Twitter SoundCloud FacebookEye of the Storm ContestLadies and Gentlemen, the Results of the EOTS storm contest are in. I've spent the past several hours plugging everything into my judging sheet (which was pretty damn huge). There were a whopping 33 entries that were put out this time, which is considerable since the theme was collaboration projects.
I want to start off by telling everyone who participated "Thank you". The overwhelming turnout and enthusiasm from everyone this time around in comparison to last year was absolutely HUGE. This tells me how much you guys are really inspired or driven to rise above and show the community what you have to offer. Not only that, you proved you could join forces with another deviant to create something that would have otherwise never existed. That teamwork alone has strengthened the Sonic fan art community considerably and each and every one of you should be extremely proud of what you were able to accomplish in the past 5 months. Hopefully you take something away from this competition, whether it be prizes or new found friends or skills. I only wish I could've entered in a contest like this. I know alot of you fought to the teeth with your partner through disagreement and what not and I apologize for that. This is the type of contest you hold ONCE. Otherwise it's just too stressful. The next contest will be individual basis entries so don't panic about not having a partner or 'partner problems' again.
Now as far as the entries themselves, I have seen things in this competition that I have would have thought impossible, both in terms of creativity and in terms of pure execution. If you guys are unaware, I love taking other people's ideas and throwing elements of them into the Syron Universe storyline. Infact, over half of the Syron Universe is content that was inspired by other people. I feel the best fandoms are ones created by not just one person, but entire communities. Syron tries to reflect that as much as possible, taking your influence, ideas, and desires, and throwing them in the blender. I've taken so much in during this contest its really unbelievable. So many creative implementations, stories, ideas. You all have now added to this insane story and characterline. It's almost like this whole Syron Universe is a community project now. I thank all of you for that aspect and so much more. Quite honestly, these characters would be nowhere without your help. Let's let them go even further!
So here comes the part where I break the suspense of the judging to reveal what actually went in to judging these entries. A week ago I coded and programmed a Microsoft Excel Sheet to handle the massive amounts of entries. Rather than just pick a picture as "the best", I decided to delve into detail and really get down and dirty with each entry, carefully analyzing each little detail for what it was worth and then scored it based on several criteria. There were 9 categories for scoring, each with a max possible score of 25 points. The sheet needed to be modified yesterday to also account for non-drawn entries (such as literature entries).
The maximum score any given picture could obtain was 225.
Here are the scoring categories:
Base Concept (How good is the fundamental concept of this picture? Cliche? deep?
Original Ideas (Is this picture innovative? What does it bring to the table that others do not?)
Quality of Linework (precise? smooth? refined?)
Quality of Colorwork (Depth and complexity of color? Blending? Color choice? Theory?)
Background Quality (simple or complex? color? does it even exist?
Character Execution (how well were the characters portrayed? Personality? Posing? Expressions?)
Overall Execution of the Image (Did the picture accomplish what it set out to do? how does the final product work with its internal elements)
Team Meshing (How well do styles of the individual members work together? Do the styles work in unison? Teamwork?)
Lasting Impact (Did this picture try to impress a theme that lasts far beyond the picture itself? How will this be remembered a year from now?)
All these categories would then be added to create a final score for the image.
What was scary is that the top 10 pictures were within 30 points of eachother, the top 5 were within 10 points of eachother, and the top 3 were within 6 points of eachother on a 225 point scale. That's how difficult this was to judge. I got outside input from family as well as to evaluation. No one got a 1 in any categories so no worries there. However, there were several 25's because the picture elements were so over the top. There were no perfect scores though. Giving a perfect score is not reasonable by any means.
Now, for the winners: I will go from 3rd to first. I have DECIDED THAT DUE TO BUDGETS OF MY OWN MONEY, 3rd PLACE WILL RECEIVE $10 CASH PER PERSON (or point equivalent) and a DYNAMIC/REGULAR LINEART EACH.
SO here we go:
In third place/runner up.
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198 POINTS out of 225
This 'animation' required not only a hell of alot of experience with animating a GIF file (which I know is a really hard feat), this animation attempted to be not just moving stuff here and there, but CINEMATIC. The concept behind the image was incredibly deep (even featuring a Cameo from an artist not a part of the team) and the Detail that went into not only creating individual character images, but moving backgrounds, motion, and several different angles is mindblowing. The real reason this landed itself so high in the rankings was the fact that this tied together good drawing execution with the animation as a whole, creating a blend of insane precision and skill with concept and innovation.
Congrats you two, I know how hard you worked on this (and how much your comps died). You each get a lineart and $10/800 points (whichever you choose) each.
Second place:
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200 POINTS out of 225
WE often all forget how powerful good writing is, especially when it's done in such a way where you dream about it all night (aka last night). There is NOTHING a good fanfiction or story can't beat. This 30+ page insane fanfic really had me laughing in excitement and had my heart going for at least an hour as I read it and it played out like a 30minute anime in my head. Fantastic Imagery, fantastic wordchoice, planning, and so so SO MUCH MORE. Literature is just as much of an art as drawn work is, and this proves it hands down. This was also the latest entry I received (15 mins before the deadline) and I'm so glad they made it in. This is one of the best reads I've had in a while, so if you have the time, download it (download only because its 15000 words) and read it. You won't regret it at all. This entry earned Second place only by 2 points (so close) but it's pure innovation and passion, proves that writing is powerful, and this reignited my passion for reading and wanting to write a good story (and reminds me of why I loved to RP so much in my earlier stages of dA).
Fantastic FANTASTIC work you two. You each get a full colored 1 character picture and 25$ or the 2000 point equivalent in the event you don't have paypal.
and now for the top place which won just by a hair:
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204 POINTS out of 225
Fullscreen this picture and you'll see why this Inched out a win, even if it was devilishly close between the top entries. This picture executed extremely well on all fronts, from team meshing style, to colorwork, to bg work, and lasting impact as well as how the characters are portrayed in such a way where you can tell EXACTLY what they're thinking. Quite frankly, this is gorgeous on all fronts (JUST LOOK AT the WATER). The color palette was chosen sooo well and the way the colors and the shading mesh seemlessly with the lineart almost leads me to think that these two could very well be the same artist. This is amazing to say the least. I'm jealous of how they shade metal and hair now.
. It was close, but this picture won simply because it performed the best on all fronts. You have no idea how close it was between not just the top three, but the top 10, as one point difference could have changed the ENTIRE standing.
Congratulations on the big win guys, you get 1 full color pic of up to 3 characters EACH as well as $50 or its point equivalent of 4000
Once again, awesome work to EVERYONE who showed up. Next contest won't be for a while, but hopefully it will be sooner than a whole year.
Winners, note me with what you want as well as your paypal info or if you want the points instead.
Stay Gold, Bang *Steve Blum Voice*
Also, take a look at all the entrants! There were 6 or 7 of these with 196 or 197 points, easily making them a close runner up. These are all great! fave, comment, watch ALL OF THESE PEEPS.
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