The Video Art Track Peer Review Online
(Formerly: The Professional Contest, or simply “Pro”)
For the first Video Art Track, we wanted to offer something new in the way music videos were judged. Instead of having crew review the videos (which we do for the Exposition), or letting the audience vote on entries (common at many other conventions), an event was created to be judged exclusively by those who participated. Formerly named “The Professional Contest” this is an editors best opportunity to showcase their skills and unique styles to an audience comprised exclusively of fellow editors from within the hobby.
Why the name change?
The Professional Awards were created in the spirit of The Academy Awards of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences. Over the years associations and connotations have changed among the participants. The core of the contest is a challenge to the editors to execute unique creations that will compete in a remote arena, to be judged by those same participants prior to the convention. Winners will be announced at the Gala Awards Show, Saturday at the AWA. This contest is completely driven by the editors that enter and as such should represent the pinnacle of one’s own capabilities. Anyone regardless of skill level is invited and encouraged to participate.
How does the contest work?
All videos submitted will be available to download along with an online ballot. You will be asked to download and review the contest entries then vote on [first] what categories are appropriate given the entries. Next there is the nomination process, we ask you to simply select all videos that are worthy of finals and fit them into those categories. Multiple videos can fit into a number of categories and you may nominate as many as you wish. The videos with the most nominations in each category are considered the finalists and the rest are removed from consideration. The final phase is simply voting on the single best finalist in each category.
- Deadline: All entries in The VAT Peer Review must be received by 11:59 PM Sunday, September 15, 2019, Eastern Time. This is an “in our hands”deadline. Your video should be completely uploaded by the deadline.
- Participation: Anyone may participate, even if they will not be attending Anime Weekend Atlanta.
- Quantity: A maximum of 2 videos may be submitted by any individual. This includes collaborations and MEPs.
- Identification: All videos must be void of bumpers, credits, personal/studio watermarks or any other creator identification. How you choose to handle identification outside of the video content is entirely up to you. Some participants do enjoy a blind viewing, so let’s respect everyone’s judging styles. Any identifiers in the video or file name will immediately disqualify that entry.
- Content: There is no limit to the media used in your video.
(* Any video with mature or explicit material will not be distributed to anyone under the age of 18. Nor will they be permitted to vote in any adult category(s).)
- Length: The time restriction has been removed, but keep in mind your peers are judging your video. If you feel like your 35 minute, 5 act magnum opus deserves the admiration of your fellow editors, that’s your decision to make. However understand that they may not agree.
- Right of First Exhibition: By submitting a video to this event, you are granting the Video Art Track the right of first exhibition of your submission. Submissions may not have been presented in any public venue nor published online in any fashion prior to their initial screening during the Gala Awards Show at Anime Weekend Atlanta (Saturday, November 2, 2019). This includes any other conventions during the same weekend.
What if my video is disqualified?
In the event of disqualification the editor will be contacted via the email provided. Generally entrants are given the right to resubmit the entry into Expo. This will not be done automatically, we will always ask for consent prior to the relocation of a video.