MTAC HAIKU (2017) AMV CONTEST RULES
The following are the contractual rules for Middle Tennessee Anime Convention’s Anime Music Video Contest. All videos submitted for the purpose of entry into the contest are subject to the following terms and conditions. Please be aware that these terms and conditions may change with public notice.
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CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT TO THE MTAC 2017 AMV CONTEST
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CATEGORIES
Here are the possible categories for the MTAC main AMV contest:
PRIMARY CATEGORIES
- Action
- Comedy
- Drama
- Romance / Sentimental
- Upbeat / Fun
SECONDARY CATEGORIES
- TV Series Opening Parody
- Trailer or Commercial Parody
- Extreme (please review the “MTAC Extreme AMV Contest” rules below for more information on this category)
- Convention Theme: HAIKU - A video that includes or incorporates the idea of the 17-syllable poetic form.
- Live-Action Music Video
- Western Animation Music Video
- Video Game Music Video
SPECIAL CATEGORIES
- Classic (defined here as “anime of Japanese vintage before 2000 as per AnimeNewsNetwork.com Encyclopedia”)
- Dance
- Horror
- Instrumental (a music track that does not contain lyrics or voice overs)
Once videos are received, a minimum of six categories will be selected and used for the judging. As arranged above, we normally will arrange for the five primary categories and additional special categories. If we receive enough videos to replace a primary category with a secondary or special category, we will do so. Final selection of the video categories is at the discretion of the convention coordinator(s).
For awards this year, we can confirm the following will be awarded in the AMV contest:
- The Audience’s Best In Show at the convention;
- The Judges’ Choice, with possible Honorable Mentions; and
- The Extreme AMV Choice.
Awards are still being determined and this section will be revised when the final award structure is ready.
If the overall submissions’ play time is larger than can fit in the appropriate contest time slot, cuts will unfortunately be made. Keep in mind that video selection for the finals will be determined on qualities such as technical aspects, effectiveness of the video and general execution. You do not need to attend the convention to enter the contest, although it is highly encouraged.
MAIN CONTEST RULES
- The main AMV Contest is an all-ages audience showing. A good general rule for content is that if the song cannot be played on the radio without edits (bleeps or omission of certain words), contains sexual genitalia (no hentai) or has extreme violence, then it’s not acceptable for the main contest. Note that the administration and AMV staff of MTAC reserve the right to determine what constitutes “extreme” content.
- The submission cut-off for the MTAC Haiku (2017) AMV Contest is 11:59pm Central Time on March 10, 2017. The actual files and mail-in submissions must be in our hands by 11:59pm Central Standard Time on March 14, 2017.
- The entries may include as a video source:
o Japanese anime
o Live-Action video, preferably of Japanese origin but not required;
o Western Animation, preferably in a Japanese anime style (examples include RWBY, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Voltron: Legendary Defender) but not required;
o Video Game footage, preferably of Japanese origin but not required.
Please keep in mind when you submit a music video to our contest that you are submitting to a Japanese anime convention.
- With the exception of trailer and TV commercial parody AMVs, at least 80% of the submission’s audio must be a continuous song or music track. Spoken Japanese openings or endings are allowed, but overlaying of Japanese or English audio that is not part of the original song/music is not.
- There is a time limit of 30 seconds minimum and 6 minutes maximum. Anything beyond 6 minutes may be acceptable at the AMV Contest Coordinators’ discretion.
- You may submit a maximum of three (3) videos. Each video must fit at least two of the three categories selected for the video entry, and these entries must be separate from each other. Don’t try to make a video fit a category it is not suited for — for example, a purely “Action” video in the “Drama” category. Please try to select choices that provide the best match for the video content. If you need some assistance with categorization, please send an inquiry to
john.wendel@mtac.net.
- Qualifying AMV Contest video entries must have been created within one (1) year of the MTAC 16-Bit Convention start date (after March 25, 2016), have not been previously submitted to past MTAC AMV contests, and have not won a combination of three (3) or more “Best In Show” or “Best in (specific category, i.e. Drama, Action, etc.)” at any other convention contest during that period, not including videos that have won Staff-based (like Coordinator’s Choice, Staffer’s Choice, etc.) or Judging-based Awards (like Best Artistic, Best Storytelling, etc.).
- No watermarks in the video source(s) will be allowed. This includes, but is not limited to, the DivX logo, any television station identification, production company logo, streaming site bugs & logos, AMV studio logos, and so on.
- No video will be accepted with “hard subtitles” (subtitles permanently overlaid on video), nor will we accept videos from obviously bootlegged or fan-subbed releases with these subtitles. The only EXCEPTION to this rule is if you create your own subtitles as an actual part of the anime music video.
- Because of the nature of the video judging, MTAC Convention Staff are allowed to enter their own qualifying anime music videos unless they are participating in the coordination or judging of the AMV contest.
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Any video that does not follow the guidelines above and rules below WILL BE CONSIDERED DISQUALIFIED AND NOT BE ENTERED INTO THE CONTEST. All submissions are subject to the MTAC AMV Department’s review and approval. MTAC’s AMV Department and MTAC's Administration Staff reserve the right to prohibit from convention viewing any video submission entered into the contest for any reason. By submitting your video for review, you agree that all decisions made by the MTAC AMV Department, the MTAC Convention Administration, and the contest judges about your video are FINAL.
All submissions become the property of the Middle Tennessee's Anime Convention and/or its assigns, and will not be returned to the submitter. Please do not send in your only copy of your video submission.
All submissions may be used for display and promotional purposes. All videos entered will be considered to be cleared for this purpose.
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
The following video formats are the only formats that will be accepted for submission to the contest, in order from most preferred to least:
- AVC/H.264 MP4 format (.mp4)
- Matroska (.mkv)
- MPEG-2 Video with MPEG-II Layer Audio (.mpeg, .mpg)
- UTCodec or Lagarith Lossless Codec encoded AVI (.avi)
- DivX / XviD in AVI format (.avi) encoded at the highest quality possible (Quantizer 1 is most preferred)
- Quicktime (.mov) format (acceptable, but not recommended)
- Windows Media (.wmv) format (acceptable, but not recommended)
Any file format not mentioned above will not be considered and immediately disqualified. This includes MPEG-1, Real Media, or the use of any codec other than DivX, Lagarith, or XviD. If all else fails, contact the Contest Coordinator and we can try to work out an acceptable solution.
As we use HDMI projectors, acceptable frame rates for your videos are 23.976fps, 29.97fps, and 60fps. Any other frame rates will be converted to fit one of these frame rates.
MTAC EXTREME AMV CONTEST
This year, MTAC will be hosting an Extreme Contest for videos with “extreme content”. “Extreme Content” includes, but is not limited to, the following:
- Coarse Language;
- Excessive violence (a well known example of this can be seen in the anime Berserk);
- Innuendo or other situational humor that could be considered offensive;
- Nudity; and
- Strong and/or graphic sexual situations.
Videos that have any of the above may be directly submitted to the MTAC Extreme AMV Contest for consideration. Any videos submitted for the main contest entry that contains content not suitable for showing at the main contest will also be considered for entry into the MTAC Extreme AMV Contest. The Extreme Contest will have awards for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place videos, with judging performed by the MTAC AMV Department staff.
Please note that, to attend the AMV Extreme Contest showing at MTAC, you must verify that you are 18 years of age or older. Please review the MTAC website (
http://www.mtac.net) and MTAC 2017 Program Guide for details on admission requirements for 18+ age restricted events.
In addition to the General Contest Rules above, the following additional rules will apply to Extreme AMV Contest submissions:
- All Extreme Contest submissions require the same information as the regular AMV contest, except that on the contest entry form select “Extreme” in the Secondary Category choice to have your video placed into the Extreme Contest. If you submit multiple videos for both Extreme and Main contest submission, please have separate sheets for the Extreme Contest submissions versus the main contest submissions and label all videos clearly. If an entry or entries are marked “Extreme” yet qualify under the rules of the Main AMV Contest, they will be placed into the main contest pool under the Primary and Special Categories chosen. Therefore, even though you may intend for said entry/entries to be in the Extreme AMV Contest, you are encouraged to verify the Primary Category choice and fill in a Special Category if it fits one.
- THE CREATOR (AND/OR SUBMITTER) OF THE VIDEO MUST BE AT LEAST 18 YEARS OF AGE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CONTEST. There will be a form provided by e-mail that will act as a waiver to enter these categories for viewing and for being awarded if the video should win the Extreme Contest.
- There is no limit to the number of videos a creator may submit for the Extreme AMV Contest, but qualifying videos for this contest must have been created on or after March 25, 2015 and have not been submitted to MTAC previously.
- Please note that there is NO PEDOPHILIA ALLOWED IN ANY OF THE CONTESTS. Just because the box and the disclaimers say that s/he is legal does not mean s/he is. Please, do not submit anything that has visually identifiable underage girls or boys performing sexual or perverted acts.
- Anything else that is deemed to be illegal in the United States is also not allowed into the Extreme Contest. Just because it’s animated does not excuse it from certain laws that may govern what can be shown in the United States.
SUBMISSION INFORMATION
A submission system is being provided this year for entering contest videos. The contest will accept three methods of video acquisition:
- A download link provided by the submitter to a file sharing location (such as AnimeMusicVideos.Org, Dropbox, Google Drive, or other similar service); or
- Direct submission to the coordinators via Dropbox; the link to this box is provided in the submission form.
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CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT TO THE MTAC 2017 AMV CONTEST
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CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions or problems with your submission(s), please e-mail your questions to the following persons:
- Joseph Croasdaile (
joseph.croasdaile@artscubed.org);
- John Wendel (
john.wendel@mtac.net)