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AMV competition rules

AMV competition rules

The competition is open for everyone to submit animation, game or live action music videos. A preliminary judging round will be held in case the amount of entries is high enough. Send your entries no later than April 5th 2026 by 11:59 PM, and you will take part in the competition and possible preliminary round. All competitors whose entries are approved for the finals will receive free entry to the event and we warmly recommend attending the event in person. Should a competitor not be able to attend, awards will be sent via mail after the event. The competitor may also name another person to accept the award for delivery on their behalf.

The entry videos must be sent via our Xfer file transfer service, with detailed instructions below. Videos sent by any other means will not be accepted. Videos that have been featured in any other AMV competition finals previously will not be accepted. You may publish the video before the event if you so wish, however we recommend delaying this until after the event, to help maintain the moment of surprise.

Every competitor may send a maximum of three (3) entries to the competition. Videos made in cooperation with multiple people are allowed and encouraged, but these will count as one entry for every person in the group. The competitor may also include additional pictures, videos or descriptions of the editing process. These may contain details on any parts of the edit which the competitor feels deserve additional attention. This material will be provided to the judges alongside the video. The AMV manager reserves the right to make changes to these attachments if deemed necessary. 

Should the AMV manager notice any problems with the entry video or other details, we will contact the competitor with a possibility to make corrections to the entry. The competitor must provide their real name for the organizers. The entry itself can be presented with a nickname. 

Organizers of the competition, or their family members, may not take part in the competition.

Content requirements

The majority of video content (60%) must be material from an animation, game or live action series or movie. The material may originate from any country. Original and self-made animated material is also allowed, but it will be evaluated from the same perspective as other videos. Using multiple different original video sources is allowed. 

The majority of audio content (60%) must be music, but adding short parts of dialogue or other audio material is accepted. Audio material cannot be entirely based on, for example, trailers, commercials or dubs, as these do not fit the definition of a music video.

To clarify, 40% of the video and audio content may be, for example, dialogue between characters, trailer-like storytelling or even comic book material.

The video may not contain extra logos or subtitles. Also, do not add text to the video that contains the name of the video, the competitor(s) name or source materials. Automatic watermarks from editing software are also not allowed. The competitor may add custom subtitles for use in cases such as dialogue between characters or song lyrics. The organizers will create separate intro videos for each entry. These intros will include details on the name of the video and the competitor’s name or nickname, as per their preference. 

Adult material (K-18 Finnish standard) is not allowed in the competition. Should the video contain unsuitable elements, the AMV manager will inform the competitor. If you are uncertain about the suitability of any material you plan to use, you may contact us beforehand to check. The organizers may add content warnings to videos when deemed necessary. 

The length of each video must be a minimum of one minute 30 seconds (1:30) and a maximum of five minutes (5:00).

Technical requirements

Please use the best possible source materials available. We will accept most common file types, with mp4 being the recommended type. The organizers may convert the video to mp4 format if deemed necessary to ensure functionality. Should this be necessary, the organizers cannot be held responsible for potential loss of fidelity. Recommended resolutions for videos are 1920×1080 (widescreen) or 1920×800 (cinematic widescreen). The smallest acceptable resolution is 480×360. The refresh rate of videos should be either 24, 25 or 30 fps. Please also make sure that the audio material is of sufficiently high quality.

Video inspection

We recommend sending entries as early as possible. The AMV manager will check each video upon arrival to verify compliance with the rules and technical functionality. We will inform the competitor upon any problems found during this verification process. The competitor has a chance to make any required corrections to their entry until April 7th, 11:59 PM. If these required corrections are not made and sent by this time, the entry will be discarded from the competition. Entries that have been featured in any previous AMV competition finals are automatically discarded, and may not be corrected for compliance.

Judging process and the points system

After April 7th, all videos will be sent to the team of judges for scoring and if necessary, sent to preliminary rounds. All entries will be provided to the judges without information on the competitor’s name or nickname. The judges will not know the identity of the competitors until all of their results are final. During preliminary rounds, judges will choose which entries will be featured in the finals at Comic Con. All competitors will receive information on their personal preliminary round results by April 25th, whether they have been selected into the finals or not.

The judges will provide scoring points in three categories:

Music video concept / mood; rhythm, internal sync, matching of music and video material; relevance of song lyrics in video scenes, harmony between music and video, selection of scenes, matching scenery selections for differing musical elements within the song, and effectiveness of the work as whole; 0-5 points

Storytelling / concept; clarity and comprehensibility of the concept or story, originality of the story, concept or idea, narrative process, use of linear or non-linear storytelling, dynamic elements of faster paced videos, importance and functionality of possible voice-overs or sound effects, 0-5 points

Editing; transitions between scenes, color grading, cuts, effects in relation to source material and music (eg. slow / fast), flow between scenes, possible use of masking, quality and cleanliness of combining source materials, and quality of possible typographies, 0-5 points

Ties in point scores are quite possible. The points are used solely for choosing entries for the finals and not for choosing individual awards. Judges will create separate evaluation lists for each award based on vids’ characteristics.

The list of judges will be presented at a later date.

Awards

The judges will choose winners of each award from the finalists. These will be awarded at the end of the finals ceremony. The same video cannot receive two judges’ awards.

Judges’ awards

Special awards

Descriptions of awards

Best in show

The best in show award will be presented to the video which shines in every way and has clearly been crafted to perfection better than any other entry. Effectiveness, topicality, rewatch value, memorability, as well as concept, and story are all key factors. We’re looking for the video which touches the closest to perfection, with very little room for improvement.

Best Arctic Light

Symbolic and mystical, beautiful and longing, many different ways to describe the North. Tell a story that glows with certain hue, for example, a romance under a starlit sky, the tranquility brought in by fallen snow over a cup of coffee, the waking of spring blossom and the new freedom it brings, or who knows, in the North the light is often strong and bright, especially in the summer during a nightless night. In addition, it is of course also up to the editor to decide whether the eternal light is always a completely positive thing.

Best Arctic Darkness

As the opposite force for light, darkness can sometimes bring comfort with its calmness, but even more traditionally, arctic darkness creates a difficult-to-reach or chilling atmosphere. Feel free to show and awake emotions in the audience by bringing in heavier and more difficult topics by highlighting the dark sides of life. Tell a story with the main characters’ mental landscape as the main focus or create a work that tells many stories and realities of life here in the North.

Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) themed awards

The following awards are limited on the choice of music allowed. The entries for these awards must use song material that has been performed in ESC. The song may be a competing song entry from any attending country, or any other song performed in ESC finals. The list of song entries can be found on Wikipedia at this address, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Eurovision_Song_Contest_entries

Eurovision: Best cheerful

Present an ESC themed edit that will make the viewer feel enthusiastic! Catchiness, relaxed mentality and/or generic Europop banger time is allowed to be seen and heard. The video can also present itself as an honest humor take that will entertain everyone attending. Whether it be about a flamboyant romance, comical antics of the unlucky protagonist or the endless joy of its child protagonists – the most important thing is that the video has the viewer feel like their mind is left floating!

Eurovision: Best serious

This video drops its viewer directly into the deep end and plays a role according to its main character views or general narrative. The video can convey a story about an experience with internal conflict or external influences that have shaped its main characters or their world. The most important thing in that the video is easily believable in all its seriousness and a stark, moody theme is captured. The resolution of said video can be either positive or negative, depending on the story.

Eurovision: Best linguistic dive

Unusual, bold and something different. The concept of ESC and different languages go strongly hand in hand. The video can cover absolutely any topic and be of any genre, from humor to drama all the way up to romance and beyond. This award welcomes unusual takes, the courage to do and think outside the box! The song used in this video must contain lyrics sung in any official language of the competing country. For example, if you use a song from a Finnish ESC entry, it must be in Finnish or Swedish, whereas an entry from Belgium could be in Dutch, French or German. You can quickly check any country’s official languages in Wikipedia.

Additional award information

For all awards, we will look at the complete work as a whole, as well as matching the chosen theme into the concept successfully. Naturally the cleanliness of editing, rhythm, and other classical elements of good music videos will also be looked at.

All awards will be awarded at the end of the finals show. The finals will also feature an audience choice award, in which people attending the live event can take part with their mobile device. The results of this award will also be presented at the end of the show. The organizers reserve the right to make necessary changes as needed.

File transfer instructions

The file transfer service for the AMV competition may be found at https://xfer.velhosto.fi

Handling of personal information and other terms of entry

Personal information of competitors will be used solely by the organizers of the competition and only within the scope necessary for organizing the competition. Personal data will not be stored permanently. The legal entity for handling personal data is The Finnish Fair Corporation (Finnish business ID, ID 0116322-3). The transfer service is operated by Pahalammen Verkot (ID 2621053-2). 

By taking part in the competition the competitor accepts the rules in this document. The competitor may not place additional demands on their participation or require changes to the rules. Should the competitor place unreasonable demands on their entry, the entry will be discarded. An entry may also be discarded on the basis of inappropriate or unsportsmanlike behavior. The coordinators cannot be held responsible for damages based on incorrect contact information provided, or technical communication issues beyond our control.

Contact information

Should you have any questions about the competition, please contact our AMV manager at comicconamv@gmail.com

You may also send questions via the social media channels of the event.