Categories
Central
Editing
The smoothest, most impressive display of pure technical skill (fluid cuts and transitions, good pacing, music use, visual use, atmosphere).
Movie Trailer
The most professional theatrical trailer or extended promo for a feature film.
Music Video
The best edited, best structured and most compelling, interesting music video; in some cases, one may be given for film, one for TV.
Promo
The most creative or effective promo, teaser, TV spot or intro sequence.
Storyvid
The most creative piece that does not quite fall into either the trailer or music video categories but somewhere in between, using dialogue, text and/or multiple music tracks to tell an original story or give an in-depth recap.
TV Trailer
The best edited and structured theatrical-style trailer or extended promo for a TV series, miniseries, special or video game.
Genre
Action
Intense, high-powered action from start to finish; remember, fast cutting does not equal action - show us car chases, explosions, gunfights...
Animated
The best capture of an animated movie, series, special or video game that most skillfully utilizes the animated visuals, especially in relation to the music.
Character Recap
The best overview of a particular character or group of characters and their storyline, or the best overall capture of who they are.
Character Study
The best look at a story from the point of view of a particular character (or a group of characters), or a creative, thoughtful insight into who they are.
Comedy/Crack
The most enjoyable video that puts a smile on your face, or the most outrageous video that makes you wonder what the editor was on.
Drama
The most emotionally charged and powerful video that makes you feel for the characters and their story.
Epic
The best capture of a scifi, fantasy, adventure, historical or war story.
Horror
The creepiest, most unsettling video that best captures a horror/suspense/thriller story or concept.
Narrative
The video that is best structured to tell or present a clear, complete story.
Overview
The video that best covers a film, series, video game, special, season or episode in its entirety.
Relationship Study
The best exploration of a relationship between friends, family, lovers, enemies or otherwise, that captures the depth or overall feel of that relationship.
Romance/Sexual Study
The video that best covers a romantic or sexual relationship (or a group of such relationships), whether current, broken up, unrequited, etc. where the intimacy, romance, sex or angst is the focus of the video.
Creative
AU/Recut
The clearest and most believable alternative universe or recut story, twisting a single film or series (minimal outside footage is all right) into a completely different concept or an original interpretation of the story.
Atmosphere
The best capture or creation of a particular mood, be it nostalgia, discomfort or whatever the core of the theme or story being told is.
Crossover
The best video making use of multiple unrelated sources; may be split into crossover (AU storyline), multifandom (no story, just a common theme) and mashup (visuals from one show over the audio track of another).
Experimental
The best video that does not follow the usual storytelling approach and is done in a highly stylized, abstract and artistic manner.
Innovative
The best non-experimental that stands out as being especially creative.
Lyrical Matching
The most appropriate matching of visuals to song lyrics, with the lyrics clearly telling the story as the video goes along (without random literalism).
Music Use
The best demonstration of how a music track can drive the visuals, concept and/or storyline through use of rhythm, tone, flow, etc.
Sound Editing
The trailer, promo or storyvid with the clearest audio and the best balance of music, dialogue and sound effects.
Special Effects
The most tasteful use of visual extras, where effects are appropriate and necessary to aid the concept, story or mood.
Special Theme
The video that best captures a particular theme, which will vary from round to round:
this round's theme.
Use of Visuals
The video that makes use of the most aesthetically pleasing footage in a way that complements the beautiful imagery; having pretty pictures isn't enough, they must be used creatively and with technical skill.
Special
Best In Show
If a number of videos from the same fandom make the final round, one will be selected as the best overall capture of that show or its characters. See fandoms that were previously available for Best in Show awards
here.
Judge's Choice
Each judge will choose one of their personal favorites from the remaining finalists, and there will be one joint selection that all judges especially love.
Director's Choice
The most professional, studio or network level videos of the round; all styles are eligible, whether commercial, arthouse, old school TV or anything in between - if it's passable as an official release for any genre, it qualifies.
Vidder of the Year
Given annually; eligible editors are those who entered at least 3 rounds during the year. We consider the quality of the videos entered, the level of technical skill and the diversity of the sources, content and creative approaches.