of the Yatta song.
SATURDAY:
A somewhat slow morning until the AMV contest review. Then, I went to see some Jungle Guu, which was funny, especially the episode where she cuts off the tribe chief's chest hair and wears it as an afro. I attended the cosplay contest, which wasn't as exciting as most contests (next year, try to have someone from William and Mary to help out with the contest). Then, I had some pizza and had some fun at the dance.
SUNDAY:
Only thing I wat to mention: saw the Detective Boy Conan movie.
Next time, I need to put my camera and convention bag in one of my regular bags.
JOURNAL: TnAdct1 (Joseph Klemm)
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