Auckland Anime Music Video Competition 2007
Posted by Zeb in Events on Oct 28th, 2007 | 0 commentsThis year’s Auckland Armageddon 2007 Anime Music Video (AMV) competition saw a total of 28 entries submitted, with some entrants submitting 2 or more AMVs.
Judging took place a week prior to the event (as mentioned on the Armageddon site) and just over 8 hours was taken to properly go over each AMV, and also check for information/confirmation/validity online. There were three judges, each with experience in AMV creation, gaming and anime.
The number of entries pleased us greatly, and for the most part we were impressed with the general quality of the AMVs submitted.
Unfortunately there can only be three winners, and while it has been mentioned that due to the number of entries we should add more categories, we are still debating whether this is needed. The main aim of the AMV competition is for enjoyment, the second is to challenge the creators to increase their skill range and get better. By providing an exacting/stringent level of competition, we hope to raise the bar and allow the AMV creatores here in New Zealand to reach the same levels of professional skill as that of well known overseas creators.
In the real world folks, there is no reward for mediocrity, and we are definitely not in kindergarten. 
Information about the competition went up at the beginning of August, and in the weeks following (and after the event) we had several questions asked which I will go over here.
1) Why only 4 minutes for AMV length? In previous years it used to be 5.
Most songs are no longer than 4 minutes, and because we are very stretched for time, we must limit how long each AMV is. Plus, if the AMV creator cannot capture the audience’s attention in four minutes, no amount of time will do it. Four minutes of a poorly made AMV is a long time indeed to sit through.
In the end we couldn’t show all the AMVs at the event itself, and while we were able to get a half hour session the next day to show the rest, I couldn’t show every single AMV made, only one per creator where possible.
2) My AMV was not judged/shown at the event, why?
An AMV would not have been shown or judged this year for three main reasons:
- your submission was received after the due date, and judging had already occured.
- your submission was submitted on incorrect media and was unplayable.
- your submission had technical issues which stopped us from being able to play it during judging and/or during the event itself.
If you would like to know more about your specific AMV, please get in touch with me. 
Note: I will only respond to queries about specific AMVs to the creators of that AMV. Apologies but I do not feel it is my place to tell others something the creator may or may not want known to the public. If you are the creator, please email me from the same email address you listed on your AMV.
3) My friend/child’s AMV did not win and we think it should have!
While we find it admirable that you support your friend/child in such a manner, please bear in mind that your opinion is biased. Ours is not
We have a set number of criteria we judge on, and based off this criteria the winners were picked, and we are happy to say that most event goers who saw the winning AMVs, agreed with the judges’ decisions.
4) When you say you want the AMV on DVD, do you mean burned on, or playable on a DVD player?
We meant playable on a DVD player. Thankfully out of all the entries received, only one entrant burned AMVs on data cd. We were in the end able to show one of this person’s AMVs at the event, and have advised them in detail on how it would have been judged. For the next event, we shall be very clear on this matter.
After the second session, I opened the audience and asked for questions. One very good question was suggestions on how to improve one’s own skill, and what to look out for when creating AMVs. Below are tips and tricks to bear in mind when creating an AMV…
*NOTE: Please be reminded these are general tips for making entertaining AMV’s, at the end of the day practice does make perfect!
Top 10 Tips for making AMVs
by Ho Kunfei
1) Always use a high quality source (ie: DVD rip, Raws)
2) If a high quality source is not available, please use the next highest quality source available to you (ie: fansubs) and crop the source so no foreign overlays are seen (ie: Divx Video watermark or fansubs)
3) Please ensure when encoding the AMV that it is 310 X 190. This will ensure there are not cutoffs at the top/bottom and sides when layering text on your AMVs
4) Ensure that your intro (ie: credits) are displayed long enough for people to see (ie: 5 or more seconds)
5) Use of filters in video processing software is good, but please don’t over use the filters (“less is more”). Keep it simple.
6) When thinking of a theme for an AMV and matching music to it, ensure its entertaining and not boring (slow music and really emotional/evocative scenes always work, ditto with fast paced footage and music that give people that “foot tapping” experience.)
7) When adding scenes to your AMV, make sure each scene has a purpose and is not “filler”…Filler takes away from an AMV and is known as DEADSPACE. You lose the audience easily through this.
If you are strapped for cash, Go to Videohelp.com and there will be a listing of video programs that are shareware but don’t have “unregistered” watermarks in it, thus making your AMV more watchable and professional.
9) Take your time when planning out an AMV, “haste makes waste.” Make story boards to create a “story” that matches your music selection.
10) Please ensure your ideas are original by checking sites like youtube.com.
There is nothing worse than utilizing an idea someone has thought up first and be accused of plagerism.
Other things worth mentioning after this competition that I’d like to point out:
- ensure you use a good quality dvd to burn onto, and that you burn at the correct speed for that dvd.
- don’t go overboard with the menu! We’d rather watch your AMV, not struggle with your menu system.
- don’t use repetitive themes within the AMV. You lose the novelty factor fast.
- go for the unique, different and original. Music and footage that is well known can be repetitive, and the mistakes are easier to spot. Introduce the audience to something new.
- don’t rely on everyone knowing what the anime/game & music is about. What you may think is cool, may actually be dead boring to others. Think global and plan your AMV to be enjoyable without any knowledge of the footage/music. Not only will your AMV be appealling to fans, it will still be enjoyable to people who don’t know the footage/music.
- as mentioned above, check your AMV theme/ideas online and ensure that it hasn’t been “done before.” If the same music and anime has been done 50 times, just with different scenes, your AMV is not original!
Last but definitely not least, check out this site for more information on AMV creation, tips, tricks, ideas and in detailed guides designed to give you an insight into the theory behind audio and video; and also to show you how to get some of the best looking and sounding AMVs that you can using software in Windows.
WINNER AMVS:
Kitty Meow by Marc
Time for a Miracle by Kestin
Below are a selection of AMVs that are highly recommended, and some of the most popular, most watched online. Hopefully they will give you an idea of why these AMVs are of the highest calibre.
X (Lord’s Prayer) by Justin Emerson of ErMAC Studios… some very very good AMVs put out by this fellow…
Neon Genesis Evangelion (Engel) by Kevin Caldwell… another well known and skilled AMV creator. Notice the precise timing of words to mouth movement, music to action/scene. Fans of the series were absolutely dizzy with delight since Ramstein is a German group, and the character Asuka who this AMV is centered around is of German origin. Everything about this AMV was well thought out and planned.
Rahxhepon (Must be Dreaming) by Jay Naling of Random Destination Studios… Gorgeous music, superb use of footage and filters… note how the filters “beat” with the music.
Right Now Someone is Reading This Title by Doki Doki Productions… this particular AMV while dated now as far as some of the anime is concerned, is still highly entertaining due to it’s puns and digs on many aspects of the anime fandom and the public view point. We showed it during an AMV viewing a couple of years ago and the audience was laughing all the way through
Once again I would like to thank everyone who entered this year’s Auckland Armageddon 2007 AMV competition. Judging was tough, and while we are happy with the ones we chose as winners, we feel everyone who entered was a winner because they took the time and effort to put together an AMV of their own.
Please don’t be discouraged, and I hope you’ll take this oppurtunity to work on your skills and enter again next year. We look forward to it!
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