Please realize that you are by no means obligated to follow these guidelines. They are just recommendations, some of which are admittedly "more recommended" than others. In theory, an outstanding video can overcome almost any of these.
With that in mind, I'm still going to have to suggest that you DON'T:
- Add a narcissistic intro to your video
I'm talking about those intros that say something along the lines of "WARNING: THE ABSOLUTE AWESOMENESS OF THIS VIDEO MAY CAUSE YOUR HEAD TO EXPLODE." Because really? I don't think it's my head that's about to explode from sheer size.
- Vid to an overused Evanescence song
I'm sorry, but I've seen so many "My Immortal" videos that they're starting to all blend together.
- Overdo the slow motion
This is a good way to lull me to sleep. Not such a good way to win an award.
- Use a lot of fancy transitions
I generally prefer videos that stick to the basic dissolves, fades, and hard-cuts, as I find wipes and other fancy transitions to be distracting. An otherwise well-edited video that uses these might not be held back from an award, per se, but it will be bumped down in terms of what awards it does win. Usually, however, rounds are competitive enough that something like this is enough to kill your chances at an award altogether.
- Abuse cross-dissolves
I know some people really prefer them to hard cuts, but to me, vids that use dissolves almost exclusively sometimes come off as a bit "mushy," for lack of a better term. You need to pay attention to the composition and movement of the clips as you dissolve. If you're just using dissolves all willy-nilly with no rhyme or reason, it's not going to look good.
- Add dialogue over lyrics
Although there is technically nothing wrong with this if you adaquetely lower the volume on the song, I often find this rather jarring.
- Try, but fail, at lip-synching
Either synch things up perfectly or don't even bother. Falling somewhere in between just doesn't look good. You have the best chance of success with either one drawn out syllable OR with animation, especially of the anime lip-flapping variety. Trying to synch an entire line of lyrics with live action or CGI footage is almost guaranteed to fail. Be sure to think long and hard about whether your vid is really an exception to that.
- Be too literal with clip-lyric matches
"As time goes by" is not your cue to insert a completely random shot of a ticking clock. Too much of this interferes with the overall coherance of your video.
- Use white flashes when you really don't need to
Using white flashes to acknowledge swells in the music or beats of percussion is getting to be rather cliche. We're not saying don't ever use them, because they can serve a legitimate purpose, but try to be more creative. If you give it a little thought there usually is a better way to get the visuals to mesh with the music.
- Submit a Logan/Jean video from X3
I'm usually very open to watching and enjoying videos for couples I don't ship. But X3's focus on Logan and Jean embodies why the film gutted one of my most cherished comic book plotlines of all time. I'm bitter, to say the least. On the other hand, if you want to slash Scott with Logan after Jean's death, be my guest. I might even love you a little for that.
- Focus on bashing a character or ship
I don't get the point of making a vid just to bash something. It comes off as petty and immature, even for characters or couples that I myself don't like.
- Frame your vid with a fancy border
Brad doesn't like this. I don't know why. But he doesn't. So, there you go.
- Ask me a question that's already answered
I've linked the FAQ on the main page for a reason.
- Ask me when awards will be up
I hate this. A lot. Judges have lives outside of their award sites. I promise the occassional extra wait won't kill you.
- Ignore a request for clarification
Judges are people. People don't like to be blown off.
Fail to offer the judges a bribe
Awards don't come cheap, yo.
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