The AMV Documentary

[ZephyrStar]

So a couple of weeks ago at NDK, I was talking to CrackTheSky and Koopiskeva, they had had a conversation while on the plane, and they were like "hey man, someone should make a feature length AMV documentary." So they told me the idea, and I liked it. Now I know a few things have been made on the subject already, by various people, most notably Brad. We talked about it some more, and thought it would be really awesome to make something a bit longer, a bit bigger, and try to tell a much bigger story. I flew home from Colorado full of motivation.

I had been planning on getting a camera for another live action film project I've been working on for a long time, so I went ahead and pulled the trigger on a Canon 6D and a few lenses. I figured what the hell, I'll be able to get used to the camera, and practice interview technique, among other things. The camera arrived right before AWA, so I had barely any time at all to play with it before the con.

While at AWA, I did manage to get around 60gb of various footage and interviews, which I'm in the process of going through and archiving right now. I managed to interview a total of 5 editors, out of the some 40-50 that were there. That's bad. I was not prepared enough. There are a number of factors, but basically this is what I learned:

-We don't yet have a script. Have not yet decided how we want to structure the documentary, but we do know the end goal, which is to expose the general public or potential editors to the AMV community and tell our story, with minimal back-patting. We really want the doc to be about the hobby itself, people getting into the hobby, the fun people have with the hobby, and not about any specific editors. I'll be narrating the doc as if I were an outsider looking in. That said, I certainly do want to give credit where credit is due, so that's why I want to interview as many editors as possible to get the many different reasons we do what we do.
-I started with 25 interview questions, this is far too many for the number of people I want to ultimately get on film. I am going to reduce the number of questions down to about 5. The interviews I did shoot gave me really good insight into what questions got the best answers, so I will be creating a new interview question list.
-I had two batteries, which I had to try and alternate out. The only problem with that was running around between hotels and looking for wall sockets while in the VAT to charge batteries. I missed some important stuff because I did not have enough of them ready to go. Same with memory cards.
-I bought some lighting gear, and tried to light the press room, which had plain, gray walls. Interviews conducted in that room did not come out as well visually as I would have liked. Same with the audio, too much echo in the room (despite use of a pro recorder and strategic placement).
-Impromptu interviews with a couple of (drunk) editors ended up pretty good, though I got some hum of something mechanical in the background, so I'm going to have to probably re-shoot those next year.
-I wanted to set up one of my hotel rooms to be the interview room, but we stayed in the hotel across the street, so asking people to come across the street takes a bit too much time between interviews. With the number of people that I want to interview, I would need to have people ready to go so I can shoot them one right after the other.
-I also ran all over the con, filming everything, but managed to miss the majority of the Expo awards since I was not sure if I would have battery/card space to get the whole entire contest. Got the Pro awards, but they leave much to be desired visually since I was hand holding the camera (and had a really crappy tripod to work with).

Lessons learned/things to do next time:

-Will begin working on a script, hope to have that mostly done within a few months time.
-5-6 questions will be asked, and then one open ended "tell me a funny/life story about your involvement in AMVs," which should get some candid and funny responses.
-I will have a sign up sheet for anyone wanting to be interviewed, ahead of time, so they can expect it and prepare.
-Next year will get at least one hotel room in the con hotel, on one of the lower floors if possible to make the interview room more accessible. That way I can set up the interview space and leave it undisturbed all weekend, and can get people in any time they are available. Also should be able to work with sound better.
-I had ordered, but had not received at the time, a very nice fluid head tripod to use to get smooth pans. Will bring that with for awards ceremonies.
-I am thinking of doing this at other cons, specifically Sakuracon, NDK, and Momocon. Those are the ones I can afford (maybe).

Obviously, this will take a whole lot of work and time to put together.
That's where you can help.
Once I have a script written, I'll have gaps to fill.
I'm looking for people who:

-Are from all over the world
-Have decent video/sound equipment
-Can shoot their local con/ask their local editors questions
-Can get me the footage
-And probably a bunch of other things I might need help with

We're still in the early planning phases of this project, but I wanted to get a post out there and get this thread started.
If you think you might be interested, please get in touch with me.

[seasons]

I would watch the shit out of this film.

Really hope that you can get a couple of "1st generation" editors to participate (not going to drop specific names but I think you know a few that are probably on the wishlist) to show how far back this all goes. And I get the feeling that some of them don't want anything to do with the hobby anymore but maybe if they got an idea about how serious you are about it, they might reconsider.

[BasharOfTheAges]

Loved the idea when you proposed it. Best of luck with this.

[hamstar138]

I might be able to help with this when Anime Boston comes around. If a couple of editors like Melichan and some others come I might be able to get interviews for you.

[Kireblue]

If you want to do this at MomoCon, I'll see what I can do to help you out. I might be able to secure a area for you to do this at. And I'll also be able to give you a early copy of the schedule in order for you to plan your recording times accordingly. When we get a little closer to the con, I'll also ask the head of our videography department if there is anything more that we could do.

[Brad]

As I'm sure you expected, I have opinions on this. But I will preface by saying, I wholeheartedly approve and want to see all progress.

You can take my thoughts with a heavy dose of salt by understanding that I've had a vision in my head of an AMV documentary for over 10 years. So understandably, when I think about the kind of doc I want to see, it lines up nicely with my original vision. That being said, hopefully my insights are helpful. If not, I completely understand.

I want to see a doc from the perspective of specific editors. I don't care who they are, but it should be a mix. I want characters. I want a story. What I don't want is "here's this hobby. here's a ton of people in the hobby. here's a ton of people's thoughts on this hobby." Having a wide range of talking heads CAN certainly work if your subject matter is either A) un-personal or B) historical. And it seems like that's the direction you want to take it. You want to place the subject matter in a non-personal context by not letting the audience really get to know anybody intimately. And, like I said, maybe that's fine. But for me, the sort of gold standard for the style of doc that I think would REALLY make the AMV story shine would be Indie Game: The Movie. In that, you're really following 3 stories in the same universe. The veteran who has a lot to say and gets very personal, the disenfranchised and struggling artist who is fighting both inner and outer demons, and the duo of rag-tag man-kids who show an adoration for the medium that translates into their art. We get to see them go through the process of their craft through both the highs and lows, culminating in a big event for each.

So, here's how I picture the AMV doc working. You choose 3 editors (either single editors or groups or whatever). You follow them for a long while. Like maybe a period of 4-5 months. I want to see somebody that's completely new to the process, somebody that's been around for a long time that people know, and maybe somebody in between. Each of them working on AMVs for a specific con, and talking about what they're going through. All of it culminating in them being AT the con and seeing what happens. Now, certainly, you'd sprinkle in little interviews with other editors either as B-Roll or as a way of magnifying what your characters are going through. Throw in some industry people to give the legal grey-area perspective. Talk to some people that used to be AMV editors that haven't been in the community for a long time and get their perspective. But the CORE of the film should be about the characters and their story.

Now, Brad, you're telling me that you want me to fly out and stay with some editors and film them editing for weeks at a time and get them to open up to me about their process and their insecurities and personal lives and hopes and fears and all that shit? There's no freaking way!

I never said any part of my idea was practical for a solo effort In fact its probably way too ambitious to really be worthwhile. But that is my idea nonetheless. I feel like it's the ideal way to expose the reality of the hobby. It's gotta be candid and personal. AMV editing is at it's core about personal expression after all. I know very well that for many people, AMVs are far more about the friendships/community, but that also boils down to the person. What those friendships mean to the individual. My main fear for the format you're talking about is that we simply won't get that individual touch. It seems like its going to be a showcase of a lot of disparate personalities and opinions, who happen to have a common interest.

I know I said it at the beginning but I'll reiterate, this is just my own view. I want you to do your thing and I really look forward to whatever you end up with. Soooo yeah! There it is. As always, crush it.

[CrackTheSky]

I would watch the shit out of this film.

You could be in it. Just sayin'

[CrackTheSky]

B) historical.

At least in the conversations I was involved in, this seemed to be idea that motivated it in the first place, and this was kind of the foundation we were going to work off of. To make a documentary that followed the history of the hobby and showed the way it's changed over the last 15 years.

Also, credit where it's due: Tono_fyr was the one who brought this up to begin with, so I'm sure he'll want to be involved.

[NepNep]

I can't wait to see this when you are done. This is quite the big project you have taken on. It's a great idea

[Shui]

I made a presentation about the History & Evolution of AMVs once. For this I learned a lot from other source already on the Web, and disappointingly found only stuff about American editors. (yeah it originated there but there are many editors also in Europe which have influenced the scene as a whole) So I tracked some of those European editors down, most notably the early German editors and Russians and asked them questions per Email. AboluteDestiny was an invaluable source too.

This thing you're doing goes into a similar direction though it looks like you focus more on editors than single AMVs. I would love to know what exactly you plan to portray in this documentary.
So I'll be deciding if I want to support that when the script is done.

I've got a 7D, experience with party Videos. none with Interviews but I'd like to give it a shot. Also Audio isn't a Problem for me since that's been a Hobby of mine for years.

I guess I could most definitely haunt down ze Germans, maybe the French. I've met people from Eastern Countries too - Polish editors and Czech ones. It might be stretch but I'd know how to get to them.
Maybe Nya herself would be interested, dunno.