Ok so this has been troubling me for a while. I understand that everyone looks at art (yes.?.AMVs are a form of art.??) in there own way and understands it in their own meaning and has their own personal preferences. I like watching AMVs that have a rather complicated story to them and really uses scene manipulation (effects or based on placement) to help portray that story or meaning, idea, moral, thought, etc. I like AMVs that are able to break the boundaries of their source and actually portray a whole story or concept without actually having anything to do with the Avatar at all, but rather uses the Avatar as a means of portraying that concept. For example, using "Avatar A" as a source to portray a concept/idea/story; however, someone who has no idea what "Avatar A" is or who the characters are could watch the Avatar Music Video and still get the same message at the end as someone who is a die hard fan of that Avatar.
But I feel like this isn't something people want to see. I feel like people would much rather watch a Romance video or just some Avatar Music Video that only fans of a certain Avatar could understand. Don't misunderstand me, there's nothing wrong with that. I'd like watching a video that recaps a certain arc or saga of an Avatar. But think about it, that's all it does. I feel like the significance of watching a video with a deeply routed story is just unimportant to most of the community. I don't know if people are ready for AMVs that break the Avatar out of character and completely twist it around. I don't mean that in a belittling way, I just feel like people like watching stuff that is more aesthetically pleasing. I also feel that it's a reason why AMVs might become extinct soon enough (but that's a whole different topic.??)
Yes, this is all a form of story telling but I really don't see many AMVs like that. And please, don't say "go watch a romance Avatar Music Video"? Romance is the easiest form of story telling and, arguably, is even easier to edit than a random action Avatar Music Video with no concept at all. What I'm talking about is an Avatar Music Video with a deep underlying story or concept that actually is portrayed through solely through imagery? Using the source as a "means of explanation" if you would.
A great example of this would be none other than Whisper Of The Beast? Now I can't speak for everyone but I have never watched Naruto and quite frankly, I don't like it. Yet I was able to pick up on the story of this Avatar Music Video. Maybe because that's what I look for in a video but I thought it was portrayed rather clearly. I felt like you could understand the story without ever having to watch Naruto.
It's very difficult to edit a video in the manner of which I'm speaking about, but I feel like videos that accomplish it are much better than those that don't. I also feel that it is a form of originality that often get's overlooked simply because a source might be overused. So with that being said, I ask you:
Is the community not ready for these type of AMVs? Are they too complicated for the general community to understand?
-OR-
Would you rather watch a video with really great editing that shows off complicated visual techniques (such as cut placement or FX work)?
Gimmie your input!




