The Side Characters Challenge! ***SPOILERS***

[SarahtheBoring]

I heartily approve.

Really.



I don't know most of those shows, but it's a great idea. It's a challenge to work with only a bit of screen time, and more variety is ALWAYS good (likewise, I could do without the 832479th retread of the main couple in any series.)

I'm also planning an AMV about the GHGs and other minor Trigunners, but it's quite a bit down the line.

[pinky75910]

dj_ultima_the_great

I have been following what is said in this thread and it's quite interesting. What do you think if I were to try a music video with multiple side characters to :: Michael Jackson - They Don't Care About Us Lyrics

I think with the right effects it would be just fit perfectly for what you had in mind. What do you think people?

Don't know the song, but go for it. Sounds like it could be a good idea.

[dj_ultima_the_great]

Yay! More responses! That always makes me a very happy girl. Before I make my replies, I did want to add a few things yet again. I already said this to my new friend "pinky" in an e-mail, but I said I'd post it here, too. I think that I might have been a little misleading when I offered the challenge. Some people may have gotten the impression that I wanted a video about just one side character exclusively, but I wanted to say that I'm okay with a video that has many side characters in it, so long as the pairings/groupings make sense. Well, I guess that's all. On to my replies!


Muyo_Ryu - Wow, there are days when I thought I was the only person who recognized Michael Jackson for who he really is - a musician! I'm glad to see that there's someone who will still consider his music every once in a while. I'm very much still a fan of his music. In fact, I own the 2-CD HIStory album. So, as you may guess, I do know that song and I like it (though "Earth Song" is probably my favorite.) I think it would make a very good music video. I do have one suggestion. This song definitely lends itself to a very gritty-feeling video mood. So, if I were you, I'd stay away from cutsie, fluffiness. I'm not sure if you've seen either one, but Trigun and Serial Experiments Lain would be very fitting in that video. But, of course, you're the video creator, so I would rather you show me your idea before implementing any of mine. Anyway, I wish you Good Luck and Happy AMV-ing!

Sousaphonist - Ack! My bad! It's been quite a while since I've seen Lain, whereas I just finished Angelic Layer (for the third or fourth time) not more than a week ago. So, that anime was fresh in my head I guess and I wasn't even thinking that you could be talking about something else. I don't remember Lain's characters very well (it's been more than a year for sure since I've seen it,) so maybe you could refresh my memory...who or what is Deus?

SarahtheBoring - first off, that seems like an awfully negative user name. We're shiny happy people here on a-m-v.org! ^_^ Okay, enough jokes, I wanted to say that I like your sneaky little links. I did watch the videos that I could (that being the three Utena videos.) I liked them all, especially the one with the Barenaked Ladies lipsynching. I haven't seen Utena (though it is higher on the list of anime I intend on watching) but your videos have made me more interested. I wanted to mention that you have a very good style of editing. Your videos seem to lack a lot of special effects, but since you time your cuts of the clips so well, you don't really need any flashy effects. It's your kind of sense of timing that newbie AMV creators need to take a cue from. Okay, that sentence sounded very backwards, but you get my drift! It's too bad that I couldn't download your Final Fantasy V-IX - Depeche Mode video. The FF games are my favorite games of all time (FF VII being the best.) By the way, when you get around to the Trigun Gung Ho Guns video, be sure to post here again, link me, and I'll check it out. Who knows? I might even leave a review!

As always, Thank You for your comments, Good Luck, and Happy AMV-ing!


- dj_ultima_the_great

PS: for those curious...yes, I DO make AMVs (I have six in total so far and have a seventh in the works), but all of mine are made with Windows Movie Maker II, so that alone should tell you the reason I'm not posting them.

[dj_ultima_the_great]

I know that this seems redundant to post twice in a row, but I forgot that there were some other things I wanted to say yet. After my original post, several people gave me links to videos that they thought fit my guidelines. Well, I DID go and download every last one of them that I could and this is my condensed review for each of them, as by what my guidelines would dictate, had they been made for that purpose.

Corran - well, even before I saw the video, you had already scored brownie points with me because "The World I Know" is on my top ten list of favorite songs of all time. What I wasn't originally sure of was if that song could work with Shinobu. You proved my doubts to be wrong. My first thought after watching your video was something comprised of this: ".........................WOW." I really loved it, and now I have even more of a reason to like that song AND Shinobu. Your video was another perfect example of only showing a main character to further the story of a side character. Great Job! PLEASE keep AMV-ing!!!! ^_^

godix - I watched "Goodbye Cruel World" and wanted simply to say this: very nice. You have a great example of the "short and sweet" video concept. Of course, there really wasn't a lot of footage of her to begin with, but you still made a very nice short video from it.

Marlex - I don't think you posted in response to me, but Corran suggested your video, so maybe you'll see this sometime. That was a very innovative thought, using manga stills of Shinobu and sliding into the anime. I'm usually very against using stills in videos (if only because many people do it wrong/not very good,) but you showed the right way to do it. Newbies who want to use stills in their videos could take cues from you easily. You know, "The Middle" and a Shinobu video is such a natural combination, that I'm surprised only you thought of it. The song is absolutely perfect for her character. Very well done!

Muyo_Ryu - I THINK that this video (Naruto - Remy Zero - Save Me) would have fit under my guidelines had it been made for that purpose, but I haven't seen Naruto, so I can't be enitirely positive. Regardless, it was a very well done video (although I feel like I just had some huge plot element spoiled for me! ^_^ .) You definitely have talent and a very good sense of timing. This is a video that I will be glad to return to once I get around to watching Naruto and figure out what's going on. (By the way, what an ADORABLE opening! I heart it! ^_^)

trunkims - again, this was a video that Corran suggested, so I doubt you'll see this, but I wanted to say first off that it is an exceptional video, like all of the others that were suggested. I do want to mention that I think this video wasn't named correctly, in my opinion. The song "I'll Be" comes across as a very romantic sort song, with a sense of longing sprinkled throughout. Also, the scenes that you used were more of Shinobu's "Do I love Keitaro or not?" sort of scenes, which again speaks of romance. I think the video should have been named "Shinobu's Longing" or "Shinobu's Crush" rather than "Shinobu's Friendship," because it didn't really seem like a friendship video. Other than my rambling over the title, I didn't have any problems with this video. It was very good and a worthy addition to anyone's Love Hina collection.


Well, that's all for now. I kind of get the feeling that I'm typing WAY too much on these posts. But I like being thorough, and I believe that everyone deserves constructive criticism for their videos and praise for taking their time to respond to me. So, Thank You, Good Luck, and Happy AMV-ing!


- dj_ultima_the_great

[Corran]

^_^ Thanks I'm glad you like those videos. I'll PM Marlex and Trunkims so maybe they will be able to see your comments as well.

[trunkims]

Thanks for the comments and thanks for PM-ing me and suggesting my video Corran!!

As for the video title, I meant it to be kind of like a questioning shinobu's friendship. Maybe it would've been better had my title say "Shinobu's Friendship?" huh?

Thanks for the comments!!

[dj_ultima_the_great]

Hey, Corran, I checked out that Smashing Pumpkins - "Tonight, Tonight" video by dwchang that you suggested and I wanted to say that it is a very good video. Standing alone, it has solid timing that went exactly as the creator said it would, with all of the beats and musical sections going along with the scenes perfectly. The mood of the video was great and worked well. There is just one problem: I've never seen Escaflowne (though, again, it IS somewhere on the list.) Even so, if I were judging it by my guidelines, I don't really think it would fit, as I'm fairly sure that the people shown were the main characters. Nonetheless, it was an exceptional video and dwchang is quite talented.

[badmartialarts]

In reply to you question, dj_ultima,

It's a bit of a spoiler to even talk about Deus...he's the guy in the lab coat with the electrical tape wrapped around his waist.

[Corran]

Hey, Corran, I checked out that Smashing Pumpkins - "Tonight, Tonight" video by dwchang that you suggested and I wanted to say that it is a very good video. Standing alone, it has solid timing that went exactly as the creator said it would, with all of the beats and musical sections going along with the scenes perfectly. The mood of the video was great and worked well. There is just one problem: I've never seen Escaflowne (though, again, it IS somewhere on the list.) Even so, if I were judging it by my guidelines, I don't really think it would fit, as I'm fairly sure that the people shown were the main characters. Nonetheless, it was an exceptional video and dwchang is quite talented.

LOL I glad you liked it. It was one of my favorites by him also. As it is his first video he has a lot of reservations against it. Actually he despises it which is why I have it in my sig to tease him.

[dj_ultima_the_great]

Hey, Sousaphonist, thanks for the explanation on Deus. I remember who he is now. Actually, I didn't even realize he had a name! I just thought of him as what his entity in general was referred to as, of what he said he meant to the Wired. Well, Good Luck with your profile of him and Happy AMV-ing!


- dj_ultima_the_great

PS: hey, is it just me, or does anyone else think that the song "The Great Below" by Nine Inch Nails would make a GREAT Lain video?