Topics

[FMV Contest Rules and Guidelines]

We are now accepting entries! Send us your best!


To submit your video, please fill out the following Google Doc: http://goo.gl/Ucl79b

---

Hi all,

If you find any problems with the rules (which have been modified from prior years' rules), feel free to let me know so I can look into it. I am basically making mild alterations to pre-existing rules, so if you feel anything should be changed, there's a short window of time to inform me and for any potential changes to be made.

--

Greetings, everyone! Please read the rules carefully as some major (and minor) changes have been made from prior years. We have new staff running the FMVs (Fanime Music Videos) and will be happy to answer any questions you might have.

FMV Contest Rules and Guidelines

The rules are put in place to make an even playing field for all contestants. Please keep in mind that we at Fanime aren't perfect, so mistakes can happen. If the mistake is found on your end, we will do our best to contact you and give you the chance to fix it. With the large number of entries expected, we can't devote a lot of time to any one FMV, so some corrections may not be allowed. If the mistake is found on our end we will work as fast as possible to correct it. Remember we on the FMV staff work hard and will do our best to do right by all contestants.

All questions and comments can be sent to: [email protected], posted here, or you can PM me.

UPDATES OF NOTE
New Bonus Award
New Deadlines.
New Disqualification Rules/Quality Requirements
New Entry Method

GENERAL SUBMISSION RULES

• Up to, but not exceeding, 2 videos may be submitted per entrant, organization, or group.

• There is no maximum length for videos, but 5 minutes is preferred as the longest length. Keep in mind that videos of excessive length may be cut due to time constraints.

• All videos may not have been submitted to any prior Fanime Con AMV event.

• Any video with extreme sexual and/or excessive violent content will be automatically disqualified from the contest. Keep in mind that some nudity is artistic in nature, but any video that the judges deem in poor taste will be removed.

• Any video with severe encoding problems, obviously downloaded streaming footage (footage taken from YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) and videos containing subtitles that were not specifically created by the editor for the purpose of the video will be disqualified. If your video is found to have one of these problems and time permits, we will attempt to contact you to see if you have a better version available to send to us.

• "Remake" videos are only allowed if they are created by the same editor who created the original, and in that case, we cannot accept a remake of a video whose original was sent in to a prior FanimeCon.

• Videos must be the creation of the person who is entering it. You cannot submit videos on someone else's behalf.

• Videos containing footage taken from someone else's video, or footage "remade", "emulated" or copied scene-for-scene, effect-for-effect are strictly NOT allowed. Anyone found stealing footage will be banned from future contests at FanimeCon.

Video Bumpers
Please don't put opening or closing bumpers in your video. We will be putting uniform title bumpers to all the videos ourselves.

Submission Due Dates

All videos must be in the hands of the video coordinator no later than the Hard Deadline of 11:59PM PST/PDT on Wednesday April 30th, 2014. Additional points will be awarded for all entries submitted on the Soft Deadline on or before Wednesday April 23rd, 2014. All videos submitted will be tested to make sure that there are no problems with playback. If there are any problems, there is a short amount of time to fix and/or resubmit your work.


Online Submissions
Online submissions are now the only method of entry to the contest. We are no longer accepting physical media via mail. Please upload your file to any file sharing service you like and direct us as to where (and if complicated, how) to download it. We can also download video from your AMVs.org uploads if your video has been uploaded there. There are many other file sharing websites online and you may use any that you want, just don't send links to any illegal or illicit file hosting websites. Entries are not accepted at-con.

Entry form will be added at a later date.


File Formats
We are only accepting files that are formatted in MPEG2, AVI, or MP4. If you choose to select a format that is different from the one's listed we will contact you and ask that you change it's format. Please, when exporting your files stay within official resolutions 720X480 or 1280x720 and with stereo audio. Videos may be rejected if the resolution is too small.

Video:

MPEG2, AVI and MP4s accepted.
Frame rate should be either 23.97 or 29.97.
Please use resolutions of 720x480 or 1280x720. Higher resolutions will be scaled down.
Please compress your video- don't send us your original uncompressed copy. While we don't have a limit on filesize, we would prefer to not have to download 500MB+ videos!

Audio:

• 192 Kilobits per second or better
• Choose stereo over joint stereo for best quality
• Sample at 44.1Khz

*Note! When resizing your video the choice of maintaining the aspect ratio will be determined on a video-to-video basis.

Events and Judging
Judging staff will consist of Fanime FMV coordination staff, Fanime Con staff, outside technical and artistic judges, and AMV editors not participating in Fanime AMV events for the current year.
Fanimecon has four genres as follows:
• ACTION - Adventure, Horror, Action.
• DRAMA - Romance, Emotions, Tear-Jerkers, Conflict
• COMEDY- Think Comedy, Parody, just things that really make you laugh.
• EXPERIMENTAL/TRAILER: AMV Trailers and anything that doesn't match the criteria for the above categories will be placed here.


*** Note! Judging staff reserves the right to place your video in any category if they feel the video was misplaced. To avoid any conflicts we will contact you before this move.


100 Point Judging Scale:
35 Points – Skill/Technical Prowess
35 Points – Creativity/Concept
15 Points – Quality of Audio selection
15 Points – Quality of source material.


EXTRA POINTS:
2 Extra points will be given to those who submit on or before April 23rd, 2014



*Note! Please keep in mind that the 100 point scale and any extra points are assigned per judge on the judges panel. This means that every point has the potential to make or break a winner.


The judging staff will view each entry and choose which entries will make it into the finals. Don't despair - those that don't make it into the finals will still be shown along with those that did make it into the contest during the con in-between programming during the convention.


Notifications
Different notifications will be sent out to each contestant depending on how far they made it through judging.


1st Email – This will be sent to you notifying you that your video has been received and logged into our system.


2nd Email – There will be two different types sent out. Type A will be informing you that you have made it into the contest. Type B will be informing you yours was not chosen this year.


3rd Email – This Email will be sent to everyone giving you the time, date, and seating arrangements.


Award Classifications

• Judges Choice:
Judges Choice will be decided prior to Fanime Con and will not be announced until the Award Ceremony.
• Viewers Choice:
The attending audience of the finals judging will decide Viewers Choice. All audience members will vote on their favorite video by ballot.
• Bonus Awards:
This year's bonus award is based upon Fanimecon's theme. As this is their 20th Anniversary, the con's theme is "Celebration" with an additional Beach Party theme. Videos that follow the spirit of celebration in some way and/or involve beach parties will be accepted as potential contestants for the bonus award.

Each genre will have a winner. There will also be two Best of Show awards chosen out of all submissions (one from Judges and one from Audience). The bonus award will be given to the video which best meets the theme out of ALL entries, as chosen by the Judges. Awards will be submitted to all winners during the Award Ceremony at the con. You do not have to be present at the con to receive your award but it would be nice if you were. Any awards unclaimed at con will be mailed out.

PRIZES:
A $50 Gift Card will be given to each first place and Best in Show winner. With Judges and Audience votes, that means we have 10 gift cards to give away, and you can potentially win up to 3 for a single video (First Place x 2 and Best in Show).


Exhibition Videos
Exhibition videos will be accepted and may be shown at other events during the con. If you wish to submit an exhibition FMV please make sure your documentation says that it specifically is for the exhibition. Otherwise it will be judged as a regular FMV and may or may not be disqualified.

Notice!!! Fanime Con 2014 reserves the right to amend the rules at any time.

Hello ladies and gentleman!

I would like to congratulate all of this year's winners! A special shout out to Katherine Gavin who won a record setting 6 awards in a single year! Congrats! Great job everyone! If you, as an editor would like to post a link to your video so that others can see it, please feel free to do so on this post.

For more information regarding music or footage used, you can get that info on this post:
http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,18518.0.html

[Please remember that each room will be playing the categories in a different order at each showing.]

Congrats to everyone that made the show!
Please remember that each room will be playing the categories in a different order at each showing.
One room will be playing Action, Drama, Comedy, then Experimental.
The other will be playing Drama, Action, Experimental, then Comedy.

Also, please note that we have done our best to showcase as many submissions as possible. That being said, we got approved to go over our original scheduled time by about 15 minutes! Whooot!

[Wednesday April 18th]

All confirmation emails for entries received have been sent out as of Wednesday April 18th. If you sent us something and have not gotten an email back, please contact us asap!

We will continue to post updates as we get more entries. Cheers!

Please remember the soft deadline with bonus points for early submission is April 24th and the hard deadline is May 1st!

[FMV Contest Rules and Guidelines]

FMV Contest Rules and Guidelines

        The rules are put in place to make an even playing field for all contestants. Please keep in mind that we at Fanime aren't perfect, so mistakes can happen.  If the mistake is found on your end, we will do our best to contact you and give you the chance to fix it.  With the large number of entries expected, we can't devote a lot of time to any one FMV, so some corrections may not be allowed. If the mistake is found on our end we will work as fast as possible to correct it.  Remember we on the FMV staff work hard and will do our best to do right by all contestants.

        A note to all contestants: please do not send your only or master copy, as all materials submitted will not be returned.

        All questions and comments can be sent to: [email protected] or [email protected]

          UPDATES OF NOTE
            • New mailing address.
            • New Judge's Point Scale/Extra Points.
            • New Category descriptions.
            • Movie Trailers added to Experimental category.
            • New Bonus Awards.
            • New Deadlines.
            • filesend.com is now filesend.net

          GENERAL SUBMISSION RULES

            • Up to, but not exceeding, 2 videos may be submitted per entrant, organization, or group.

            • There is no maximum length for videos, but 5 minutes is preferred as the longest length. Keep in mind that videos of excessive length may be cut due to time constraints.

            • All videos may not have been submitted to any prior Fanime Con AMV event.

            • Any video with extreme sexual and/or excessive violent content will be automatically disqualified from the contest. Keep in mind that some nudity is artistic in nature, but any video that the judges deem in poor taste will be removed.

            • Specific dates and times for all FanimeCon events are to be determined at a later date.

            • Special seating will be made available for all contestants during the showing. Please be sure we have your E-mail and mailing address when submitting so your seating location, times, and materials may be sent to you.

        Video Bumpers
        Please don't put opening or closing bumpers in your video if at all possible. We will be putting uniform title bumpers to all the videos ourselves. Having a bumper will not disqualify your video but will be edited out. If you do not want your video to possibly receive a bad edit, please do it yourself.

        Submission Due Dates

        All videos must be in the hands of the video coordinator no later than the Hard Deadline of midnight on Wednesday May 1st, 2013. Additional points will be awarded for all entries submitted on the Soft Deadline on or before Wednesday April 24th, 2013. All videos submitted will be tested to make sure that there are no problems with playback. If there are any problems, there is a short amount of time to fix and/or resubmit your work. Remember this isn't school, so don't delay - submit A.S.A.P.


       Digital Submissions
        All entries must be submitted in a digital format, this means no VHS, HI8, or BETA Max. To allow complete control over the final appearance and quality of the video submitted, and to prevent quality loss, it is in the submitter's best interest to handle digital conversion.

        We ask that you include a text file with your submission information. The inclusion of extra files sent in during your submission will not be tolerated. This infraction depending on the materiel sent may cause you to be disqualified.

        Online Submissions
        If you're a very busy person, and a lot of us are, please send your videos online. You can send your file over the Internet via filesend.net. filesend.net will handle files up to 500mb in size for free with out registration, and 1GB if you register for the FREE account. There are many other file sharing websites online and you may use any that you want, just don't send links to any illegal or illicit file hosting websites. Remember all file formatting and type rules still apply. Make sure to send your video to [email protected]. After the video has made its way to us please send another email with all the info as if it were a mailed entry.

Note: Due to problems with downloads from the site and certain restrictions placed upon downloading, we ask that you DO NOT upload via Mega Upload. Filesend.com is preferred.

Info to accompany your entry as a text file with your submission(s):


         * For every production group (or individual if a video was made by themselves)
            • Production Group Name (if applicable)
            • Full legal names of everybody in the production group
            • Mailing address (single address for the group)
            • Email address (single address for the group)
            • Phone number (single phone number for the group)
         

         * For every video submitted:
            • Name of the video
            • Production group responsible (if multiple groups are submitting on one disk)
            • Song Artist
            • Song Title
            • Footage used (If your video uses more than 3 sources, you need only list "various")
            • Category to be judged in.


        Mailing Media
        Multiple entries may be on a single disk, and multiple disks may be in a single mailer. A letter and text file detailing all media included on the disks must be included with the disk and on the disk(s). All media must be turned in on time to meet all requirements for application into the contest.
        Disks must be labeled properly with all info in clean legible handwriting.

            Info to be included on the label of the disks:
            • Fanime FMV 2K13
            • Your full name and either your email address or phone number on each disk.
            * Note! If multiple individuals are responsible for the content of the disks, a single contact person must be chosen and that persons name included on top.
            • If the file is larger then 650 megabytes or 4.7 gigabytes please span it across multiple disks. Please use either (Winzip - .zip) or (Rarsoft - .rar) to break the file into manageable file sizes.

All disks must be clearly labeled in consecutive order as part of a set (example: 3 of 7 or XXX of YYY)
         
If you wish to submit your file in another format to span media please email [email protected] to confirm we can handle it.
         

Info to accompany your disks, as both a written document and a text file on your disks:


         * For every production group (or individual if a video was made by themselves)
            • Production Group Name (if applicable)
            • Full legal names of everybody in the production group
            • Mailing address (single address for the group)
            • Email address (single address for the group)
            • Phone number (single phone number for the group)
         

         * For every video on the disks:
            • Name of the video
            • Production group responsible (if multiple groups are submitting on one disk)
            • Song Artist
            • Song Title
            • Footage used (If your video uses more than 3 sources, you need only list "various")
            • Category to be judged in.
         
*** Note! Judging staff reserves the right to place your video in any category if they feel the video was misplaced. To avoid any conflicts we will contact you before this move.

No media formatted as VCD, SVCD, or DVD-Video will be accepted. All media should be data formatted and readable as a simple file, usable on a PC or MAC.

        Your entry's package must be properly labeled on both the package itself and the disks included. And must include the full name of the contest you are entering as follows:

        ATTN: Fanime FMV 2K13
        Your name and address

        Mail all entries to:

        ATTN: Fanime FMV 2K13
        C/o Jose Marin
        5176 Elm Ridge Dr
        Baton Rouge, LA 70817

Note: This address is new. Please update your notes, friends, etc!!!

       File Formats
        We are only accepting files that are formatted in MPEG2, AVI, MP4, or MOV. If you choose to select a format that is different from the one's listed we will contact you and ask that you change it's format. Please, when exporting your files stay within official resolutions 720X480 or an HD size of 1280x720 and with stereo audio. Videos may be rejected if the resolution is too small.

Suggested Programs for file conversion
   If you need to convert your video to an accepted file format we suggest using one of these two programs.   MPEG Streamclip and TMPGEnc. Both are free and easy to use.

        ASF, WMV, MKV, Windows Media, Flash/Shockwave Animation, Real Media, and HUFYUV Files are unacceptable.

        General File Settings
Video:
•   29.97 Frames Per second
•   Encode with an aspect ratio of 16:9, 4:3 is allowed but might be stretched during our conversion process.
•   If your original source was film or 24fps add a 3:2 Pulldown this will convert it to 29.97 fps
•   Please encode your video as deinterlaced. Interlaced is OK but we will deinterlace the video for the contest. 
•   Video size must be either 720X480 4:3 Format or 1280X720 16:9 Format
•   Single pass set to a variable bit rate and select 16 megabits per second
•   If you use two pass VBR set to 2 megabits as the minimum, 8 megabits as the average, and 16 megabits as the maximum.
•   We have had issues converting certain codecs in the past such as YCrCb or LAM (LAME). Please avoid these if possible. We will contact you if any entries have converting issues and work with you to fix it as soon as we can. 

Audio:
•   Use Layer-II or Layer-III audio at 224 Kilobits per second or better
•   Choose stereo over joint stereo for best quality
•   Sample at 44.1Khz

        We have a lot of hard drive space available and would rather sacrifice size over quality. If you're unsure of how or what resolution/frame rate/bit rate/audio settings to choose, please send the source file and let us do the conversion for you.

           *Note! When resizing your video the choice of maintaining the aspect ratio will be determined on a video-to-video basis.

Events and Judging
        Judging staff will consist of Fanime FMV coordination staff, Fanime Con staff, outside technical and artistic judges, and AMV editors not participating in Fanime AMV events for the current year.
        Judging staff will separate all videos submitted into 4 genres as follows:
        • ACTION - Think Action, Adventure, Horror things that tell an exiting story.
        • DRAMA -  Think Drama, Romance things that tell a story that makes you feel.
        • COMEDY- Think Comedy, Parody, just things that really make you laugh.
        • EXPERIMENTAL - Think outside the box! Movie Trailer AMV will be included in this category. (any FMV that pushes the limits and crosses genre barriers, A.K.A the ones we can't categorize)


Notifications
   Different notifications will be sent out to each contestant depending on how far they made it through judging. I will post copies of the Email's on the forums and a description of what they mean to avoid any confusion.


1st Email – This will be sent to you notifying you that your video has been received and logged into our system.


2nd Email – There will be two different types sent out. Type A will be informing you that you have made it into the contest. Type B will be informing you yours was not chosen this year.


3rd Email – This Email will be sent to everyone giving you the time, date, and seating arrangements.
     

100 Point Judging Scale:
        35 Points – Skill/Technical Prowess
        35 Points – Creativity/Concept – "does the Video go with the music?" "Does your Music Video flow gracefully or does it roll like Square wheels"
        15 Points – Quality of Audio selection – "Does the music fit the tone or selection of anime used in your Music Video" and "Does the quality in general sound ok?"
        15 Points – Quality of source material – "Does you video have the DivX Logo? Does your video look grainy when expanded to full screen? Subtitles will hurt this score."
         

EXTRA POINTS:
2 Extra points will be given to those who submit on or before April 24rd, 2013
5 Extra points will be given to those that submitted properly – This one must be self evident, you need to submit the right information in the right format. Videos adhere to the submission guidelines regarding formatting, codecs. 


*Note! Please keep in mind that the 100 point scale and any extra points are assigned per judge on the judges panel. This means that every point has the potential to make or break a winner.


        The judging staff will view each entry and choose which entries will make it into the finals. Don't despair - those that don't make it into the finals will still be shown along with those that did make it into the contest during the con in-between programming during the convention.


        Award Classifications

            • Judges Choice:
                    Judges Choice will be decided prior to Fanime Con and will not be announced until the Award Ceremony.
            • Viewers Choice:
                    The attending audience of the finals judging will decide Viewers Choice. All audience members will vote on their favorite video by ballot.
            • Bonus Awards:
                    Special awards in their own special theme that you're able to get no matter what genre you enter into. (Think bonus stars in Mario Party  ;) )
                    This year's bonus awards are:
                    • The "Best Minute Ever!" Award - Can you make an amazing AMV that clocks in at a minute long or less?
                    • The "Life After Death" Award - Is your AMV focused on the undead? Are the stars of your AMV zombies, vampires, or ghosts? Then this might be for you!
                    • The "Sickeningly Sweet" Award - Chibis? Cute Animals? CUTE CHIBI ANIMALS? Is your AMV's cute factor over 9000? If it has tons of babies, cute furry animals, or is just overly   
                                                                            saturated with super cuteness, then this might be right up your alley.
                    •The "Satin Panties" Award - Can you make a provocative AMV with super sexy characters? Even more important, can you keep it PG so that we can actually
                                                                   show it? They can be laughing or blowing things up. It doesn't matter as long as you think they look good doing it.

Each genre will have a winner. There will also be two Best of Show awards chosen out of all submissions (one from Judges and one from Audience). One of each Bonus Awards will be given to the video that best represents the spirit of that award's theme out of ALL entries. Awards will be submitted to all winners during the Award Ceremony, which is held during con. You do not have to be present at the con to receive your award but it would be nice if you were. Any awards unclaimed at con will be mailed out.


      Exhibition Videos
        Exhibition videos will be accepted and may be shown at other events during the con. If you wish to submit an exhibition FMV please make sure your documentation says that it specifically is for the exhibition. Otherwise it will be judged as a regular FMV and may or may not be disqualified.

        Notice!!! Fanime Con 2013 reserves the right to make amendments to the rules at any time.

[So if you submitted an entry this year and would like to have people check out your entry, please send a link to your posted video to [email protected] or [email protected] with the subject "Show Off My 2012 FMV!"]

Hi everyone!
This year was a pretty great show. While this year had its challenges behind the scenes, the show came out great (Big thanks to my FMV Dept. 2nd Tiffany Dailey). So to everyone that submitted: Thank you! We would not have a show with out you.

The winners are now posted here and on animemusicvideos.org along with the line up info for the videos. Also, once again, I have received many, many request to see this year's entries online. We will be contacting the editors and hoping that they can provide a link to their videos.
So if you submitted an entry this year and would like to have people check out your entry, please send a link to your posted video to [email protected] or [email protected] with the subject "Show Off My 2012 FMV!"
We tried this last year and only got a couple of replies. Please send us your info!


Also, we would love to hear any and all feedback from you, the fans, about anything and everything FMV related. With that being said, I have some basic questions that I'll repeat from earlier in the year for both editors and audience alike that covers FMV judging, submitting, showing, categories, prizes or anything else that you can think of:

1. What did you like? What worked for you?


2. What did you not like? Is there anything you feel needs to be improved?


3. What would you like to see from the show? Do you like animated shorts/trailers? Any ideas for prizes? What day would be preferred for the show? Stuff like that. Basically ANYTHING that comes to mind about ANYTHING related to FMV.

Also,
Next year we want to revamp the show with new prizes and new categories. We have a few ideas in mind, but we would really like to hear yours too! We will also be working on getting a Fanime FMV Facebook page and Twitter for greater communication, feedback and exposure.


Please be as honest as possible, but keep it respectful. The more feedback the better! If you have one sentence or a long response, that's great! The more we hear from you, the better we can make next year's show!

We can't wait to hear back from everyone!

By popular demand, here is a copy of the FMV Contest Line Up Info!
Let us know if you have any questions!

[Fanime 2012 FMV Contest Judge's Winners]

Hi everyone,
Congratulations again to all of our finalists and those who have won! The following is the list of this years winners:

Fanime 2012 FMV Contest Judge's Winners      

Action      
1st:   
Editor: Peter Vad, Henrietta Dusnoki, Adam Bako, Peter Punak, Gergely Toth, Krisztina Franyo   
Video: Skrillex MEP

2nd:
Editor: Josh Lord
Video: Little Cream Soda

3rd:
Editor: Douglas Cruces
Video: Hands Up!


Comedy      
1st:   
Editor: Victoria Galietta
Video: FULLMETAL'S BACK

2nd:
Editor: Drew Brisco
Video: A Brainless Video

3rd:
Editor: Mark Scully, Sommer Tarabek
Video: Safety Dance


Drama      
1st:   
Editor: Josh Lord
Video: Simple Little Melody

2nd:
Editor: Mark Scully, Sommer Tarabek
Video: Fate Matrix

3rd:
Editor: Gabrielle Guthaus
Video: Truncating Littlewood's Law


Experimental      
1st:
Editor: Melissa Paradis
Video: Evil Island

2nd:
Editor: Quentin Harris   
Video: Its Di Gi Dubstep Nyo!

3rd:
Editor: Daniel Tompos   
Video: Tenshi Has Been Modified


Best In Show      
BIS:
Editor: Mark Scully, Sommer Tarabek
Video: Fate Matrix

      

Fanime 2012 FMV Contest Audience Winners      

Action      
1st:   
Editor: Douglas Cruces
Video: Hands Up!

2nd:
Editor: Peter Vad, Henrietta Dusnoki, Adam Bako, Peter Punak, Gergely Toth, Krisztina Franyo   
Video: Skrillex MEP

3rd:
Editor: Brian Evans
Video: ENKA.M.V

3rd:
Editor: Leo Grafft
Video: Avenencia


Comedy      
1st:   
Editor: Stephanie Huang
Video: Ballad of the Nice Guy

2nd:
Editor: Mark Scully, Sommer Tarabek
Video: Safety Dance

3rd:
Editor: Drew Brisco
Video: A Brainless Video


Drama      
1st:   
Editor: Mark Scully, Sommer Tarabek
Video: Fate Matrix

2nd:
Editor: Victoria Galietta
Video: The Red Letter

3rd:
Editor: Peter Vad
Video: V izluchine Dona: In the bend of the Don


Experimental      
1st:   
Editor: Melissa Paradis
Video: Evil Island

2nd:
Editor: Daniel Tompos   
Video: Tenshi Has Been Modified

3rd:
Editor: Sarah Fields
Video: Chosen

NOTE: The winners for Audience Experimental had only a ONE point difference between each place!!!

Best In Show      
BIS:
Editor: Stephanie Huang
Video: Ballad of the Nice Guy



Congrats again!
We will be mailing out all of the awards to those that could not be at the award ceremony.

Hi everyone,
We just got confirmation that the award show has been moved to 5pm at Stage Zero!

[FMV Contest Showing:]

Hi everyone,
By popular demand, we are posting the completed FMV Contest event schedule as a new post so it's easier to find. Please let us know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. Cheers!

FMV Contest Showing:
When:
Friday- 1:30pm-3:30pm; Seating starts at 1pm
Saturday- 1:30pm-3:30pm; Seating starts at 1pm

Where:
Video Room 1 and 2 (aka INDUSTRY ROOM and FILM ROOM)


FMV Contest Award Show:
When:
Sunday 2pm-3pm

Where:
Stage Zero

FMV Panel/ Editor Meet and Greet:
When:
Sunday 12pm-1pm

Where:
Video Room Main

[As of this posting (Thursday April 26th) we have sent out emails to ALL entries received.]

Hi everyone,
Just a reminder that the deadline is this coming Monday April 30th, 2012!

As of this posting (Thursday April 26th) we have sent out emails to ALL entries received.
This means that if you are missing an email from us, please contact us ASAP!!! Also please check your emails for any messages regarding issues with videos. I know there were a couple.
To make it easy for you though, you won't get an official confirmation email if we are still having issues. If you got the confirmation email, then your entries are working just fine. ;D

We've been getting loads of entries this week! I'd like to add that we've had a higher number of international entries this year as well.

Below is this year's schedule of events thus far:

FMV Contest Showing:
When:
Friday- 1:30pm-3:30pm; Seating starts at 1pm
Saturday- 1:30pm-3:30pm; Seating starts at 1pm

Where:
Video Room 1 and 2 (aka INDUSTRY ROOM and FILM ROOM)


FMV Contest Award Show:
When:
Sunday 2pm-3pm

Where:
Stage Zero

FMV Panel/ Editor Meet and Greet:

Still TBD



If you are an Editor in this year's contest you will have a separate line and preferred choice of seating. Please let us know that you're an Editor when you get there!

Once again, we'd love to hear your thoughts. Feedback is key. Thanks!

Here is your chance to make you voices heard regarding what you, our awesome fans and editors, want as prizes. Tell us early, tell us often, and we will make it happen. So far, gift cards have worked well, but we'd also like to give away audience prizes. Let us know what you would love to see there! Thanks!

[***Please also note that the FMV Dept Crew has recently relocated to sunny Hollywood! Therefore, keep in mind that there is a NEW address for your entries in the rules.***]

Hi everyone!
We've been working on some new stuff for this year's FMV Contest.

First off, we will be posting updates as we near the deadlines for this years contest regarding the number of entries received in each category. We will also be posting previous year's numbers so that you can better decide what kind of FMV entry to submit. This comes from the overwhelming number of outstanding submissions we had last year in the Drama category. Sadly, we did not have a long enough show to accommodate all the totally show worthy FMV's.

This brings me to our second addition (by popular demand). We have worked out an agreement with Stage Zero and we will be providing them with the FMV entries to play through out FanimeCon 2012. When and where they are played are up to the discretion of Stage Zero, however, this will give a chance to FMV entries that don't make the show a chance to be seen (and maybe draw a crowd and attention to your awesome work ;D) throughout the length of FanimeCon 2012. If you would like us to exclude your entry from the list given to Stage Zero, please let us know.

***Please also note that the FMV Dept Crew has recently relocated to sunny Hollywood! Therefore, keep in mind that there is a NEW address for your entries in the rules.***

If you have any more ideas or suggestions, please voice your thoughts. We're always happy to take note!

[FMV Contest Rules and Guidelines]

FMV Contest Rules and Guidelines

       The rules are put in place to make an even playing field for all contestants. Please keep in mind that we at Fanime aren't perfect, so mistakes can happen.  If the mistake is found on your end, we will do our best to contact you and give you the chance to fix it.  With the large number of entries expected, we can't devote a lot of time to any one FMV, so some corrections may not be allowed. If the mistake is found on our end we will work as fast as possible to correct it.  Remember we on the FMV staff work hard and will do our best to do right by all contestants.

       A note to all contestants: please do not send your only or master copy, as all materials submitted will not be returned.

       All questions and comments can be sent to: [email protected] or [email protected]

          GENERAL SUBMISSION RULES

           • Up to, but not exceeding, 2 videos may be submitted per entrant, organization, or group.

           • There is no maximum length for videos, but 5 minutes is preferred as the longest length. Keep in mind that videos of excessive length may be cut due to time constraints.

           • All videos may not have been submitted to any prior Fanime Con AMV event.

           • Any video with extreme sexual and/or excessive violent content will be automatically disqualified from the contest. Keep in mind that some nudity is artistic in nature, but any video that the judges deem in poor taste will be removed.

           • Specific dates and times for all FanimeCon events are to be determined at a later date.

           • Special seating will be made available for all contestants during the showing. Please be sure we have your E-mail and mailing address when submitting so your seating location, times, and materials may be sent to you.

      Video Bumpers
       Please don't put opening or closing bumpers in your video if at all possible. We will be putting uniform title bumpers to all the videos ourselves. Having a bumper will not disqualify your video but will be edited out. If you do not want your video to possibly receive a bad edit, please do it yourself.

       Submission Due Dates

       All videos must be in the hands of the video coordinator no later than the Hard Deadline of midnight on Monday April 30th, 2012. Additional points will be awarded for all entries submitted on the Soft Deadline on or before Monday April 23rd, 2012. All videos submitted will be tested to make sure that there are no problems with playback. If there are any problems, there is a short amount of time to fix and/or resubmit your work. Remember this isn't school, so don't delay - submit A.S.A.P.


      Digital Submissions
       All entries must be submitted in a digital format, this means no VHS, HI8, or BETA Max. To allow complete control over the final appearance and quality of the video submitted, and to prevent quality loss, it is in the submitter's best interest to handle digital conversion.

       We ask that you include a text file with your submission information. The inclusion of extra files sent in during your submission will not be tolerated. This infraction depending on the materiel sent may cause you to be disqualified.

       Online Submissions
       If you're a very busy person, and a lot of us are, please send your videos online. You can send your file over the Internet via filesend.com. filesend.com will handle files up to 500mb in size for free with out registration, and 1GB if you register for the FREE account. There are many other file sharing websites online and you may use any that you want, just don't send links to any illegal or illicit file hosting websites. Remember all file formatting and type rules still apply. Make sure to send your video to [email protected]. After the video has made its way to us please send another email with all the info as if it were a mailed entry.

Note: Due to problems with downloads from the site and certain restrictions placed upon downloading, we ask that you DO NOT upload via Mega Upload. Filesend.com is preferred.

Info to accompany your entry as a text file with your submission(s):


        * For every production group (or individual if a video was made by themselves)
           • Production Group Name (if applicable)
           • Full legal names of everybody in the production group
           • Mailing address (single address for the group)
           • Email address (single address for the group)
           • Phone number (single phone number for the group)
         

        * For every video submitted:
           • Name of the video
           • Production group responsible (if multiple groups are submitting on one disk)
           • Song Artist
           • Song Title
           • Footage used (If your video uses more than 3 sources, you need only list "various")
           • Category to be judged in.


       Mailing Media
       Multiple entries may be on a single disk, and multiple disks may be in a single mailer. A letter and text file detailing all media included on the disks must be included with the disk and on the disk(s). All media must be turned in on time to meet all requirements for application into the contest.
       Disks must be labeled properly with all info in clean legible handwriting.

           Info to be included on the label of the disks:
           • Fanime FMV 2K12
           • Your full name and either your email address or phone number on each disk.
           * Note! If multiple individuals are responsible for the content of the disks, a single contact person must be chosen and that persons name included on top.
           • If the file is larger then 650 megabytes or 4.7 gigabytes please span it across multiple disks. Please use either (Winzip - .zip) or (Rarsoft - .rar) to break the file into manageable file sizes.

All disks must be clearly labeled in consecutive order as part of a set (example: 3 of 7 or XXX of YYY)
         
If you wish to submit your file in another format to span media please email [email protected] to confirm we can handle it.
         

Info to accompany your disks, as both a written document and a text file on your disks:


        * For every production group (or individual if a video was made by themselves)
           • Production Group Name (if applicable)
           • Full legal names of everybody in the production group
           • Mailing address (single address for the group)
           • Email address (single address for the group)
           • Phone number (single phone number for the group)
         

        * For every video on the disks:
           • Name of the video
           • Production group responsible (if multiple groups are submitting on one disk)
           • Song Artist
           • Song Title
           • Footage used (If your video uses more than 3 sources, you need only list "various")
           • Category to be judged in.
         
*** Note! Judging staff reserves the right to place your video in any category if they feel the video was misplaced. To avoid any conflicts we will contact you before this move.

No media formatted as VCD, SVCD, or DVD-Video will be accepted. All media should be data formatted and readable as a simple file, usable on a PC or MAC.

       Your entry's package must be properly labeled on both the package itself and the disks included. And must include the full name of the contest you are entering as follows:

       ATTN: Fanime FMV 2K11
       Your name and address

       Mail all entries to:

       ATTN: Fanime FMV 2K11
       C/o Jose Marin
       8906 Hazeltine Ave
       Panorama City, CA 91402

Note: This address is new. Please update your notes, friends, etc!!!

      File Formats
       We are only accepting files that are formatted in MPEG2, AVI, MP4, or MOV. If you choose to select a format that is different from the one's listed we will contact you and ask that you change it's format. Please, when exporting your files stay within official resolutions 720X480 or an HD size of 1280x720 and with stereo audio. Videos may be rejected if the resolution is too small.

Suggested Programs for file conversion
  If you need to convert your video to an accepted file format we suggest using one of these two programs.   MPEG Streamclip and TMPGEnc. Both are free and easy to use.

       ASF, WMV, MKV, Windows Media, Flash/Shockwave Animation, Real Media, and HUFYUV Files are unacceptable.

       General File Settings
Video:
•   29.97 Frames Per second
•   Encode with an aspect ratio of 16:9, 4:3 is allowed but might be stretched during our conversion process.
•   If your original source was film or 24fps add a 3:2 Pulldown this will convert it to 29.97 fps
•   Please encode your video as deinterlaced. Interlaced is OK but we will deinterlace the video for the contest.  
•   Video size must be either 720X480 4:3 Format or 1280X720 16:9 Format
•   Single pass set to a variable bit rate and select 16 megabits per second
•   If you use two pass VBR set to 2 megabits as the minimum, 8 megabits as the average, and 16 megabits as the maximum.
•   We have had issues converting certain codecs in the past such as YCrCb or LAM (LAME). Please avoid these if possible. We will contact you if any entries have converting issues and work with you to fix it as soon as we can.  

Audio:
•   Use Layer-II or Layer-III audio at 224 Kilobits per second or better
•   Choose stereo over joint stereo for best quality
•   Sample at 44.1Khz

       We have a lot of hard drive space available and would rather sacrifice size over quality. If you're unsure of how or what resolution/frame rate/bit rate/audio settings to choose, please send the source file and let us do the conversion for you.

          *Note! When resizing your video the choice of maintaining the aspect ratio will be determined on a video-to-video basis.

Events and Judging
       Judging staff will consist of Fanime FMV coordination staff, Fanime Con staff, outside technical and artistic judges, and AMV editors not participating in Fanime AMV events for the current year.
       Judging staff will separate all videos submitted into 4 genres as follows:
       • Action/Adventure/Horror
       • Drama/Romance
       • Comedy/Parody
       • Experimental (any FMV that pushes the limits and crosses genre barriers, A.K.A the ones we can't categorize)
*Note! If we decide to move you video to another category we will attempt to contact you, if we get no reply we will make the change.

Notifications
  Different notifications will be sent out to each contestant depending on how far they made it through judging. I will post copies of the Email's on the forums and a description of what they mean to avoid any confusion.


1st Email – This will be sent to you notifying you that your video has been received and logged into our system.


2nd Email – There will be two different types sent out. Type A will be informing you that you have made it into the contest. Type B will be informing you yours was not chosen this year.


3rd Email – This Email will be sent to everyone giving you the time, date, and seating arrangements.
     

100 Point Judging Scale:
       35 Points – Skill/Technical Prowess
       35 Points – Creativity/Concept – "does the Video go with the music?" "Does your Music Video flow gracefully or does it roll like Square wheels"
       10 Points – Choice of Audio Selection – "Does the music fit the tone or selection of anime used in your Music Video" and "Does the quality in general
       15 Points – Quality of source material – "Does you video have the DivX Logo? Does your video look grainy when expanded to full screen? Subtitles will hurt this score."
         5 Points - Submitted properly – This one must be self evident, you need to submit the right forms, format, and have it in on time.


EXTRA POINTS:
2 Extra points will be given to those who submit on or before April 23rd, 2012


*Note! Please keep in mind that the 100 point scale and any extra points are assigned per judge on the judges panel. This means that every point has the potential to make or break a winner.


       The judging staff will view each entry and choose which entries will make it into the finals. Don't despair - those that don't make it into the finals will still be shown along with those that did make it into the contest during the con in-between programming during the convention.


       Award Classifications

           • Judges Choice:
                   Judges Choice will be decided prior to Fanime Con and will not be announced until the Award Ceremony.
           • Viewers Choice:
                   The attending audience of the finals judging will decide Viewers Choice. All audience members will vote on their favorite video by ballot.

Each genre will have a winner. There will also be a Best of Show from all genres. Awards will be submitted to all winners during the Award Ceremony, which is held during con. You do not have to be present at the con to receive your award but it would be nice if you were.


      Exhibition Videos
       Exhibition videos will be accepted and may be shown at other events during the con. If you wish to submit an exhibition FMV please make sure your documentation says that it specifically is for the exhibition. Otherwise it will be judged as a regular FMV and may or may not be disqualified.

       Notice!!! Fanime Con 2012 reserves the right to make amendments to the rules at any time.

[Fanime 2011 FMV Contest Judge's Winners]

Here are the winners for this year's FMV Contest! Those who were not at the award show will have thier awards and respective prizes mailed to the address that was provided with your entry.

Remember, all 1st Place Winners not only get an award certificate, but a $50 gift card to Best Buy. Best In Show Winners recieve and award certificate and a $100 gift card to Best Buy as well! So get those entries ready for next year's contest!

Fanime 2011 FMV Contest Judge's Winners      
Place   Name                                   Video Name
Action      
1st   Mark Scully               Extraball
2nd   Drew Brisco              From The Hereafter With Love
3rd   Benjamin Chu             Pretropolis

Comedy      
1st   Stephanie Huang             Death Romance
2nd   Stephanie Huang             Junjo Rhapsody
3rd   Sean Thordsen             Druaga with Lyrics

Drama      
1st   Rebecca Stanley              Trial by Drowning
2nd   Victoria Rider Gallieta       Son of Man
3rd   See Mai Chan                   Swimmingly Good

Experimental      
1st   Mark Scully                     A Prelude to Dreams
2nd   Lauren Winsor Stenmoe     My Life on the Crazy Train Sucks
3rd   Philip Long & Qui Nyugen   Nerv's Glee Club: You Can (Not) Dance

Best In Show      
BIS   Mark Scully   A Prelude to Dreams
      
      
Fanime 2011 FMV Contest Audience Winners      
Place   Name                                   Video Name
Action      
1st   Erin Nguyen                    To The Future
2nd   Mark Scully                     Extraball
3rd   Benjamin Chu                   Pretropolis

Comedy      
1st   Stephanie Huang             Death Romance
2nd   Sean Thordsen                Druaga with Lyrics
3rd   Stephanie Huang             Junjo Rhapsody

Drama      
1st   Victoria Rider Gallieta        Son of Man
2nd   Gabrielle Guthaus             Live A Little
3rd   Rebecca Stanley              Trial by Drowning

Experimental      
1st   Philip Long & Qui Nyugen   Nerv's Glee Club: You Can (Not) Dance
2nd   Mark Scully                     A Prelude to Dreams
3rd   Lauren Winsor Stenmoe     My Life on the Crazy Train Sucks

Best In Show      
BIS   Philip Long & Qui Nyugen   Nerv's Glee Club: You Can (Not) Dance


Congratulations to all our winners and good luck next year!

[So if you submitted an entry this year and would like to have people check out your entry, please send a link to your posted video to [email protected] or [email protected] with the subject "Show Off My 2011 FMV!"]

Hi everyone!
This year flat out rocked. I loved everything about working with this year's outstanding group of editors. So to everyone that submitted: Thank you! We would not have a show with out you.

I will be posting the winners up on the forums tomorrow night for everyone to see. Also, I have received many, many request to see this year's entries online. I found out that while we are not allowed to post the videos online directly, we can post links directing people to the video. This would be great as we had to cut so many awesome entries due to the limited length of the FMV showing.
So if you submitted an entry this year and would like to have people check out your entry, please send a link to your posted video to [email protected] or [email protected] with the subject "Show Off My 2011 FMV!"


Also, we would love to hear any and all feedback from you, the fans, about anything and everything FMV related. With that being said, I have some basic questions that I'll repeat from earlier in the year for both editors and audience alike that covers FMV judging, submitting, showing, categories, prizes or anything else that you can think of:

1. What did you like? What worked for you?


2. What did you not like? Is there anything you feel needs to be improved?


3. What would you like to see from the show? Do you like animated shorts/trailers? Any ideas for prizes? What day would be preferred for the show? Stuff like that. Basically ANYTHING that comes to mind about ANYTHING related to FMV.


*Keep in mind that we are aware of certian issues such as the lack of schedules, but please feel free to voice your opinion about that as well.


Please be as honest as possible, but keep it respectful. The more feedback the better! If you have one sentence or a long response, that's great! The more we hear from you, the better we can make next year's show!

I can't wait to hear back from everyone!

[Fanime 2011 FMV Contest Line Up Info Order Name Video Name Music By Song Title Footage UsedAction]

Hi Everyone!
We're posting the FMV Line Up Info for everyone to see. Unfortunately, Excel doesn't translate well for this post so the info is there... but it's just not pretty. I'll work on posting a cleaner version later in the week. But for now, let me know if this listing gets too confusing. Thanks!


Fanime 2011 FMV Contest Line Up Info               
Order   Name   Video Name   Music By   Song Title   Footage Used
Action               
1   Andrew Paulino    Maho Clash   Metamorphosis   Blue Stahli   Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha: The Movie 1st
2   Shawn Michael Fagan   Birth Of A Hero   Chad Kroger/Josey Scott   Hero   Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor
3   Ashley Amaya   Lifeline   Imogen Heap   Lifeline   Puella Magi Madoka Magica
4   Mark Scully   Extraball   Yuksek Ft. Amanda Blank   Extraball   Various
5   Jason Fiore   Illusion Breaker   Saosin   Collapse   Toaru Majutsu no Index
6   Drew Brisco   From The Hereafter With Love   Garbage   The World is Not Enough   Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne
7   Ryan Cech   Is it Safe?    Queens of the Stone Age   A Song for the Deaf   Various (Gregory Horror Show, Akira, Lain, Ichi the Killer Episode 0, Paranoia Agent, Perfect Blue, Memories Magnetic Rose Segment, Shiki, Catherine, Le Portraite De Petite Cossette, Neighbor #13, Speedgrapher
8   Jonathan Subillaga   Help is (not) on the Way   Rise Against   Help is on the Way   Rebuild of Evangelion 1.1 - You are (not) Alone, Rebuild of Evangelion 2.2 - You can (not) Advance, End of Evangelion
9   Erinn Thompson   This! Is! Entertainment!   Innerpartysystem   Don't Stop   Kingdom Hearts
10   Nic Neidenbach   No Rest for the Wicked   Cage the Elephant   Ain't No Rest for the Wicked   Cowboy Bebop
11   Erin Nguyen   To The Future   30 Seconds to Mars   This is War   Katekyo Hitman Reborn!
12   See Mai Chan   Today & Tomorrow   SR-71   Tomorrow   Katekyo Hitman Reborn!
13   Benjamin Chu   Pretropolis   Paul Jebanasam   Prelude   Metropolis
Drama               
1   See Mai Chan   Swimmingly Good   Panic! At the Disoc   Nine in the Afternoon   Arakawa Under the Bridge
2   Brad DeMoss   Mad World   Gary Jules   Mad World   Various (Satoshi Kon)
3   Nic Neidenbach   A Glorious Dawn   Carl Sagan   A Glorious Dawn   Various
4   Terrell Codrington   Can't Bring You Back   Avril Lavigne    Slipped Away   NANA
5   Lenin Meza    Pletora   Kagamine Rin   Jihaku   Angel Beats!
6   Courtney Johnson   General Brigadier Maes Hughes: Lost Along The Way   John Nordstrom   Lost Along the Way   FullMetal Alchemist; FullMetal Alchemist Brotherhood
7   Susan Fry   Notice Me   Seussical The Musical Original Broadway Cast   Notice Me Horton   Princess Tutu
8   Victoria Rider Gallieta   Son of Man   Phil Collins   Son of Man   Dragonball Z
9   Gabrielle Guthaus   Coming Home   Shiny Toy Guns   Major Tom (Coming Home)   Macross Frontier, Voices of a Distant Star
10   Rebecca Stanley   Trial by Drowning   Darren Hayes   A Conversation with God   Casshern Sins (+ Various)
11   Elisabeth Duty   Defying Ghibli   Edina Menzel   Defying Gravity (Pop Version)   Various
12   Gabrielle Guthaus   Live A Little   Pink   Raise Your Glass   Various
Comedy               
1   Stephanie Huang   Junjo Rhapsody   Kirby Super Star   Gourmet Race   Junjo Rhapsody
2   Kyle Fong   I want a girl...   Cake   Short Skirt, Long Jacket   Highschool of the Dead
3   Amanda Gregory   Anime the Crazy   CO-ED SCHOOL   Bbiribbom Bberibbom   Various
4   Stephanie Huang   Death Romance   Lady Gaga   Bad Romance   Death Note
5   Sarah Denise Blass & Norton Eric Letham   Dr. Zero's Sing-Along AMV   Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, Felicia Day   A Man's Gotta Do   Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion;    Code Geass: Lelouche of the Rebellion R2
6   Sean Thordsen   Druaga with Lyrics   Nobuo Uematsu, Brentalfloss   Final Fantasy with Lyrics   Druaga
7   Drew Brisco   A Different Kind of Dance   The Travelling Wilburys   The Wilbury Twist   Various
Experimental               
1   Philip Long & Qui Nyugen   Nerv's Glee Club: You Can (Not) Dance   Cast of Glee singing Journey, Lady Gaga & Queen   Don't Stop Believing, Any Way You Want It, Lovin Touchin Squeezin, Bad Romance, Bohemian Rhapsody   Evangelion 1.11: You Are (Not) Alone, Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance
2   Malinda Wells   Give Me Reason   Linkin Park   New Divide   Final Fantasy: Advent Children
3   Lauren Winsor Stenmoe   My Life on the Crazy Train Sucks   Dan Mei and Marc Johnce   My Life on the Crazy Train Sucks (So What?)   FLCL
4   Victoria Rider Gallieta   Crimson Rhapsody   Philharmonic Quintet   Aristocrat's Symphony    Trinity Blood
5   Sarah Fields   Dial Back the Silence   Linkin Park   New Divide (Remixed by Unforgettable Sound)   Sailor Moon
6   Mark Scully   A Prelude to Dreams   Imogen Heap (DJ Saryux Remix)   Hide and Seek   Various

[1. FMV Editors Meet and Greet!]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to post an event announcement for anyone who has not received word yet. There will be three FMV Contest related events during FanimeCon 2011!

1. FMV Editors Meet and Greet!
What:
Come meet this year's editors. This will give everyone a chance to meet any contestants in the FMV Contest and pick their brains. This will be a great place to talk about the awesome AMV community and maybe learna trick or to about making AMV's! All editors that submitted an entry are invited, as well as any and all fans of AMVs!

Where:
Main Video Room

When:
Saturday May 28th 10am-11am


2. FMV Contest!
What:
This will showcase all the great talent that the Fanime AMV community has brought forth. Come and check out the show. This is the main event! Back by popular demand for Fanime FMV Contest, we will be awarding prizes along with the awards for our 1st Place Winners and for Best In Show!!! We may even have a prize or two for audience members that attend!!!

Where:
Video 1 and 2 (Industry Room and Film Room)

When:
Friday May 27th
Seating begins at 2:30pm
Show is from 2:45pm-5pm
AND
Saturday May 28th
Seating begins at 2:30pm
Show is from 2:45pm-5pm

3. FMV Contest Award Show
What:
Who won? Come and cheers for your favorite video! We will be announcing the winners in Action, Drama, Comedy, Experimental, and, of course, Best In Show! This will showcase the top picks as chosen by our very own panel of Judges and of our Audience! Thinking of making an awesome AMV next year? Come and see what your competition will be!

Where:
Stage Zero

When:
Sunday May 29th 2pm-3pm

We hope to see everyone there!

Jose Marin
FMV Dept Head
FanimeCon 2010

[Sunday May 8th]

Hi everyone,
This year's deadline is this coming Sunday May 8th at midnight!

Also, if you have mailed or emailed a submission and have not received a reply, please contact us ASAP at [email protected] or [email protected] .

As of this posting, all current submissions have been processed and notification emails sent out. If you're waiting on one, don't delay!

Last year was the first year that we included prizes along with our FMV Awards for the top FMV's. We want to do it again this year as well! We gave out Best Buy gift cards, which were met with great enthusiasm. What kind of prizes would you like to see this year?

We would love to hear back from you soon! Let us know your thoughts! Thanks!

[Note: This address is new. Please update your notes, friends, etc!!!]

Please note that the mailing address has changed. If you have mailed anything to the old address please let me know asap!

NEW ADDRESS:

ATTN: Fanime FMV 2K11
       C/o Jose Marin
       1180 Crystal Ln
       El Cajon, CA 92020
Note: This address is new. Please update your notes, friends, etc!!!

[FMV Contest Rules and Guidelines]

         FMV Contest Rules and Guidelines

       The rules are put in place to make an even playing field for all contestants. Please keep in mind that we at Fanime aren't perfect, so mistakes can happen.  If the mistake is found on your end, we will do our best to contact you and give you the chance to fix it.  With the large number of entries expected, we can't devote a lot of time to any one FMV, so some corrections may not be allowed. If the mistake is found on our end we will work as fast as possible to correct it.  Remember we on the FMV staff work hard and will do our best to do right by all contestants.

       A note to all contestants: please do not send your only or master copy, as all materials submitted will not be returned.

       All questions and comments can be sent to: [email protected] or [email protected]

          GENERAL SUBMISSION RULES

           • Up to, but not exceeding, 2 videos may be submitted per entrant, organization, or group.

           • There is no maximum length for videos, but 5 minutes is preferred as the longest length. Keep in mind that videos of excessive length may be cut due to time constraints.

           • All videos may not have been submitted to any prior Fanime Con AMV event.

           • Any video with extreme sexual and/or excessive violent content will be automatically disqualified from the contest. Keep in mind that some nudity is artistic in nature, but any video that the judges deem in poor taste will be removed.

           • Specific dates and times for all FanimeCon events are to be determined at a later date.

           • Special seating will be made available for all contestants during the showing. Please be sure we have your E-mail and mailing address when submitting so your seating location, times, and materials may be sent to you.

       Video Bumpers
       Please don't put opening or closing bumpers in your video if at all possible. We will be putting uniform title bumpers to all the videos ourselves. Having a bumper will not disqualify your video but will be edited out. If you do not want your video to possibly receive a bad edit, please do it yourself.

       Submission Due Dates

       All videos must be in the hands of the video coordinator no later than the Hard Deadline of midnight on Sunday May 8th, 2011. Additional points will be awarded for all entries submitted on the Soft Deadline on or before Sunday May 1st, 2011. All videos submitted will be tested to make sure that there are no problems with playback. If there are any problems, there is a short amount of time to fix and/or resubmit your work. Remember this isn't school, so don't delay - submit A.S.A.P.


      Digital Submissions
       All entries must be submitted in a digital format, this means no VHS, HI8, or BETA Max. To allow complete control over the final appearance and quality of the video submitted, and to prevent quality loss, it is in the submitter's best interest to handle digital conversion.

       We ask that you include a text file with your submission information. The inclusion of extra files sent in during your submission will not be tolerated. This infraction depending on the materiel sent may cause you to be disqualified.

       Online Submissions
       If you're a very busy person, and a lot of us are, please send your videos online. You can send your file over the Internet via filesend.com. filesend.com will handle files up to 500mb in size for free with out registration, and 1GB if you register for the FREE account. There are many other file sharing websites online and you may use any that you want, just don't send links to any illegal or illicit file hosting websites. Remember all file formatting and type rules still apply. Make sure to send your video to [email protected]. After the video has made its way to us please send another email with all the info as if it were a mailed entry.

Note: Due to problems with downloads from the site and certain restrictions placed upon downloading, we ask that you DO NOT upload via Mega Upload. Filesend.com is preferred.

Info to accompany your entry as a text file with your submission(s):


        * For every production group (or individual if a video was made by themselves)
           • Production Group Name (if applicable)
           • Full legal names of everybody in the production group
           • Mailing address (single address for the group)
           • Email address (single address for the group)
           • Phone number (single phone number for the group)
         

        * For every video submitted:
           • Name of the video
           • Production group responsible (if multiple groups are submitting on one disk)
           • Song Artist
           • Song Title
           • Footage used (If your video uses more than 3 sources, you need only list "various")
           • Category to be judged in.


       Mailing Media
       Multiple entries may be on a single disk, and multiple disks may be in a single mailer. A letter and text file detailing all media included on the disks must be included with the disk and on the disk(s). All media must be turned in on time to meet all requirements for application into the contest.
       Disks must be labeled properly with all info in clean legible handwriting.

           Info to be included on the label of the disks:
           • Fanime FMV 2K10
           • Your full name and either your email address or phone number on each disk.
           * Note! If multiple individuals are responsible for the content of the disks, a single contact person must be chosen and that persons name included on top.
           • If the file is larger then 650 megabytes or 4.7 gigabytes please span it across multiple disks. Please use either (Winzip - .zip) or (Rarsoft - .rar) to break the file into manageable file sizes.

All disks must be clearly labeled in consecutive order as part of a set (example: 3 of 7 or XXX of YYY)
         
If you wish to submit your file in another format to span media please email [email protected] to confirm we can handle it.
         

Info to accompany your disks, as both a written document and a text file on your disks:


        * For every production group (or individual if a video was made by themselves)
           • Production Group Name (if applicable)
           • Full legal names of everybody in the production group
           • Mailing address (single address for the group)
           • Email address (single address for the group)
           • Phone number (single phone number for the group)
         

        * For every video on the disks:
           • Name of the video
           • Production group responsible (if multiple groups are submitting on one disk)
           • Song Artist
           • Song Title
           • Footage used (If your video uses more than 3 sources, you need only list "various")
           • Category to be judged in.
         
*** Note! Judging staff reserves the right to place your video in any category if they feel the video was misplaced. To avoid any conflicts we will contact you before this move.

No media formatted as VCD, SVCD, or DVD-Video will be accepted. All media should be data formatted and readable as a simple file, usable on a PC or MAC.

       Your entry's package must be properly labeled on both the package itself and the disks included. And must include the full name of the contest you are entering as follows:

       ATTN: Fanime FMV 2K11
       Your name and address

       Mail all entries to:

       ATTN: Fanime FMV 2K11
       C/o Jose Marin
       1180 Crystal Ln
       El Cajon, CA 92020
Note: This address is new. Please update your notes, friends, etc!!!

      File Formats
       We are only accepting files that are formatted in MPEG2, AVI, MP4, or MOV. If you choose to select a format that is different from the one's listed we will contact you and ask that you change it's format. Please, when exporting your files stay within official resolutions 720X480 or an HD size of 1280x720 and with stereo audio. Videos may be rejected if the resolution is too small.

Suggested Programs for file conversion
  If you need to convert your video to an accepted file format we suggest using one of these two programs.   MPEG Streamclip and TMPGEnc. Both are free and easy to use.

       ASF, WMV, MKV, Windows Media, Flash/Shockwave Animation, Real Media Files are unacceptable.

       General File Settings
Video:
•   29.97 Frames Per second
•   Encode with an aspect ratio of 16:9, 4:3 is allowed but might be stretched during our conversion process.
•   If your original source was film or 24fps add a 3:2 Pulldown this will convert it to 29.97 fps
•   Please encode your video as deinterlaced. Interlaced is OK but we will deinterlace the video for the contest.  
•   Video size must be either 720X480 4:3 Format or 1280X720 16:9 Format
•   Single pass set to a variable bit rate and select 16 megabits per second
•   If you use two pass VBR set to 2 megabits as the minimum, 8 megabits as the average, and 16 megabits as the maximum.
•   We have had issues converting certain codecs in the past such as YCrCb or LAM (LAME). Please avoid these if possible. We will contact you if any entries have converting issues and work with you to fix it as soon as we can.  

Audio:
•   Use Layer-II or Layer-III audio at 224 Kilobits per second or better
•   Choose stereo over joint stereo for best quality
•   Sample at 44.1Khz

       We have a lot of hard drive space available and would rather sacrifice size over quality. If you're unsure of how or what resolution/frame rate/bit rate/audio settings to choose, please send the source file and let us do the conversion for you.

          *Note! When resizing your video the choice of maintaining the aspect ratio will be determined on a video-to-video basis.

Events and Judging
       Judging staff will consist of Fanime FMV coordination staff, Fanime Con staff, outside technical and artistic judges, and AMV editors not participating in Fanime AMV events for the current year.
       Judging staff will separate all videos submitted into 4 genres as follows:
       • Action/Adventure/Horror
       • Drama/Romance
       • Comedy/Parody
       • Experimental (any FMV that pushes the limits and crosses genre barriers, A.K.A the ones we can't categorize)
*Note! If we decide to move you video to another category we will attempt to contact you, if we get no reply we will make the change.

Notifications
  Different notifications will be sent out to each contestant depending on how far they made it through judging. I will post copies of the Email's on the forums and a description of what they mean to avoid any confusion.


1st Email – This will be sent to you notifying you that your video has been received and logged into our system.


2nd Email – There will be two different types sent out. Type A will be informing you that you have made it into the contest. Type B will be informing you yours was not chosen this year.


3rd Email – This Email will be sent to everyone giving you the time, date, and seating arrangements.
     

100 Point Judging Scale:
       35 Points – Skill/Technical Prowess
       35 Points – Creativity/Concept – "does the Video go with the music?" "Does your Music Video flow gracefully or does it roll like Square wheels"
       10 Points – Choice of Audio Selection – "Does the music fit the tone or selection of anime used in your Music Video"
       15 Points – Quality of source material – "Does you video have the DivX Logo? Does your video look grainy when expanded to full screen? Subtitles will hurt this score."
         5 Points - Submitted properly – This one must be self evident, you need to submit the right forms, format, and have it in on time.


EXTRA POINTS:
2 Extra points will be given to those who submit on or before May 1st, 2011


*Note! Please keep in mind that the 100 point scale and any extra points are assigned per judge on the judges panel. This means that every point has the potential to make or break a winner.


       The judging staff will view each entry and choose which entries will make it into the finals. Don't despair - those that don't make it into the finals will still be shown along with those that did make it into the contest during the con in-between programming during the convention.


       Award Classifications

           • Judges Choice:
                   Judges Choice will be decided prior to Fanime Con and will not be announced until the Award Ceremony.
           • Viewers Choice:
                   The attending audience of the finals judging will decide Viewers Choice. All audience members will vote on their favorite video by ballot.

Each genre will have a winner. There will also be a Best of Show from all genres. Awards will be submitted to all winners during the Award Ceremony, which is held during con. You do not have to be present at the con to receive your award but it would be nice if you were.


      Exhibition Videos
       Exhibition videos will be accepted and may be shown at other events during the con. If you wish to submit an exhibition FMV please make sure your documentation says that it specifically is for the exhibition. Otherwise it will be judged as a regular FMV and may or may not be disqualified.

       Notice!!! Fanime Con 2010 reserves the right to make amendments to the rules at any time.

[1. What did you like? What worked for you?]

Hi everyone!

The time draws close for us to finalize this years rules. We plan to keep most things the same but are working on some submission options and minor changes, but before we post the finished product we would love to hear what you have to say!

With that being said, I have some basic questions for both editors and audience alike that covers FMV judging, submitting, showing, categories, prizes or anything else that you can think of:

1. What did you like? What worked for you?


2. What did you not like? Is there anything you feel needs to be improved?


3. What would you like to see from the show? Do you like animated shorts/trailers? Any ideas for prizes? What day would be preferred for the show? Stuff like that. Basically ANYTHING that comes to mind about ANYTHING related to FMV.


*Keep in mind that we are aware of certian issues such as the late start that happened at FMV 2010 and have been working with the appropriate contacts to ensure that is not repeated.


Please be as honest as possible, but keep it respectful. The more feedback the better! If you have one sentence or a long response, that's great! The sooner we hear from you, the sooner we can finalize and post this years rules!

I can't wait to hear back from everyone.

[Fanime 2010 FMV Contest Judge's Winners]

Here are the winners for the FanimeCon 2010 FMV Contest!

Fanime 2010 FMV Contest Judge's Winners      

Action      
1st   Nic Neidenbach   Building Steam
2nd   Kerry Potts   Spinning Infinity
3rd   David Mohajer-Rahbari   Some Ride It Ruff

Comedy      
1st   Erinn Thompson   High School Really Does Never End
2nd   Victoria and John Galietta III   I Love the Anime World!
3rd   Drew Brisco   "YTMND: Fad of Princely Caliber"

Drama      
1st   Victoria Galietta   Out of the Sea
2nd   Erinn Thompson   I Lost a Friend
3rd   Bryan Malicse   Never Have Known

Experimental      
1st   Melissa Paradis   A Walk To Remember
2nd   Jessica Chin   Spell Battle Phenomenon
3rd   Lauren Winsor Stenmoe   Imaginary

Best In Show      
1st   Nic Neidenbach   Building Steam
      
      
Fanime 2010 FMV Contest Audience Winners      

Action      
1st   Kerry Potts   Spinning Infinity
2nd   Nic Neidenbach   Building Steam
3rd   Brian Evans   Setsuna of Arabia

Comedy      
1st   Drew Brisco   "YTMND: Fad of Princely Caliber"
2nd   Gabrielle Guthaus   Rejected Theme Days
3rd   Erinn Thompson   High School Really Does Never End

Drama      
1st   Victoria Galietta   Out of the Sea
2nd   Elisabeth Duty   Lay Me to Sleep
3rd   Erinn Thompson   I Lost a Friend

Experimental      
1st   Annika Perkins   Ga-Rei-Zero Fan Made Trailer
2nd   Jessica Chin   Spell Battle Phenomenon
3rd   Rachel Hoiem   For A New Day

Best In Show      
1st   Drew Brisco   "YTMND: Fad of Princely Caliber"

[1. FMV Editors Meet and Greet!]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to post an event announcement for anyone who has not received word yet. There will be three FMV Contest related events during FanimeCon 2010!

1. FMV Editors Meet and Greet!
What:
Come meet this year's editors. This will give everyone a chance to meet any contestants in the FMV Contest and pick their brains. This will be a great place to talk about the awesome AMV community and maybe learna trick or to about making AMV's! All editors are invited, as well as any and all fans of AMVs!

Where:
Main Video Room

When:
Sunday May 30th 10am-11am


2. FMV Contest!
What:
This will showcase all the great talent that the Fanime AMV community has brought forth. Come and check out the show. This is the main event! As a special first time for Fanime FMV Contest, we will be awarding prizes along with the awards for our 1st Place Winners and for Best In Show!!!

Where:
Civic Auditorium

When:
Sunday May 30th
Seating begins at 2:30pm
Show is from 3pm-5pm


3. FMV Contest Award Show
What:
Who won? Come and cheers for your favorite video! We will be announcing the winners in Action, Drama, Comedy, Experimental, and , of course, Best In Show. This will showcase the top picks as chosen by our very own panel of Judges and of our Audience! Thinking of making an awesome AMV next year? Come and see what your competition will be!

Where:
Stage Zero

When:
Monday May 31th 2pm-3pm

We hope to see everyone there!