AMV feedback

[meerkat]

So as far as the contest goes, I found it on the whole to be more enjoyable than last year. It was a little more carefree and less technical--last year there was a lot of stuff geared toward other editors rather than the audience, and yes, the other editors may be amazed by your technical masterpiece, but the audience most likely is not.

For the most part all of the AMVs were very good, and there were some VERY notable submissions, mainly in the 'other' category--one that jumps out is chaobunny's sucker punch remix. I was surprised that didn't take best in show.

The one beef I had was with the comedy section: I found it to be stale, some of the editing seemed a little less polished, and none of them were very funny except for the ouran video.

[Sayoria]

IMO, and *sprays flameguard around self*

Comedy was a bust, but it is expected with only 7 entries. I don't blame the creators so much as I blame the category for being absolutely hard in the first place to do. I also tend to completely play straight face in this category, and actually place judge on that makes me laugh. Sadly, not one video in the category this year made me laugh. Some ideas were interesting. Editing was nice in others, but just none of them worked for me. Warlike Swan's Video won, and it was nice, but I think that would be more suitable for the "Fun" in the "Fun/Upbeat" category. I was at the feedback session, heard their reasons for it's placement with the lyrics and all, and while I understand, the video was more "fun" than "Funny". No offense girls. The video was great though. I love MC Akio. Smart idea, haha.

Other was okay. While I am really good friends with one of the other finalists, I sadly have to include her in my tiff with other here. 4/5 of the videos were trailers. Surely, "Other" doesn't have to be strictly limited to trailer videos. They are interesting, but maybe it is just me when I say, I would love to see more people come up with a bit more variety than just trailers. They were good, but at this point, we might as well rename the category.

Drama, I saw only Imagica, due to appearing late, but thankfully, a friend was able to find the rest of the videos expect the first one on youtube and shown me them all. They were pretty cool. My main thing here was, while I LOVE Shin's work and editing (Won't lie, I even envy it), I "personally" didn't feel the drama in the video. It's a strange video. Perhaps this would have been suitable for Other, or, I would feel so. It would add more variety to the category, it gave it's own genre feel, and it was just, you know.... cool. I might be along here in seeing this, but I kinda take drama for a more serious sort of category. Be it emotionally, or heavily impacting. I didn't get that from Shin's video, as much as I liked it. As for the rest of the videos, they were nice.

Romance, the only video I really saw suitable for "Best Romance" was, and thankfully it won, the Kimi No Todoke video. It didn't just throw in random couples. It didn't shove kisses or such in our faces. It was a video showing a story, building up the love of both characters, to a really nice song (Really, I might become an Owl City fan thanks to this video).... One other thing I noticed about this is, it was a perfectly made video, using a simple, one anime, that isn't overly popular as well. This was probably my personal "Best in Show". The Panty and Stocking one was awesome, and I know I saw the romance SLIGHTLY in it, but from a spectator view, it felt like it was more of a "Fun" video than a romance one.

Action, this category is hard. I cannot really remember all these videos too well, but I know a few videos in the category were less actiony, more "Move fast-y". Not bad, but eh, I just don't see fast non-actiony scenes as action. The category was probably the strongest one though. I had no clue who was going to take this one. It looked pretty neck to neck.

Fun/Upbeat was pretty nice. All the videos had the "Fun", but not all of them had enough "Upbeat" to them. I know the category doesn't ride on just fun AND upbeat, but one or the other. IMO, the character was a tough choice between the top three on the ballot. All of them were strong in this category. The lower two on the ballot..... not bad either, but sadly, I never saw K-On or Baccano! was it?..... I forget....but sadly, those videos didn't sell me any interest on those two series. Pretty nice videos still though.


Again, just my opinion. I think the best categories for the whole spread were F/U and Action.

[DriftRoot]

I'll just say what I said at animemusicvideos.org about this year's contest: it's one of the few times I've been at AB and felt the contest was very well balanced, with the majority of the videos pulling their own weight and giving me more than one clear-cut choice when it came time to vote. (One thing I always find fun is listening to audience commentary as we exit the room after the contest. In the 10' around me, at least, there were some intense conversations going on as to how and why people voted the way they did.) I also appreciated the mix of series, old and new, popular and more obscure. This is a nice thing for a contest to have and goes to show that popular anime + popular music is not a required combination or whatever for getting into the finals.

Loved that the contest was held in Exhibit Hall D - it was a great space and I didn't miss being in the main auditorium at all. The sound seemed a little less impressive and not as sharp in Hall D, but since in recent years the volume and intensity of the audio has been overwhelming, I am overall very happy. (I remember looking up in what seemed like slow motion and spotting one of the speakers directly overhead with a great feeling of dread, but it turned out to be fine.)

To speak to Yukito's comments about the videos in each category, this year there did seem to be quite a few AMVs which could easily have been appropriate for different categories. Since the editor's choose which categories they wish to enter and videos don't seem to be re-located by the judges on a whim, though, this just doesn't seem like something AB has much control over under the current system, just like they can't control who submits what to the contest. If a video doesn't score high enough for the finals, IMO it shouldn't get preferential treatment just for the sake of making a given category more diverse (ex. all the trailers in Other).

Suggestion: I know AB doesn't post a pre-show finalists list, but could this list perhaps be offered during the con in some way? Whether printed sheets, on a sign(s), on a screen, etc. - make an announcement at the start of each screening that lists will be available if you stop by con ops or visit the AMV table outside Hall D or something, then gauge how many people ask for them. The AMV contest is always well attended, but the ballots are the only list which exists and people are asked to give those up when they vote. This was mentioned in the AMV Feedback panel as a drawback. Who knows, maybe people are hanging onto ballots because they want to keep this list for themselves! It would be nice to see the list posted promptly in the forums, as well. A list isn't usually available here for a bit, not even of the winners, but it seems like that's something that could be drafted up beforehand and then posted once the first screening has been completed and the cat is out of the bag, as it were.

[Sayoria]

I agree with the ballot thing. The passed few years attending, I would go to the contest, get the ballot, fill it out, and turn it in, but I would always love a copy for myself. In 2011, we had the separate sheets, and I was happy. I was expecting that again this year, but sadly, that wasn't the case. I have, each year that we had only the one page for the ballot, wanted to ask for two ballots, but I always had that feeling the staff would think I am cheating by offering double votes to a video/to videos.

Thankfully this year at Extreme Geek, I managed to get a chair with two ballots left on the chair beside me, and I took those. I know you can look at the list online, but all con long from that point, or for memory sake, it is always nice to look at the ballot inhand.

And I didn't really notice it, but you also brought up a point I didn't notice either DriftRoot. The contest this year was definitely a mix of old and new anime. That was pretty nice. DBZ, Lupin, some anime in the various section (Like I know I saw GTO in one video), and if you count them as old (but not too old), Princess Tutu and Baccano have been out a for a good while now.

Lastly, about the re-categorizing videos. I can see that being a good thing sometimes, though, obviously a bit more trouble and time consuming for the AB staff. I think we should get a dropdown menu where you can choose a second category, and judge it based on the first category the creator has chosen, and the staff could choose if it belongs there or the other one?... Honestly, I think the DBZ one and the Ponyo one could have fit under comedy as well. Would have given the category more "hahas" than it got.

[aznman08]

I agree with the ballot thing. The passed few years attending, I would go to the contest, get the ballot, fill it out, and turn it in, but I would always love a copy for myself. In 2011, we had the separate sheets, and I was happy. I was expecting that again this year, but sadly, that wasn't the case. I have, each year that we had only the one page for the ballot, wanted to ask for two ballots, but I always had that feeling the staff would think I am cheating by offering double votes to a video/to videos.

Us volunteers are the ones who pass and collect the ballots at the door. Usually when someone asks me, I'm more than happy to offer a 2nd one just to keep and look at the amvs later for enjoyment (I do this too). However as both screenings were at maximum capacity, there were few extra copies available at the end.

[Warlike Swans]

IMO, and *sprays flameguard around self*

Comedy was a bust, but it is expected with only 7 entries. I don't blame the creators so much as I blame the category for being absolutely hard in the first place to do. I also tend to completely play straight face in this category, and actually place judge on that makes me laugh. Sadly, not one video in the category this year made me laugh. Some ideas were interesting. Editing was nice in others, but just none of them worked for me. Warlike Swan's Video won, and it was nice, but I think that would be more suitable for the "Fun" in the "Fun/Upbeat" category. I was at the feedback session, heard their reasons for it's placement with the lyrics and all, and while I understand, the video was more "fun" than "Funny". No offense girls. The video was great though. I love MC Akio. Smart idea, haha.

Should have checked the expiration date on that flamegaurd first, MWahahaha

Seriously though, I think humorous but not laugh-out-loud videos are perfectly acceptable for comedy. I pretty much only laugh audibly as a part of a conversation, but I still enjoy watching comedic movies/anime/tv. I think I said this elsewhere, but in editing a comedy video one really has to rely on either guess work or the reaction of beta testers/audience to know if something is funny or just cute. If more people felt comfortable submitting videos that they didn't necessarily feel were laugh out loud funny the comedy category would probably get many more entries.

I'm glad you liked MC Akio

ect

Other I thought was fantastic, and the fact that Bye: The Sea swept in a category with many strong videos really means it was a well-deserved Best in Show.

Drama, I'm glad the you came in for Imagica, it was the only one of Fri that didn't suffer and audio lag of 2 seconds. It was incredibly painful for me to watch my own video.

Romance I'm in agreement with you that WTH belonged in upbeat, and AimoAio's was the best choice.

Action I thought all the videos were correctly placed. Action is a style of editing and not just a description of scene selection, and all of the videos read as action to me, though Irriadin's was definitely the most traditional.

Upbeat: The one that won was my least favorite, but it deserved the win because it very visibly made the audience so happy.

I thought the contest was extremely strong overall. I thought that it flowed very well, and I often felt torn between videos in a category... sometimes between 4 of them. I went to both showings and for some categories I voted differently at each showing.

*Edit*
And the audiences were awesome!

So as far as the contest goes, I found it on the whole to be more enjoyable than last year. It was a little more carefree and less technical--last year there was a lot of stuff geared toward other editors rather than the audience, and yes, the other editors may be amazed by your technical masterpiece, but the audience most likely is not.

I have to disagree with you on this. There were some videos in this contest that showed jaw-dropping technical skills that most audiences would never notice. There are videos where the effects are things that anyone can identify, but often the most impressive effects are those that look native to the source (like Sephiroth's wink). There are also non-effects technical skills that rely mostly on making a good judgement call like the use of sound bridges in Evil Island.

On the whole I think this year's videos were more technically advanced than last year's.

Suggestion: I know AB doesn't post a pre-show finalists list, but could this list perhaps be offered during the con in some way? Whether printed sheets, on a sign(s), on a screen, etc. - make an announcement at the start of each screening that lists will be available if you stop by con ops or visit the AMV table outside Hall D or something, then gauge how many people ask for them. The AMV contest is always well attended, but the ballots are the only list which exists and people are asked to give those up when they vote. This was mentioned in the AMV Feedback panel as a drawback. Who knows, maybe people are hanging onto ballots because they want to keep this list for themselves! It would be nice to see the list posted promptly in the forums, as well. A list isn't usually available here for a bit, not even of the winners, but it seems like that's something that could be drafted up beforehand and then posted once the first screening has been completed and the cat is out of the bag, as it were.

I don't have a smart phone, so I don't really know how this works, but if there were a QR bar-code on the ballots then everyone with a smart phone could get the list at the same time they would have anyways and without any extra printing.

[DriftRoot]

I don't have a smart phone, so I don't really know how this works, but if there were a QR bar-code on the ballots then everyone with a smart phone could get the list at the same time they would have anyways and without any extra printing.

I like this idea, as long as the list can be posted somewhere online without (if indeed this is a concern) giving away anything until during the first screening. Probably would require a custom redirect and/or some tinkering with the URL/a custom website page to keep it secret. hehe...you could get really fancy and show the QR code on screen right before the contest and let people scan it in that way, too, assuming the resolution of the screen is adequate to maintaining the integrity of the image.

[Sayoria]

@WLS: Yeah, like I said, which is why I blame it on the category for being so tough really. Comedy, you need to be unique, as well as you need to anticipate on what would make the audience laugh. Everyone's sense of humor differs, like my mother loves innuendo. You got others who think fart jokes are funny. You have people who think sadism is funny. And then you have me, who loves humor, but needs it to be very funny and unexpected to laugh. I mean, I seriously try to hold back for comedy, and whenever I think about it, the only AMV that has so far broke me (though only at one point) was the DBZ Silent Movie a bit back. With the "Next time on DBZ" repeating over and over so fast, I "Pffft" *Imagine spitting out a drink* when I saw that. With that, I knew it was the winner.

As for the other categories, yeah, of course the Bye: The Sea video was easily favored for BoS, but to me, being a romantic type person that I am, and how well the romance AMV was, it was easily my BoS, audience-say or not. Ponyo was amusing, no doubt though.

Drama, I did hear about those issues. Sucks that happened. I went back to the hotel with two friends and we youtubed the rest of Drama so I could see them. In the end, I saw all but the No.6 Drama.

[chaobunny]

I thoroughly enjoyed the contest this year. The best categories were action and fun/upbeat--all the videos in those categories were so amazing that I had trouble choosing which one to vote for and no way of predicting who the winner would be. Drama was also very solid--I had trouble choosing which video to vote for there as well. Comedy was so-so; I thought that the fun/upbeat videos were funnier than a lot of the comedy ones for the most part. And in Other, I was epically outmatched by some really awesome entries.

The only exception was romance...I wasn't too thrilled with that category. Some of the entries didn't seem all that romantic to me. The winner in that category was the only "real" romance video as far as I was concerned. It was also extremely memorable. I have never watched Kimi Ni Todoke but I remember the AMV very well, and it certainly peaked my interest. It was certainly the only memorable romance video. And I really can't wrap my head around a Panty and Stocking video being placed in romance. Not going to lie, I really dislike that show because I find it disgusting, so I may be slightly biased. But bias aside, it wasn't really a romance video. The only other one I remember from romance was the Clannad one, and it didn't give me the cute-adorable-sad-crying feeling that the series did when it came to the couples.

The sound quality in Hall D was great, much better than in past years.

[Sayoria]

^ See, I share alot of your feelings towards the contest this year. Opinion on strongest categories, thought on the romance section, the over-liking of the romance winning video, and interest in the anime now as well. Difference is, I never saw P&S, but I too, didn't really feel it was a romance video. The KnT video was the only video to start off a relationship, and show you how it builds up over time. It felt like true love. If it didn't win, I would have felt really upset with Romance. No offense to people, but after last year with a borderline comedy video taking romance, I didn't want to see another near-non romantic video take the category again. It was very very nice to see a true romance video win.

[Cave]

Overall, I think the contest was really good this year. There were only a few videos that made me think "Oh god, is it over yet??"

The only thing I didn't agree with completely was Best in Show. I think the Kimi ni Todoke video should have won that though I am not saying the one that did win was bad!!! Not at all. I just was blown away by the Kimi ni Todoke one. xD

Honestly, I wasn't happy with the hentai winner either. >.>

Was a bit disappointed Brian's video didn't get as well a reception as I was hoping, but after seeing it on the Big Screen, I didn't feel it like when I watched it on our computers. Maybe watching it 20 times in one day killed it for me though. lol

[Princess Becky]

Marketing Ploy: Best AMV I've ever seen. The Rasputin one made me die laughing. I got major goosies with Enchanted. Panty and Stocking AMV wasn't titance, but it was cute. And what was that weird vampire lady one in the Other category? It seemed out of place. Good, but out of place. And By The Sea was funny XD

[Cave]

And what was that weird vampire lady one in the Other category? It seemed out of place. Good, but out of place.

I'm guessing you mean the Shiki one. I felt it should have been drama, but watching the whole thing, it did seem a bit more of an "other" since it was kind of build-up/horror/suspense-y more than drama-y.

[TinkaB]

i came in there thinking that this better b awsome, and it totally blown me away. i stayed fr the whoe thing. everyone did such a good job! i now lookit my vid and know y it didnt go far, these ppl were amazing!

[Shiroikami]

My main thing here was, while I LOVE Shin's work and editing (Won't lie, I even envy it), I "personally" didn't feel the drama in the video. It's a strange video. Perhaps this would have been suitable for Other, or, I would feel so. It would add more variety to the category, it gave it's own genre feel, and it was just, you know.... cool. I might be along here in seeing this, but I kinda take drama for a more serious sort of category. Be it emotionally, or heavily impacting. I didn't get that from Shin's video, as much as I liked it. As for the rest of the videos, they were nice.

Romance, the only video I really saw suitable for "Best Romance" was, and thankfully it won, the Kimi No Todoke video. It didn't just throw in random couples. It didn't shove kisses or such in our faces. It was a video showing a story, building up the love of both characters, to a really nice song (Really, I might become an Owl City fan thanks to this video).... One other thing I noticed about this is, it was a perfectly made video, using a simple, one anime, that isn't overly popular as well.

I'm pretty much in complete agreement with the statements that I quoted here, although I thought that "Fate Matrix" would have been suited more to the Romance category than the Other category, and the other contenders in the Drama category this year seemed to fit the genre much better. I was actually a little surprised that it didn't win Best Editing instead of Best Drama...

I also agree about the Romance category this year. I felt that, aside from "Enchanted" none of the others really had a story to them. Also, aside from "Enchanted", none of the other Romance AMVs really left much of an impression on me this year. That was the only category where I didn't have any trouble whatsoever picking a winner. The other categories were much more difficult to choose just one...

... of course, I don't make AMVs (lack of source material, appropriate video editing software, and talent, although I've got tons of ideas!), so everything I just said should be taken with that understanding.

[Elder_God]

I agree with the ballot thing. The passed few years attending, I would go to the contest, get the ballot, fill it out, and turn it in, but I would always love a copy for myself. In 2011, we had the separate sheets, and I was happy. I was expecting that again this year, but sadly, that wasn't the case. I have, each year that we had only the one page for the ballot, wanted to ask for two ballots, but I always had that feeling the staff would think I am cheating by offering double votes to a video/to videos.

To be perfectly honest, I had completely forgotten that I did that last year. I'll
Have to make a note not to forget. That worked very well (now that I remember it.)

[drewaconclusion]

And what was that weird vampire lady one in the Other category? It seemed out of place. Good, but out of place.

That one was mine. It's a straight-up horror piece and considering

Other-This category is for videos that don't precisely fit into the rest of the categories. Movie Trailers, Horror, Experimental Videos, WTF'ers, etc., they all go here.

Other seemed to be the most logical of places to enter it. I suppose this is just what can happen with a catch-all category.

[Cave]

That one was mine. It's a straight-up horror piece and considering

I loved that one. I voted for it. *_*

*Shiki fanatic*

[Sayoria]

I agree with the ballot thing. The passed few years attending, I would go to the contest, get the ballot, fill it out, and turn it in, but I would always love a copy for myself. In 2011, we had the separate sheets, and I was happy. I was expecting that again this year, but sadly, that wasn't the case. I have, each year that we had only the one page for the ballot, wanted to ask for two ballots, but I always had that feeling the staff would think I am cheating by offering double votes to a video/to videos.

To be perfectly honest, I had completely forgotten that I did that last year. I'll
Have to make a note not to forget. That worked very well (now that I remember it.)

Oh, well then, that's good to know. I had a feeling hat the removal of the bubble sheet was because something failed in the end tally with them. Glad to know this wasn't the case. Next year, I will post about the second sheet when time comes again. I am sure being one who always wants a ballot copy, that I will not forget to let you know.

[mikami]

Honestly, I wasn't happy with the hentai winner either. >.>

I have to agree on that. It baffles me that 3 or 4 videos get amazing reactions, and the one with little to no reaction has won for the past 2 years. Maybe the voters are the silent type...

And I am thankful I could ruin everyone's childhood in the room

[Warlike Swans]

Honestly, I wasn't happy with the hentai winner either. >.>

I have to agree on that. It baffles me that 3 or 4 videos get amazing reactions, and the one with little to no reaction has won for the past 2 years. Maybe the voters are the silent type...

And I am thankful I could ruin everyone's childhood in the room

So which video won the H-AMV contest?

[basharoftheages]

Honestly, I wasn't happy with the hentai winner either. >.>

I have to agree on that. It baffles me that 3 or 4 videos get amazing reactions, and the one with little to no reaction has won for the past 2 years. Maybe the voters are the silent type...

And I am thankful I could ruin everyone's childhood in the room

So which video won the H-AMV contest?

The last one. The one that was a well edited video that happened to have bits of hentai in it. Kinda feels weird.

[Warlike Swans]

Honestly, I wasn't happy with the hentai winner either. >.>

I have to agree on that. It baffles me that 3 or 4 videos get amazing reactions, and the one with little to no reaction has won for the past 2 years. Maybe the voters are the silent type...

And I am thankful I could ruin everyone's childhood in the room

So which video won the H-AMV contest?

The last one. The one that was a well edited video that happened to have bits of hentai in it. Kinda feels weird.

That really surprises me too. I liked it and I voted it, but I expected one of the wittier ones to win. My guess is that the people who were more comfortable with hentai divided their votes up between the witty videos, and the more prudish crowd banded behind the well-edited soft-core.

On another note; I wish it was an Adult AMV contest with a H-AMV category and a NSFW category.

[basharoftheages]

Honestly, I wasn't happy with the hentai winner either. >.>

I have to agree on that. It baffles me that 3 or 4 videos get amazing reactions, and the one with little to no reaction has won for the past 2 years. Maybe the voters are the silent type...

And I am thankful I could ruin everyone's childhood in the room

So which video won the H-AMV contest?

The last one. The one that was a well edited video that happened to have bits of hentai in it. Kinda feels weird.

That really surprises me too. I liked it and I voted it, but I expected one of the wittier ones to win. My guess is that the people who were more comfortable with hentai divided their votes up between the witty videos, and the more prudish crowd banded behind the well-edited soft-core.

On another note; I wish it was an Adult AMV contest with a H-AMV category and a NSFW category.

That could work at a contest that could manage more than 7 entries. Sadly, AB isn't alone in that department.

[Warlike Swans]

That really surprises me too. I liked it and I voted it, but I expected one of the wittier ones to win. My guess is that the people who were more comfortable with hentai divided their votes up between the witty videos, and the more prudish crowd banded behind the well-edited soft-core.

On another note; I wish it was an Adult AMV contest with a H-AMV category and a NSFW category.

That could work at a contest that could manage more than 7 entries. Sadly, AB isn't alone in that department.

But NSFW aren't really getting entered. I doubt I'll ever make an H-AMV, but I'd do NSFW... If there are other people like me the contest could get a whopping 14 entries.

[AliceTanzer]

Damnit, people should enter the Hentai AMVs just for the dang trophy. THE TROPHY I TELL YOU *shakes fists angrily at the sky*

[Sayoria]

Last two or three years, I was saying I was going to enter the H-AMV contest, but I never do.... but then again, I don't watch much Hentai in the first place. I have seen like....two or three. About it really. I have had ideas floating in my head, but the prime AMV contest comes first.

[mikami]

Damnit, people should enter the Hentai AMVs just for the dang trophy. THE TROPHY I TELL YOU *shakes fists angrily at the sky*

I wanted that sparkly piece of tentacle something fierce, you have no idea. And my family made up almost half the contest! *grumblegrumble*

[midnightsiren182]

Whoever made it, I really did like the AMV with "Sweet Dreams" as the song set to a bunch of epic shoujo clips. Also, points for using the Messiah Sailor Moon clips!

[Elli21486]

I don't have a smart phone, so I don't really know how this works, but if there were a QR bar-code on the ballots then everyone with a smart phone could get the list at the same time they would have anyways and without any extra printing.

I like this idea, as long as the list can be posted somewhere online without (if indeed this is a concern) giving away anything until during the first screening. Probably would require a custom redirect and/or some tinkering with the URL/a custom website page to keep it secret. hehe...you could get really fancy and show the QR code on screen right before the contest and let people scan it in that way, too, assuming the resolution of the screen is adequate to maintaining the integrity of the image.

This is an interesting idea. I know I'm a little late on this but just read the thread today. Honestly, it could work out. I'll probably go as far as having it in an AMV style, since, well, it is an AMV contest, such as in the style of the "Sensei Says" AMV. I would also go as far as having the page password protected in which the password will appear after the QR Code is shown with the password being related to the theme of AB. Maybe, even having it in a downloadable file. That is if you want it to be a redirect to a website.

[basharoftheages]

That really surprises me too. I liked it and I voted it, but I expected one of the wittier ones to win. My guess is that the people who were more comfortable with hentai divided their votes up between the witty videos, and the more prudish crowd banded behind the well-edited soft-core.

On another note; I wish it was an Adult AMV contest with a H-AMV category and a NSFW category.

That could work at a contest that could manage more than 7 entries. Sadly, AB isn't alone in that department.

But NSFW aren't really getting entered. I doubt I'll ever make an H-AMV, but I'd do NSFW... If there are other people like me the contest could get a whopping 14 entries.

People have been trying that at a number of other cons and it's been blowing up in their faces. It starts out as mostly hentai videos with a few sorta R-rated ones. Then it turns into mostly R-rated ones with a few hentai videos and a few PG13 videos that toe the line and make some people uncomfortable. Then the audience pulls back and gets upset because they come in, get carded, expect to see hentai, and really don't.

[Sayoria]

What I think it is, is people feel very uncomfortable actually making these videos. I am sure not many of us live alone, so family, be it spouse, brothers, sisters, parents, dorm roomies and such, could walk in at any given moment, and create the most awkward moment ever.

Atleast with the violent videos, people feel a bit more.... comfortable when people walk in and say "hey, what are you up to?" I myself still plan to try one year, but like I said, the main contest comes first, and an H-AMV comes last. There are just too many variables to it, not to mention how I have only seen three Hentai ever. Doesn't leave me with much area, but I want to try.

[jessikwa]

Speaking of the Hentai AMVs, is there somewhere where you can re-watch the submissions??

[basharoftheages]

Speaking of the Hentai AMVs, is there somewhere where you can re-watch the submissions??

Nate (ngsilver) hosts a lot of stuff on his archive. Not sure how often people have been uploading to it lately, but it was sorta the go-to place for hosting stuff too hot for AMV.org.

http://hmvs.ngsilver.com/ (to any twitchy mods, there are multiple warning pages before you get to any content)

EDIT - It doesn't look to me like there's anything on there that's new in the past few years, but it's so poorly maintained that there's no info on it at all. The most common use case for the site is to catalog the video to animemusicvideos.org and just upload there with an indirect link, so having any sort of info on the site beyond the title wasn't necessary. I'd suggest searching for the videos on AMV.org... they can't be uploaded directly, but they can be cataloged and linked to off-site hosting.

[Elli21486]

I don't have a smart phone, so I don't really know how this works, but if there were a QR bar-code on the ballots then everyone with a smart phone could get the list at the same time they would have anyways and without any extra printing.

I like this idea, as long as the list can be posted somewhere online without (if indeed this is a concern) giving away anything until during the first screening. Probably would require a custom redirect and/or some tinkering with the URL/a custom website page to keep it secret. hehe...you could get really fancy and show the QR code on screen right before the contest and let people scan it in that way, too, assuming the resolution of the screen is adequate to maintaining the integrity of the image.

This is an interesting idea. I know I'm a little late on this but just read the thread today. Honestly, it could work out. I'll probably go as far as having it in an AMV style, since, well, it is an AMV contest, such as in the style of the "Sensei Says" AMV. I would also go as far as having the page password protected in which the password will appear after the QR Code is shown with the password being related to the theme of AB. Maybe, even having it in a downloadable file. That is if you want it to be a redirect to a website.

It's funny that I am posting this a month after my original post on this subject but I think there may be a better solution than a QR code. I was actually going to post this in the recommendation/feedback thread but since it started here, I thought it would be best to stay and have one thread with this particular subject than on two thread.

Now my suggestion is to use an already existing system that many con-goers have installed on their smart devices, Guidebook. There was a mention that there may be a concern to post the list before the actual competition but since you can update Guidebook during the convention, I don't see this being a problem anymore. Also, since there is no need to print additional copies, it will cut down on that aspect as well.

My idea is to create a folder like how the Exhibitors and Artist Alley are on the homepage. It will open up a list of subfolders with the categories and winners. Each folder will be empty at the beginning of the convention. After the second showing of the AMV Contest (Saturday morning), Guidebook will be updated to feature the title and creator of the amv's in their appropriate category. At this point, the winners subfolder would be left empty. Then, on Sunday, after the convention is completed, Guidebook will be updated to show the winners. In other words, it would look like this:

AMV's
->Drama
-->All Drama Finalist

->Action
-->All Action Finalist

->Romance
-->All Romance Finalist

->Fun/Upbeat
-->All Fun/Upbeat Finalist

->Other
-->All Other Finalist

->Comedy
-->All Comedy Finalist

->Winners
-->All Awarded AMV's and what they won