Come witness creativity through amazing editing, music, and anime action!!!
Anime Music Videos, or AMVs, are short fan-made music videos that pay homage to many of our favorite shows. Whether you are a renowned award winning talent or just starting out with your first ever project, our event welcomes creators of all skills and experiences. With some persistence, a desire to create, and admittedly a bit of luck, you just might see your work compete on the main stage!
Of course, if you prefer to sit back and enjoy an evening of awesome videos, we have you covered too! Our judges spend many weeks collectively deciding the best of the many submissions we receive in order to present to you a night of unique, one-of-a-kind entertainment that can only be seen at ALA! Best of all, YOU the audience get to decide the winners of each of the main categories, as well as the coveted Audience Choice award granted only to the best of the best.
Please be sure to review all of the rules below before submitting your videos, and send any questions you have to [email protected].
We can’t wait to see you’re amazing creations this year. Take care, and good luck!
AMV Contest Guidelines
Below are our previous year’s guidelines & rules. ALA 21 guidelines & rules subject to change.
Main Categories
- Action / Adrenaline
- Drama / Theater
- Fun / Upbeat
- Sentiment / Feels
- Rhythm / Vibes
- Comedy / Humor
- Trailer
Bonus Categories
- TV Intro
- Commercial
Note: The final categories are subject to change depending on the amount and type of entries we receive.
Entry Guidelines
Please review all of the guidelines. Contact us with any questions before submitting your entry.
Guidelines – All Entries
- The majority of your entry’s video content must consist of anime-styled or manga-styled sources. Consideration may be given to other sources that fit within the spirit of this event.
- This is a PG-13 / TV-14 event. Excessive violence, coarse language, and suggestive situations or inudendo may lead to disqualification.
- Must satisfy our technical standards.
- Must not have any corner watermark trademarks or logos.
- Must not have unnecessary text, subtitles, or credits. Artistically relevant text may be accepted.
- Must not have premiered online or participated in any public event prior to August 1, 2023.
- Bonus category entries are exempt from this rule.
Guidelines – Main Categories
- Up to 4 main category entries per creator or group.
- Duration: 1 minute minimum, 6 minutes maximum.
- Audio content must be primarily driven by music.
- Trailer entries are exempt from this rule.
- Only 1 entry per category may advance to the finals – multiple entries can be submitted to the same category.
- The coordinators reserve the right to recategorize your entry where appropriate.
Guidelines – Bonus Categories
- Up to 5 bonus entries per creator or group.
- Duration: 15 seconds minimum, 2 minutes maximum.
- Winners from these categories are determined by the AMV Contest judges.
Technical Standards
- Resolution: up to 1920 x 1080
- File Size: up to 350 MB
- Formats: Preferred: MOV or MP4 | Also Accepted: AVI, MKV or MPG
- The following video technical flaws may be subject to disqualification depending on severity:
-
- Interlacing
- Incorrect, or squashed/stretched aspect ratios
- Chunky/blocky video (often caused by low quality source or excessive data compression)
- Extreme Banding (i.e. Color gradients caused by video re-compression)
- The following audio technical flaws may be subject to disqualification depending on severity:
- Audible distortion
- Levels that are too high, overdriven, or clipped
- Levels that are too low or inaudible
- Audible discontinuities caused by flawed audio edits
- Pitch-shifted or speed-adjusted audio (unless by obvious artistic necessity)
Disqualification and Rejection
Entries may be disqualified or rejected for any reason listed in these rules or for any reason not foreseen by these rules as deemed by the coordinators or volunteer staff. All entries will be screened prior to judging to test for playback and rules compliance.
Disqualified entries may be resubmitted at any time prior to the submission deadline with advised corrections.
Rejected entries may not be resubmitted. A rejection may result in a temporary or permanent ban from this event depending on severity.
Your entry may be rejected for the following reasons (subject to change, not limited to…):
- Plagiarism
You may not submit another AMV creator’s work as your own. You may not use another AMV creator’s work, even partially, without explicit acknowledgement. - Dishonorable Behavior
You may not engage in behavior that causes grief, harm, or in any way violates the rules of the convention with other creators, ALA attendees or ALA volunteer staff. - Dishonesty
You may not submit false, inaccurate or misleading information when submitting an entry or while discussing an entry with the coordinators or ALA volunteer staff. - Minimal Effort / Zero Edit Submissions
You may not submit an entry that is deemed to have little to no editing of original sources. - Troll Submissions
You may not submit an entry for malicious purposes towards anyone.
Deadline
All entries must be submitted no later than 11:59pm PST on Friday, December 6, 2024. You must fill out the online submission form and include a working download link to your entry by this time.
Entry Submission
- Entries must be submitted digitally – no physical media of any kind will be accepted
- Please use an appropriate file sharing service like Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, etc.
- Please do not link to video sharing sites like YouTube, Vimeo, etc.
Contact Information
Please email any questions, comments or concerns to: [email protected]