by Gaelstrom » Mon May 17, 2010 11:20 pm
All right, first impressions that this is definitely more consistently strong than AMVS3 ^^ These are awesome. I'd have to say my favorite is definitely the Family Guy meets Death Note one. Well done, great cuts, wonderful setup. The Commander in Heat one was quite good as well. Those are some of the few that I don't think the time harmed their punchlines but told a good narrative.
Rather ironic, really, I thought I was the only one shitting on the 45 second limit with Haruvi Baadoman and Sony POS ^^
Speaking of which, Deuce, you used the wrong version of Haruvi Baadoman. You used the clip I sent to give you a preview so none of the lip-sync was there, not the finished DV I sent through TransferBigFiles. They should all be marked DV, lemme know if you don't have that one for whatever reason. That may be the case with the Clannad clip as well, please check on that.
First thoughts on my clips: Really other than using the wrong version, I have two thoughts. One is that the Haruvi Baadoman one should be earlier so that the distance between that one and the ending credits one isn't too long so people forget, but is long enough that they have to take a moment to recognize the voice and such, making them think a little. Definitely after the 12 minute mark, but before the 20 minute mark. In regards to the credits clip though, I honestly don't think you should separate it or put music over it. Initially I'd mentioned to you using the record-scratch sound and stopping all other sounds and music to cut it into the credits as if Haruhi cut into the actual production, then play the sound again and continue the credits. Cutting apart the joke, and covering it with sound is too distracting to the audience I think, too much going on. If you don't like the idea of cutting off the credits, then perhaps it can go at the end, but I think the record-scratch/cut into credits will land well personally.
One last thing is please make the fade at the end of the Onion clip a test pattern, I believe it'll land harder. Fading on the punchline really diminishes its effectiveness.
Unfortunately I think some of the clips' length ends up damaging the punchline. I have some initial thoughts on how to consolidate the time and keep it more consistently funny.
A) Many of the shorter clips happen in the beginning. I think the production would benefit from spreading them between larger clips later on so that people get a quick break from the lengthier ones. I like the strong start, though, so if some of the longer ones can be edited down a bit to focus more on their punchlines, it won't be necessary.
B) That intro of the AMVS4 title was a little weak. I can't believe someone else did Slap Chop, but thank god it wasn't the song at least ^^ I'm considering seeing if it'll work to put AMVS4 under the Lucky Channel logo in the 3D render, but I'm not sure how that'll work. I was also thinking that I could render a quick AMVS4 logo for the Onion clip for the bottom corner, but I'd be nervous about having it move at all for distraction purposes.
C) Here are what I think can be done to some of the longer clips. Near the end there are several I truly feel are too long for their joke, and can be easily consolidated down and be just as effective, if not more so:
Captain Planet: This one's the 'worst offender' of this I feel. I sincerely think this should be cut off right after you see Naruto with "I am captain planet!" I totally lost it right there, and then spent the rest of the clip wondering why none of the footage made sense with the clip. It'll get a great laugh if it cuts there, but I can see people getting bored through the rest of it very easily.
Thunderbirds: I laughed after "Thunderbirds are GO!". After that was okay, but the punchline had landed, so I found myself waiting for it to end. Definitely a good clip, just went on a bit too long I feel.
Kyoko Bunch: Little long, but the text commentary trying to keep up with the inconsistencies was pretty funny so I didn't feel the length as much. It was the ending that I couldn't follow. After the text commentary I guess the rest you'd have had to have seen the show to get. Personally I'd suggest cutting it after the Kyoko Bunch logo comes up, but it depends how popular the series is I guess. I am not familiar with it.
Gurren Rock: This one I'm on the fence about. Gurren Lagann distracts with awesome animation, but after the first verse I didn't really find the clip connection without watching a couple more times. At the same time I don't know how it could necessarily be edited down. Objectively if you start at the boob-swimming scene at 10:13 and went from there it'd land, but then would lack the context of the beginning. I'd suggest putting this clip earlier if no editing happens, that way people will still have endurance for more lengthy clips.
Hallmark: This clip is edited nicely, but I'm caught a bit off guard by it since I don't know the source. I'd say cut off the beginning part, because after the "3 years late" I was expecting some kind of joke and the clip kept going and took a while to get where it was going. From not knowing the source audio, I can say I think the clip would be more effective to the general audience starting at the "Just for you" with maybe a Hallmark logo. Or the alternative is starting after the 3 years later.
D) Other clip suggestions
Chris Hansen clip: Took me a couple times to realize what it was, but after that I liked it. One part that I found weak though is between the office scene and the ball to the... balls ^^ I'd suggest searching for a reaction shot for the teacher guy to place in between. Otherwise it's pretty stoic.
The Geico: I liked the running gag ^^ It's pretty straight-forward, but it works. I would suggest looking for empty rooms in those scenes though and putting a less stretched version. It harms the joke a bit when it's so obviously photoshopped there rather than sitting on something. It may be difficult, but we have plenty of time. I've looked through a lot of Haruhi footage so I'm sure I have a couple scenes where it fits.
Fading: One major point I wanna be preemptive about. I cannot think of any instance in the history of cinema where comedy lands effectively on a fade, so really I'd honestly and wholeheartedly suggest never using a fade ever in a production like this. It will never really work, especially if a clip isn't designed for it, which none of ours are.
That's all for now. This is gonna be a good one.