Anime Boston's Anime Music Video Contest is an exhibition and competition of fan-created music videos with an anime theme. Videos will be submitted from across the globe and narrowed down to a group of finalists. Those finalist videos will be screened before an audience at Anime Boston. The audience will vote for their favorite videos and the winners will be presented during the Masquerade intermission while those judges are adjourned to pick the best costumes.

Anime Boston has created the following rules in order to present the best possible anime music video screening at Anime Boston. If you have any questions about these rules, please check the FAQ before you contact the AMV Director.

Video Content

1. Content
• Your entry must be your own work and no one else's. Anonymous submissions cannot be accepted.
• The Anime Boston AMV Contest is rated PG-13. As such, all entries will be expected to follow the official MPAA ratings guidelines (http://www.mpaa.org/FlmRat_Ratings.asp) which define PG-13 as follows:

  PG-13 is thus a sterner warning to parents, particularly when deciding which movies are not suitable for younger children. Parents, by the rating, are alerted to be very careful about the attendance of their under-teenage children. A PG-13 film is one which, in the view of the Rating Board, leaps beyond the boundaries of the PG rating in theme, violence, nudity, sensuality, language, or other contents, but does not quite fit within the restricted R category. Any drug use content will initially require at least a PG-13 rating. In effect, the PG-13 cautions parents with more stringency than usual to give special attention to this film before they allow their 12-year-olds and younger to attend. If nudity is sexually oriented, the film will generally not be found in the PG-13 category. If violence is too rough or persistent, the film goes into the R (restricted) rating. A film's single use of one of the harsher sexually derived words, though only as an expletive, shall initially require the Rating Board to issue that film at least a PG-13 rating. More than one such expletive must lead the Rating Board to issue a film an R rating, as must even one of these words used in a sexual context. These films can be rated less severely, however, if by a special vote, the Rating Board feels that a lesser rating would more responsibly reflect the opinion of American parents.

• You may not use subtitled footage from fan-subtitled or commercial tapes. However, you are free to add your own subtitles where appropriate. Be warned, many people find subtitled text distracting and it may dramatically lower your chances of making it to the finals.
• You may not have a watermark in your video. (That's the little emblem in the corner of video, often found on footage taped from TV or on fansubs.)
• You may not use the English dub audio in your video (do to potential liability concerns)
2. Length of Entries
• At least 75% of each entry must be set to music.
• At least 75% of each entry must contain anime or anime-oriented footage. (See FAQ)
• Entries must not be shorter than 30 seconds or longer than 6 minutes in length.
• DO NOT include any title screens, logos, credits, or introductions before and/or after the actual video. All title screens, logos, credits, or introductions before and/or after the actual video will be cut from the screening and replaced with Anime Boston's standard title screen.
3. Freshness
• In order to keep the contest fresh, entries must be less than two years old as of the convention. Any video finished prior to April 1st, 2008 is ineligible.
• Videos which have previously been submitted to Anime Boston are ineligible.
• "Remastered" versions of videos which have previously been submitted to Anime Boston are ineligible.

Video Submission

1. Submission Deadline
• The deadline for all submissions is March 6th, 2010. All entries MUST be in our hands by that date.
• Late entries are ineligible for the contest, but may still be shown during a non-competition (overflow) AMV screening if they are received in time and if scheduling permits.
2. Format of Submissions
• The following are the only formats accepted by the Anime Boston Music Video Contest:
• CD-R
• CD-RW
• DVD-R
• DVD+R
• DVD
• Electronic Submission
• Submission Guidelines:
• This year, the contest will be shown in wide screen format, and in Hi Definition where applicable. All videos will be encoded to standard Blu-Ray format, 1280x720 with a framerate of 23.976. You may submit the file in any video format, but take into account how it will be projected. AVI, DIVX, MPEG, MOV and Quicktime files are standard and easily converted. Stay away from "exotic" or "new" codecs. Since 720p is a progressive format, it should go without saying that your entry should be PROGRESSIVE. However, if we have to fix your interlaced video to make it suitable for display, we will not be held responsible for any errors or glitches that occur.
• Audio should be encoded at 48000 Khz.
• Video must be NTSC (not PAL or SECAM).
• Entries will not be returned nor can they be picked up at the convention. Do not send your master copy. You won't get it back
• All entries will be re-encoded by convention staff. No exceptions. So submit a high quality file.
3. Number of Submissions
• Due to time constraints, contestants are limited to submitting TWO entries to the contest.
• If you worked with someone else in the creation of a video, that video counts as one entry for all people involved (although you only have to submit it once). For example, if you submit two videos that you created on your own and someone else submits a third video that you helped to create, that would count as a third entry from you and violate these rules.
• You may not submit videos under false names to circumvent our entry limit. Doing so will result in possible disqualification from this and all future Anime Boston AMV contests.
• If you submit more than two entries, we will only view the first two entries.

Categories

• On your submission form, you will be asked to choose your Category. The categories are as follows: (descriptions courtesy of the AMV.ORG VCA awards, located at www.animemusicvideos.org)
• Romance- This video best employs both audio and visual aspects in order to create a romantic mood. The end result is a video that tugs at the heart strings and leaves feelings of happiness, sadness, or any others, but above all, a feeling of romance that the viewer experiences.
• Drama-Some videos are out there for the purposes of making you laugh, others are out there to give you an extra jolt of adrenaline, but there are also videos that will make you cry, or feel things you don't on an every day basis. Drama is an important part of what makes AMVs truly a form of art. This category is for videos that have captured a feeling or an emotion and conveyed it extremely well.
• Action-This video is adrenaline... excitement... suspense... This video is a roller-coaster ride. It might involve fighting, flying, playing tennis or anything you can think of - but if this video captivates you and gets your blood pumping then it is the best action video.
• Comedy-Comedy is possibly the most difficult genre to master. What is funny to one person may be just plain stupid to another. The Best Comedy award goes to the video which made the best jokes or comical situations. It's the video that made you laugh the most but it's also the video that made you laugh not just because of the song or anime used but of the clever way they are put together and presented.
• Fun/Upbeat/Other -This category is for videos that don't precisely fit into the rest of the categories. Dance, Trance, Techno, Movie Trailers, experimental videos, they all go here.

• Best Editing - A nice visual effect is something, but a nice integration is another thing. Editing matched to perfection with the flow of the video. Playing in accordance to the music, note by note, image by image, fusioned to the AMV with harmony and integrity, something that if misplaced or done incorrectly would have made the video forgettable, but because it was done with perfect accordance it became unforgettable? Then this AMV deserves the Best Editing award.
• Best Concept - The things that never happen, the story, that never exists, the point of view, that you've never met before. Something, that makes you imagine things. Alternative ways of thinking, imagining and creating. Alternative stories, relationships and concepts. An elusive something that makes a video different and stands out. Then this AMV deserves the Best Concept.
• Judge's Choice - Competition is by nature survival of the fittest. This award is for that special video that astonishes us with imagination and creativity that we want to recognize, that may end up being overlooked otherwise.
• Editor's Choice - There is no honor so grand as receiving the recognition of your peers. This award then, is that honor. Awarded by your fellow finalists in the contest, it says that your fellow creators have deemed your video worthy in their collective judgement.

Anime Boston and New England Anime Society staff members must mark submission forms appropriately. Staff entries cannot compete in the contest, but may be shown during a non-competing portion of the AMV contest.

• The audience will be voting for "Best Romance", "Best Drama", "Best Action", "Best Comedy", and "Best Fun/Upbeat/Other," out of the entire field of finalist entries.
• Best of Show will be determined by the video that gets the most total votes.
• During audience voting, only one video may win an award. If a video is selected to win 2 awards, (say Best Action and Best of Show) than the winning video will be awarded the higher award (Best in Show) and the runner up will be awarded the category award (Best Action).
• The AMV contest coordinator reserves the right to change a video category if it is determined that the video more properly belongs in a different category than the one intended by the creator. In such an instance the creator will be contacted in advance.

Submission Instructions

• To submit your anime music video, you must complete a copy of the entry form. To help speed up processing this year, this form has been web based. Once you have submitted your form:
• Pack up your CD or DVD and mail it to:

  Adam Ferraro
  Anime Boston AMV Contest
  274 Plantation Street
  Worcester, MA 01604
  USA

• If you are submitting electronically, once you have completed your submission form, you will be given ftp info.
• You will receive an email when your entry is processed. Due to potentially high volume of entries near the submission deadline, this e-mail may be delayed. Please be patient.

Attending the Convention

• Preferred Seating
1. If your entry makes it to the final competition, you will be on a list for preferred seating during all Anime Music Video Contest screenings at Anime Boston. Your real name will be used, along with your badge name or nickname.
2. Although you will get preferred seating at the Anime Music Video Contest screenings, this DOES NOT qualify you for complimentary admission in any way nor will you receive a special badge.
3. To claim your preferred seat, arrive fifteen minutes before we open seating to the audience (30 minutes before the contest starts.) Your name will be checked with the names of contestants and you will be shown to the reserved seating area.
4. If you are not in your seat at least fifteen minutes before the scheduled start of the screening, we'll assume you're not coming and give up your spot to anyone still waiting to get in.

Audience Awards consist of:

• Best Action
• Best Romance
• Best Drama
• Best Comedy
• Best Fun/Upbeat/Other
• Best of Show

The audience will be given a ballot with all the finalist entries in the contest listed, and be asked to choose which videos they think are the best in each respective category.

 Technical Awards consist of:

• Best Editing
• Best Concept
• Judge's Choice

A select panel of 5 judges (comprised of experienced AMV creators and AB staff) will be convened to critique and analyze all finalist entries to the AMV competition. They will then vote to award trophies based on the Categories listed above.

Editor's Choice Award

All finalists (and finalists only) present at Anime Boston may participate in choosing the award winner.

Anime Music Video Contest award winners will be announced and trophies presented during the Masquerade intermission on Saturday night. If you are at the Masquerade and are announced as a winning entry, you can come up on stage to receive your award. If you (or your proxy) are at the convention but miss the Masquerade, your award can be picked up on Sunday in the Convention Operations office. If you do not attend the convention, your award will be mailed to you sometime after the convention ...when we get around to it.

Winners present at Anime Boston are welcome to participate as panelists in the "Behind the AMVs" panel to be held on Sunday. Selected videos will be screened and discussed at this panel.

Legal Mumbo-Jumbo

1. By submitting an entry, each contestant agrees: they have read, understand and will comply with these official rules; and, or to the extent permitted by law, consent to the use of the entrant's name, likeness and/or biographical data for purposes of advertising and promotion by The New England Anime Society or Anime Boston, without further consent, compensation or approval.
2. Submitted materials become the property of The New England Anime Society and will not be returned. By submitting a video to Anime Boston, the video creator grants The New England Anime Society non-revocable permission to exhibit that video. The video creator otherwise retains all rights and responsibilities relating to its creation.
3. The prizes being awarded may constitute income under applicable federal, state and local tax laws and winners shall be solely responsible for payment of any and all taxes, which may be due with respect to the acceptance of the prize.
4. We cannot be held responsible for lost or misdirected entries.
5. Do not submit anyone's videos other than your own or your group. If you are caught fraudulently submitting videos, you will be forced to endure episodes of Kakugo no Sasume (In English) until your head explodes. We mean it. (Tests on small woodland creatures suggest that will take approximately 5 seconds.)
6. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law.
7. We reserve the right to modify these rules at any time without notice.
8. No small woodland creatures were harmed in the making of these rules.