Matsuricon 2022 V.E.S. AMV Contest
Main Contest:
Registration Information:
- All videos to be submitted for the contest must be registered first.
- Please see the registration form at the bottom of the page.
- Each registration must include the following information:
- First and last name
- Email address
- Online handle and/or studio name that is to be used in the credits
- Video information
- Video Category
- Video Title
- Video Source – More than 3 sources should be put as “Various”
- Audio Source – Includes artist(s)’s name and song title, movie source if trailer audio, or the creator’s name for any misc. fanmade audio sources.
- Link to download the video
- Submit a link so that the staff can receive the video (by way of google drive, sendspace, mediafire, etc.)
- Please post any comments here, such as, but not limited to the following: Any awards the video has won, any contests it has been submitted to (pending results), and any issues on submitting the video that need to be addressed.
- There will be 6 categories to choose from:
- Action – These videos provide a roller coaster ride of adrenaline, excitement, and suspense. These could involve fight scenes, flying, or just playing sports. These videos are typically set to up-tempo music, usually associated with harder rock n’ roll or EDM.
- Drama – This is meant to invoke emotion from the viewer. This could be done by telling a simple story or bringing awareness to a cause. Music genres used may vary, but typically, these videos are set to music with a slowed-tempo.
- Romance – A subset of Drama (in the sense that it also tells a story), this category focuses on the relationship of specific characters or just simply invokes a romantic mood. This typically has a happy or sad approach, but could also be violent as well. These videos are set to music in which its lyrics focus on love and relationships. The tone of said music may vary.
- Comedy – The goal for this type of video is to make the viewer laugh (duh). Although these are typically set to comedic audio and video sources, the best ones in the bunch are put together and presented in such a clever way that the audio/video sources are just the pieces to the overall concept of the video.
- Trailer/Commercial – This is where the source video is synched with a movie trailer or a T.V. commercial. Parodies of movie trailers also qualify.
- Upbeat/Dance – These videos are for making the viewer feel good. While these typically involve dancing characters (set to any type of dance, trance, or techno music), these videos can also include happy slice-of-life pieces set to any upbeat or uplifting music.
- Each editor is allowed up to 2 submissions for this contest.
- This counts as a sole editor or as part of a collaboration.
- All names used as part of the collaboration (or MEP) will count as one entry to the contest.
- All video source types: Japanese anime, manga (Manga Music Videos), video games, live-action, and non-Japanese animation (Disney, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Marvel and DC animated movies, etc.) are accepted for registration.
- All registered videos must have been created after September 1st, 2019 (and as such, be a first-time entry to the V.E.S. AMV Contest).
- Please note that the window of submission is widened this year in respect to the COVID-19 pandemic. This widened window will only be in effect for Matsuricon’s 2022 AMV Contest.
- Please do not submit any video that has won more than 3 major awards at other conventions.
- If the video to be registered has been submitted to other conventions and the results are still pending at the time of registration, please mention this in the comments section of the registration.
- Registration will open on April 2nd, 2022.
- Registration will close on July 15th, 2022 at 11:59 PM EST.
- All registered videos must be submitted to the contest by this time.
Content Rules:
- No “copied” or stolen videos are allowed. The definition of “copied” is any or all use of material from AMVs edited by someone other than the submitter. If a submitted AMV is found to contain copied material, that video will be disqualified, and the editor(s) will be banned from entering future V.E.S. AMV contests. No exceptions.
- In terms of content, all videos must conform to CARA PG-13 rating standards. For more information, please see the rating classification: https://filmratings.com/Content/Downloads/rating_rules.pdf
- The following audio content will not be allowed (see 18+ Contest information below for separate audio guidelines):
- Songs or other audio with racial content (deliberately expressing the superiority of one race over another)
- Sexually explicit content
- The “7 words you can never say on television” (audio that contains explicit language but is edited out/censored for the AMV is allowed) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_dirty_words
- Multisource videos are allowed.
- Videos cannot contain more than two audio sources.
- There can be no audio sound from any anime or video game that is not licensed for commercial distribution from anywhere outside of the Japan/Pacific Rim region. However, if it is from a licensed anime or game, we will allow it.
- No bumpers or credits allowed. This includes “thanks for watching,” “subscribe,” or other promotional/closing text. Uniform bumpers will be provided for each submitted video whether they are in the contest or overflow portion.
- This may be allowed if such credit identification is done creatively in a way that cannot be easily removed. However, this, like all other rules, is left to the coordinator’s discretion.
- All logos, watermarks (TV Tokyo, etc.), and screen names are not allowed.
- If subtitles are to be used, they must be done so by the editor themselves and must serve a purpose for the AMV.
- We will outright reject any video with any fan or commercially produced subtitles.
- The V.E.S coordinator reserves the right to reject any video for any other reason not mentioned in the rules.
Technical Rules:
- Entries must be no shorter than 30 seconds and no longer than 5 minutes.
- While we can playback a variety of video formats, it is highly recommended to use the following video settings for best results:
- Resolution: 1280x720 or 1920x1080 for widescreen; 960x720 or 1440x1080 for fullscreen
- Please note that we do not have the ability to play a 4k or above video. You may submit such a video, but we will be unable to guarantee that the video quality will be properly displayed during the contest screening.
- Frame Rate: 23.976, 29.97, or 60 frames per second
- Video Codec: H264, 2mbps or higher
- Audio Codec: AAC, 160 kbps or higher
- Audio Sampling Rate: 44.1kHz or 48kHz
- Container: MP4 or AVI
- Please make sure the file size of the entry is no more than 1GB. An excellent tool for converting videos, should this be required, is Zarx264gui. For more information, please see the following link:
- We will also be heavily screening any submitted videos not only on rule violations, but also on the quality of said video. As such, there may be videos that get disqualified on this issue depending on the severity. Otherwise, the entry in question will be returned to the editor with a request to fix the issue(s) before resubmission. Please be mindful of the following issues that could cause the video to be rejected:
- Video has interlacing.
- Squashed/stretched aspect ratios.
- Chunky/blocky video (often caused by low quality sources or even excessive data compression).
- Extreme banding (i.e. Color gradients caused by video re-compression)
- Jagged/saw-tooth lines (i.e. line aliasing)
- Audible distortion
- Audio levels that are too high, low, overdriven, or clipped.
- Pitch-shifted or speed-adjusted audio (unless by obvious artistic necessity).
Video Submission Screening:
- All submitted videos will undergo an initial screening process to verify rules and the quality of the video.
- All videos that pass this screening test will be placed in our contest queue for the V.E.S. staff to screen and determine contest finalists.
- If the video fails in the first screening process, the editor will be provided the necessary steps to correct any issues (i.e. technical, visual, audio issues) before it can be accepted into the queue.
- As such, it is highly recommended to register the video early so that in case there are issues, this can be corrected early on.
- Any video that is rejected outright (will not be allowed to be entered in the contest again) will be mentioned as such to the editor.
- Please note this is only done in extreme circumstances such as blatant rule violations. Any content issues will always be encouraged to be redone before resubmission.
- Please allow up to 3 days from the time of the registration for a response on the submitted video.
- Editors are encouraged to reach out to the V.E.S. staff if they have not heard back from them on their video after said time. This helps in case a video or two slips through the cracks.
- All videos that are sent to the contest queue will not be removed from said queue, unless there is a blatant rule violation discovered in the video by the staff. If this is the case, the video will be dropped, and the editor will be notified of such.
- For peace of mind, please note that this has only been done once in the past several years. This is the purpose of the screening process, so that something like this doesn’t happen.
How we judge the videos:
- This screening will determine the following:
- Which videos are the best of the contest queue?
- Best in specific category and best in show.
- Which videos will take part in the contest showing?
- For the audience at Matsuricon to view.
- Which videos will be part of our contest overflow showing?
- Also, for the audience at Matsuricon to view.
- The contest and overflow (previously exhibition showing) video set list will be announced no later than August 5th on various contest sites including Matsuricon.org, animemusicvideos.org, and other social media sites.
At-Con:
- Matsuricon will host the V.E.S. AMV Contest Showing on Saturday, August 13th, 2022. Please note that this date may be subject to change.
- Awards will be announced that same date for the following:
- Best of each category
- Audience Choice Award
- Best of Show
- All contest overflow videos will be shown in the dedicated V.E.S. Room (date and times TBD).
18+ Contest:
- All rules of the standard contest apply, with the following exceptions:
- One entry per editor.
- This entry will not count against the number of entries in the main contest.
- Ex: If an editor already submitted 2 videos to the main contest, they can still submit to the 18+ contest.
- This contest is rated 18+
- Editors submitting must be at least 18 years of age at the time of submission. By submitting an entry, editors are certifying that they meet this requirement.
- This is a contest for Hentai AMVs, not for videos that have graphic violence, including sexual violence (e.g. rape). Videos that do not meet this requirement will be disqualified.
- Language in audio sources does not have to be censored.
- Lolicon and shotacon videos are strictly prohibited and will be disqualified.
Clean Up:
- As of April 2nd , 2022, all rules shown will be deemed final and non-negotiable.
- By submitting an AMV into this contest, you agree that your video is allowed to be used in any future promotional material and/or panels for Matsuricon.
- Any questions, issues, or concerns should be submitted to: video@matsuricon.org
- All registration must be done via the following link:
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