Judge/Webmistress: dragonchic
Contact: dragonchic@modern-mythology.com
Website: Modern Mythology
LiveJournal: Metropolis Confidential
ASL: 19 year old female from Northern VA, currently living in Durham, NC.
Vidding Fandoms: Primarily Justice League and Spider-Man, with a few other superhero fandoms thrown in.
Favorite Fandoms: Almost anything superhero-related, Final Fantasy VII through X/X-2, Battlestar Galactica. Please note that I am NOT familiar with the more popular vidding fandoms, i.e. Whedonverse, Supernatural, etc, so please don't assume I will know what something like "Bangel" means.
----------
Former co-judge: bradcpu (Rounds 6-12)
Website: bradcpu.com
LiveJournal: Wishes and Horses
ASL: 35 year old male residing in the USA.
Vidding Fandoms: Primarily Whedonverse.
Favorite Fandoms: Buffy and Firefly got me into vidding, but I love well-made vids from any fandom. A great vid's a great vid.
Judging & Awards
Reviews & Site-Related Matters
Rules & Submission
Yes, streaming sites such as YouTube are fine, but please realize that if you win a core or specialized category the animation will consist of rotating screencaps from your video rather than a mini-movie. The same goes for videos submitted in RealPlayer format.
Is original work accepted?
As of round six the FNVAs will accept music videos using any kind of source footage, provided they don't violate rule eight.
Will you save me a spot for the next round?
Seeing as rounds are open for an entire three weeks, I don't see why this would ever be neccessary. If there are extenuating circumstances at play I might accept an early submission. Email me if you'd like to inquire about that. I will not, however, hold a spot in advance. Judging starts immediately after a round closes and it's not fair to everyone else if the process is held up while I wait for someone to get a saved submission in.
Is it a good idea to re-submit a video?
If you are considering re-submission, I highly recommend that you ask for and read feedback from me first. If you see that you were cut during the first stage of judging, which checks for basic technical proficiency in editing, then I do not recommend re-submitting your video, as I can guarantee that it will not win an award in future rounds. If on the other hand you were cut in a later stage, re-submission might be worthwhile. Go with your gut as to whether you think my impressions of that particular video were favorable enough to warrant another try. If you'd like you can ask me point-blank about your future chances, but please understand that I can't make any promises without knowing what to expect from other entrants.
Is there really no limit on violence, sex, and profanity?
Well I can be squeamish, so while I won't explicity forbid excessive gore or anything else that most would consider disgusting, you might not want to go too far with that. Please also remember to never submit videos featuring characters being eaten or swallowed. Violating that rule will be taken very seriously and will likely result in a temporary ban. But as far as sex and cursing are concerned, anything goes.
Really? So I could submit porn?
Sure. Isn't that what the Internet is for?
How hard is it to win an award?
It is significantly harder to win an award at the FNVAs than it is at most other award sites, due to a combination of my giving awards to a smaller percentage of entrants than most other sites, and, more importantly, the calibre of submissions being extremely high. I do truly enjoy most videos I watch, but in handing out awards I'm less inclined to overlook what I perceive to be major flaws in editing than other judges might be. I'd recommend reading the judging section to get a better idea of what my co-judge and I are looking for.
Are some categories easier/harder to win than others?
In most rounds, yes. The core awards, especially Best Video and Best Editing, will always be very difficult to win. You are competing against every other video in the round, so winners must display a mastery of both basic and more advanced editing techniques, with Best Editing winners obviously demonstrating a very advanced level of technical skill.
Competition for specialized awards varies from round to round. Best Character has historically been the most competitive category, with winners and sometimes runner-ups usually winning core awards as well. Best Action and Best Relationship also tend to be quite competitive thanks to the sheer number of entries in those categories. With the elimination of some categories in round six, I don't anticipate that any one category will be less competitive than others on a regular basis. Rather, it will depend on the nature of the entries in a specific round - Best Narrative may be easier one round, while Best Ensemble is less competitive in another.
Awards for Merit are almost as difficult to win as the average specialized runner-up in a given round. Finally, Notable Entries are given to videos that we feel deserve some kind of recognition, but are not quite at the level of the other winners. Please note that this does NOT mean there's a substantial drop in quality for Notable Entries - even they are quite difficult to win.
I didn't win. Does that mean you didn't like my video?
It most certainly does NOT. I find something to like about every single entry to this site. If you didn't win, don't feel shy to ask for a review. I won't bite, I promise.
Why don't you give out Notable Entries or Judge's Choice every round?
I try to keep the ratio of award-winners at no more than 50% of submissions. If we have already granted a lot of awards, then we are less likely to hand out Notables. To win Judge's Choice, a video has to have an extremely high re-watchability factor and have some sort of special impact that sets it apart from everything else in the round. This doesn't neccessarily always happen, hence there is not a Judge's Choice in every round.
Do both judges have to agree on every award?
Brad and I have to come to a consensus regarding all core and specialized awards, as well as Awards for Merit. Notable Entries do not have to be agreed upon by both of us. In the event that we disagree, we will both grant an equal number of awards. No distinction will be made between Notables we agreed upon or those which we picked ourselves. Judge's Choice is completely up to each individual judge and awards will indicate which judge choose the winner.
Does the Best Video winner automatically win in every other category it is eligible for?
While it is certainly possible for a video to make a Return of the King-like sweep, that does not have to be the case. Categories have varying criteria for judging and a video that excels overall will not neccessarily be the best when put under a more specialized lens.
Do I get bonus points for entering a Spider-Man video?
Despite the Spider-Man theme of this website, no special consideration will be given to that fandom. That said, a certain portion of the judging process is inevitably subjective and I do have a soft spot for Spidey. On the other hand, I know the character and the films extremely well. If you're lax with clip-lyric matches or narrative structure, not only will I notice, but I will probably think of a good substitute and wonder why you didn't use it.
Do you give preference to fandoms you know?
Quality will always trump fandom preference in judging. The only place fandom might help is in the purposefully subjective awards, specifically Notable Entry and Judge's Choice. I am not, however, any more likely to enjoy a poorly-made video about Superman than one featuring a fandom I know nothing about. The fact is I know very little about the source material of most videos I watch. That doesn't stop me from recognizing excellent work when I see it.
Can we be affiliates?
Sure! I will accept any and all vidding-related sites. Just drop me a line on the tagboard or through email and please be sure to include a link.
What is your policy on reviews?
Any kind of extra feedback is only available to entrants that did not win anything. In the spirit of transparency, you can always request feedback on why you did not win an award. More complete reviews will be available on a round-to-round basis, depending on how much free time I have and estimated demand for them.
What exactly will feedback/reviews contain?
While judging feedback will contain a bit about what I liked about your video, please realize that the focus here will be on why you did not win an award. At the end, I will indicate at exactly which stage of judging your video was cut. Check out the judging process section for more details. Reviews, on the other hand, will be a bit more traditional in that they go into more detail about the positive aspects of your entry. They will also contain notes on what held you back from an award.
What did you use to make this site/awards?
I create all my graphics in Adobe Photoshop, with animation done in ImageReady. I use ImageReady to create the image maps for site navigation as well, but the rest of my coding is done by hand in Notepad.
Site maintained by dragonchic