AMV Contest

Submissions to our AMV Contest are open!

Content Rules

• 75% of the footage in an entry must be from anime or Japanese-origin video games. This does not include American, European, or Korean animation that is anime-styled (e.g. Avatar, Teen Titans, My Beautiful Girl Marie, etc.).

• Entries may not contain any footage containing a watermark (i.e. the static image in the corner identifying the broadcaster, such as TV Tokyo, MBS, Cartoon Network, etc.). This includes footage where the watermark is partially obscured. If it appears that a watermark was present, your video will be disqualified.

• Entries may not contain subtitles from any commercial or fansubbed release. You may add your own subtitles where appropriate, but be aware that many people find them distracting and this may reduce your chances of your video being a finalist.

• Entries may not contain audio from the commercial English dub of the anime.

• 75% of the entry must be set to music. Trailer and commercial parodies are an exception to this rule.

• Entries should not contain any title screens, logos, credits, or introductions before, during, 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 Bakuretsu Con’s standard title screen. Entries containing credits during the video may be disqualified or have the credits removed at the Coordinator’s discretion.

• Entries must conform to CARA PG-13 rating standards. The official ratings guidelines (http://filmratings.com/downloads/rating_rules.pdf) define PG-13 as follows:
  • A PG-13 rating is a sterner warning by the Rating Board to parents to determine whether their children under age 13 should view the motion picture, as some material might not be suited for them. A PG-13 motion picture may go beyond the PG rating in theme, violence, nudity, sensuality, language, adult activities or other elements, but does not reach the restricted R category. The theme of the motion picture by itself will not result in a rating greater than PG-13, although depictions of activities related to a mature theme may result in a restricted rating for the motion picture. Any drug use will initially require at least a PG-13 rating. More than brief nudity will require at least a PG-13 rating, but such nudity in a PG-13 rated motion picture generally will not be sexually oriented. There may be depictions of violence in a PG-13 movie, but generally not both realistic and extreme or persistent violence. A Motion picture’s single use of one of the harsher sexually-derived words, though only as an expletive, initially requires at least a PG-13 rating. More than one such expletive requires an R rating, as must even one of those words used in a sexual context. The Rating Board nevertheless may rate such a motion picture PG-13 if, based on a special vote by a two-thirds majority, the Raters feel that most American parents would believe that a PG-13 rating is appropriate because of the context or manner in which the words are used or because the use of those words in the motion picture is inconspicuous.

Technical Rules

• Entries may not be shorter than 30 seconds, nor longer than 5 minutes.

• Our video playback system can handle a wide variety of formats, but for your best results, we recommend the following settings:
  • Resolution: 1280×720 or 1920×1080 for widescreen; 960×720 or 1440×1080 for fullscreen.
  • Frame Rate: 23.976 frames per second
  • Video Codec: H264, 2 mbps or higher
  • Audio Codec: AAC, 160 kbps or higher
  • Audio Sampling Rate: 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz *Lower sampling rates will be disqualified*
  • Container: MP4 or MKV

• The maximum file size of each entry is 1000 MB.

• An excellent tool for converting your video to these recommendations is AMVTool, found here: https://github.com/l33tmeatwad/AMVtool/releases

• Entries with video quality issues (e.g. macroblocking, pixelation, blurring, interlacing, etc.) may be disqualified.

Submission Rules

• Your entry must be your own work and no one else’s. Anonymous submissions cannot be accepted.

• The entry deadline is September 13th, 2024. All entries must be IN OUR HANDS by 11:59PM Eastern on this date.

• In order to keep the contest fresh, entries must be less than one year old as of the convention. Any video publicly premiered prior to October 25, 2023 is ineligible. A video’s public premiere date is the date it first showed at a convention or was uploaded to a public video site (e.g. YouTube, Vimeo, AnimeMusicVideos.org, etc.).

• Videos which have previously been submitted to Bakuretsu Con are ineligible.

• “Remastered” versions of videos which have previously been submitted to Bakuretsu Con are ineligible.

• Due to time constraints, contestants are limited to submitting ONE video per category. There is no other limit to the total number of submissions.

• 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.

• Entries may be submitted by filling out the electronic submission form.

• Entrants will receive an email when their entry is received and processed. Due to the high volume of entries near the submission deadline, this email may be delayed. Please be patient.

At the Convention

• Preferred Seating
  • If your entry is selected for the final competition, you will be on a list for preferred seating during all Anime Music Video Contest screenings at Bakuretsu Con. Your real name will be used, along with your badge name or nickname.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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 Voting
  • There will be 5 finalist videos per category.
  • 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. The audience will be voting for “Best Action”, “Best Drama”, “Best Fun/Comedy”, “Best Other”, “Best Romance/Sentimental”, and “Best Upbeat” from the finalists in each respective category.
  • Best of Show will be determined by a combination of audience votes and scores from our panel of judges. The winner of Best of Show may also be the winner of an audience award.

• Categories
  • Action – Action videos feature adrenaline. Whether through combat, competition, or just plain speed, these are the videos that get the heart pumping faster.
  • Drama – Drama videos tell a story, an emotion, or the story of an emotion. Sadness, nostalgia, anger, and more feature in these videos that tug the heartstrings.
  • Fun/Comedy – These are the videos that make you want to smile, if not laugh out loud. It’s not just the anime or the song, it’s the originality that the editor adds that makes the winning videos in this category shine.
  • Other – This category is for videos that don’t precisely fit into the rest of the categories. Movie Trailers, Horror, Experimental Videos, WTF’ers, and more, they all go here.
  • Romance/Sentimental – Where drama videos are about emotion, these videos are about relationships. Platonic, familial, or romantic love that a person feels for someone or something else is the common thread through these videos.
  • Upbeat – This category is for videos that make you feel good. They get your body moving, feeling the groove, or just bring a smile to your face. Dance, Trance, Techno, Happy slice of life pieces and other types of the sort.
  • If a category does not receive a sufficient number of entries, the Contest Coordinator reserves the right to remove the category and distribute each entry in it to the next most appropriate category. In such a case, the moved entries will not be counted against an editor’s one entry per category.

Legal Mumbo-Jumbo

• 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 Anime Society of Vermont or Bakuretsu Con, without further consent, compensation or approval.

• Submitted materials become the property of Anime Society of Vermont. By submitting a video to Bakuretsu Con, the video creator grants Anime Society of Vermont non-revocable permission to exhibit that video. The video creator otherwise retains all rights and responsibilities relating to its creation.

• 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.

• We cannot be held responsible for lost or misdirected entries.

• Do not submit anyone’s videos other than your own or your group. If you are caught fraudulently submitting videos, you will be barred from participating in all future Bakuretsu Con Anime Music Video Contests and your information will be shared with the coordinators of other contests, who may take further action at their discretion.

• No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law.

• We reserve the right to modify these rules at any time without notice.