Events: Fan-Produced Videos

Send us your fan parodies!

Otakon is looking for all kinds of fan-made films to showcase at Otakon 2008. Anything from parody commercials, trailers, and shorts to original animation, live-action films and full blown fan dubs. Last year’s screenings were tremendous successes as over three thousand fans packed our two largest video rooms to see the latest parodies. This year should be even bigger as we expand our rooms and our programming.

Now’s the time to get your group in gear or put one together. Finish that project or start a new one. Dust off an old idea or polish up a new one. Fan Produced Films are quickly becoming a huge must-see event at the biggest anime con on the east cost. Be a part of it. Check out the rules and regs, fill out the application, and send us your lupins. I mean parodies. We’ll be glad you did.

OTAKON 2008 FAN-PRODUCED VIDEO SCREENINGS

OTAKON 2008 (August 8th - 10th in Baltimore, MD) will have screenings for fan-produced video productions such as fan parodies, movie trailers, and original films and animations at the convention.

Depending on the volume of submissions, some submissions may not be screened at OTAKON 2008 due to time constraints. Since these will just be screenings -- not a competition -- there will be no prizes given or awards presented.

(Submission Guidelines are subject to change at any time. Version 2008.01.09)

I - SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

01. MAIL IN YOUR SUBMISSION

All submissions must be made by mail, and sent to the address listed below. We accept submissions on CD-ROM or DVD-ROM computer discs only. Tape media such as VHS, SVHS, MINI-DV, etc. are no longer supported.

OTAKON 2008 FAN TRACK
c/o John Westbrook
8514 Arry Place
Baltimore, MD 21234

If mailing from outside the U.S. add "United States" or "United States of America" at the bottom of the mailing address.

All submissions must be RECEIVED by Sunday, June 15th, 2008. OTAKON (or it's parent company OTAKORP INC.) is not responsible for submissions that have been lost in the mail, or otherwise delayed for ANY reason.

If you want us to let you know when we have received your submission, include your complete e-mail address on your submission form

Please DO NOT hand deliver your submission in person. It's not that we don't like making new friends, we do. We're simply emotionally unstable shut-ins who fear the outside world. If you show up unexpectedly we'll have a panic attack, start to cry, then lock ourselves in the panic room until Thanksgiving, and then no ones submission will be seen at the con.

Get the Fan Produced Videos Submission Form (real text file, 7.36 KB)

02. LABELING YOUR DISC

Label your submission disc(s) with (at the very least) your REAL name, mailing address, and telephone number.

Use a Sharpie(R) marker (or similar) to write on the top side of the disc instead of putting an adhesive label on it. If you need to use multiple discs, don't forget to mark each one with your identifying information.

03. NUMBER OF SUBMISSIONS

There is no limit to the number of fan-produced videos that may be submitted. Each video submitted must be accompanied by a completed and signed printout of the submission form.

04. SUBMITTING ON CD-R/CD+R/RW or DVD-R/DVD+R/RW/DL DISC

We accept submissions on CD-R/CD+R/RW (Compact Disc Recordable) or DVD-R/DVD+R/RW/DL (Digital Versatile Disc Recordable) discs in both single and dual layer format. Because of continuing compatibility issues with "playable" DVDs and image quality limitations of VCDs, we request that submissions be in the form of high- resolution data files on computer-formatted discs (i.e. discs not intended to be played in a video DVD Player).

MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 are the preferable formats to submit in, as other formats will have to be converted to MPEG-2 format for tape mastering.

If you are using a Windows PC there is a program called Tsunami MPEG Encoder that we use (version 2.x). For other operating systems there are MPEG encoders available. Tsunami is cheap for a high quality MPEG-2 encoder, has a 30-day trial, and is available at www.tmpgenc.net

The TMPGEnc 2.X profiles that we use are the same as the ones that Otaku Video uses for conversions, and are available here http://www.otakon.com/media/Tsunami_MPEG2_Profile.zip

We prefer videos to be 720x480 pixels in size and a frame rate of 29.97 fps (NTSC "drop frame"). If the video's vertical resolution is 480, encode your video as interlaced instead of progressive. We'll scale smaller frame sizes up to 720x480, so anything encoded smaller than that will look pixelated afterward.

We suggest using Variable Bit Rate for MPEG-2 files with 12 megabits per second as the maximum. If you want to use Two-Pass VBR, set 2 megabits as the minimum, 8 megabits as the average, and 12 megabits as the maximum; otherwise simply use constant quality VBR and leave the quality setting at maximum with the maximum bit rate at 12 megabits per second.

If you use MPEG-1 either create a VCD spec file (at the very least) or set the bit rate to 1.5 megabits per second. Using the highest bit rate allowed (within reason) will increase quality. MPEG-2 will, however, encode a 352x240 file better than MPEG-1 can at the same bit rate. Your choice.

For audio use layer-II audio at 224 kilobits per second or better, and choose stereo (not "joint stereo"). We recommend using the highest bit rate for maximum quality sound. Don't use layer-III (MP3) audio, as our NetStream card cannot decode this.

If a file is too large to fit on a single media disc -- such as a 1.2 GB AVI file on a 700 MB CD-R -- you may span it across multiple discs. Use ZIP (WinZip), or other file compression utility application to break the file into manageable parts and burn those to the discs, clearly labeling each of them as part of a set: "Disc 1 of 3", "Disc 2 of 3" etc.

If we are unable to read your disc or video file for any reason we will attempt to contact you (first via email, and later via phone as a last resort) in order to obtain another copy of your submission.

In addition to the paper version of your submission form, include a plain text file named README.TXT on each CD-R or DVD-R with the same information as your paper submission form, along with any technical information we'll need to know to successfully convert and play your video file.

Submission media (the discs) become the property of OTAKORP Inc. and can't be returned.

05. SUBMITTING ONLINE

We are not currently accepting online submissions for fan-produced video productions. Computer disc is the preferred format.

06. FILLING OUT THE SUBMISSION FORM

All video submissions must be accompanied by a filled-out copy of the submission form. You don't have to send in a printed copy of the submission guidelines (ie: the rules)... we already have plenty.

Anonymous submissions, or submissions without a real name, cannot be accepted.

Your video submission must be your own work and no one else's. You must identify the artist & title of any music used in your video as well as the title or titles of any anime footage used. If you know the original Japanese title of the anime used, you may include it on the form along with the English name.

You must fill out the part where you give OTAKORP INC. permission to use your video at OTAKON. If you don't give us permission, then we'll have to skip over your submission. Really.

If you forget to include the submission form when you send in your submission, send it in as soon as you remember that you forgot.

When you submit your video on disc remember to include a README.TXT file of the filled out submission form in addition to the printed copy.

II - FORM OF PRODUCTIONS

01. ACCEPTABLE TYPES OF FAN-PRODUCTIONS

Pretty much anything is submit-able via this method: fan-parodies, original animations, re-edited movie trailers, live action film projects. It just has to have some obvious connection with anime/manga, fandom of anime/manga, or East Asian culture.

02. LENGTH OF SUBMISSIONS

No lower time limit. No upper time limit. While there are no enforced time limits, be aware that the overall time we have to play fan produced material at the convention is limited. Most of the longer individual works we show tend to be under an hour in play time, and we generally show only a hand full of those longer submissions each year. We've learned from experience that short and funny goes over much better with the audience than something long and drawn out. It's very difficult to keep the attention of sleep deprived zombie like otaku.

03. AGE OF SUBMISSIONS

No upper or lower age limit.

04. REPEAT SUBMISSIONS

If we get good feedback on your fan-parody, we'll be more than happy to accept an improved version of it for repeat showings at future cons.

05. OBJECTIONABLE CONTENT

Material that is considered objectionable for reasons of language, violence, sex, or transgressively bad taste will be screened late at night in a futile effort to protect the notional innocence of any con- goers who still have bedtimes they are up past.

06. RESPEC' MAH AUTHORITAH!

We reserve the right to reject any video for any reason (or no reason) at any time or place, throughout the universe, forever.

For further information e-mail John Westbrook at "jwestbrook aht otakon dawt org" (replace aht with @ and replace dawt with .).

Please be patient awaiting a reply: although our fates in the afterlife will be determined solely by our dedication to anime and to fandom, the real-world chores of eating, sleeping & working must be appeased.