The Quickening - Videos

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xDreww
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Re: The Quickening - Videos

Post by xDreww » Wed Jun 13, 2012 5:58 pm

Kinematics wrote:
[xDreww] Sweet Beginning

Noticeable audio cut at 0:18 (melody continued, but bass changed). Couple lip sync issues.

Thematic matching felt a bit weak in the first half.

Notes: Took a bit of pondering to drop "Sweet Beginning" from my top picks. All of the videos are pretty good, but they also all have their fair share of weaknesses, generally mood and tone and execution of thematic intent.

This song draws in videos that are more heavily invested in the artistic side, so there's a *lot* of subjectiveness involved. I'm seeing fewer technical problems than some of the earlier videos, so it's taking more work to translate why I "like" or "dislike" a video into meaningful words. Feels like I'm not doing quite as well as I'd like.
I don't really think the audio cut at 0:18 seconds isn't really noticeable..lol I mean if you're really picky about that then it's fine. I think otherwise. Also wasn't really trying to lip sync... Might be a few scenes I noticed that had lip movement, but it was slightly. I would like to have a clear criticism about what you thought of my video. It interests me. It's my first time editing to this type of song, so I wasn't really sure what to really do. I usually just focus on the mood, and setting up emotions with a somewhat story. Totally different style from the other entries, because I don't try to match every single beat that it's in the song, with random cuts. Just makes the video a bit random , like I've seen in some of the entries for this group.Thanks for the somewhat opinion though.

Also don't quite agree with your top pick for the other group. That's just me.
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Kinematics
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Re: The Quickening - Videos

Post by Kinematics » Wed Jun 13, 2012 7:45 pm

xDreww wrote:I don't really think the audio cut at 0:18 seconds isn't really noticeable..lol I mean if you're really picky about that then it's fine.
It's pretty noticeable compared to, say, Mims', which was fairly subtle. It's basically a "something doesn't feel right" moment, and it took a couple times re-listening to it to figure out what it was. In this song, the bass line is quite distinct, and has its own flow (seems structured more like classical or hymnal music than standard rock), so discrepencies between it and the melody line really stand out.
Also wasn't really trying to lip sync...
I realize that; it's just what I note it as when there's lip movement going on that doesn't seem to belong, whether it was intentional lip sync or not. Should probably have called it "errant lip flap" instead.
I would like to have a clear criticism about what you thought of my video. It interests me. It's my first time editing to this type of song, so I wasn't really sure what to really do. I usually just focus on the mood, and setting up emotions with a somewhat story. Totally different style from the other entries, because I don't try to match every single beat that it's in the song, with random cuts. Just makes the video a bit random , like I've seen in some of the entries for this group.
Ok, will do my best...

First: I have no complaints about the technical methods you used. The beat sync that you did use was well timed, and there was good flow in the timing/duration of the scenes. Effects were used well, and enhanced their scenes appropriately.

The entirety of the negative impressions were in the actual scene selections. I'll note that there were a number of scenes that felt absolutely perfect within the flow of the music, but there were also a lot that felt like they didn't contribute anything at all in building the story.

Also, the first half felt a lot weaker in this respect, which is probably the primary reason I dropped it from my top picks (all of them were very close together). It has a weak foundation, so by the time it gets better I'm already disappointed in it; it's like trying to climb up a sand dune, where the ground keeps slipping out from under your feet. Compare that to those that are stronger at the beginning; they've already built themselves up better, so even if they slip or stagnate, it feels like more was accomplished.

So, from the start:

First few seconds, before/as the drum starts up, basically follow the intro to the anime. The drop down from the sky is fine, but what are you gaining from the clock/books/bicycle shots? They're an introduction to the anime, but have no relevance for your video.

The song lyrics present someone who's already familiar with "you" (ie: Nagi). It may be a 'beginning' for the relationship, but there's also an understanding already present. The introduction doesn't present that; it gives us someone we meet for the very first time, that we know nothing about. This is continued with the embarrassed shots and the magical girl on TV. That's material that supports the anime storyline, but not the video storyline.

The first verse kind of works, but also feels a bit sketchy. This is the period where you need to work most on constructing the basis for the video's theme, but it seems more random.

The first chorus (~0:48-1:00) again doesn't present itself in building to match the song. There's a very strong element of "I" in the lyrics (for the lead in, not the entire chorus), but isn't accompanied by the "I" character (ie: Jin); he is very secondary in the scenes shown. At the same time, there's no solid presentation of the supposed loneliness for Nagi. I can intellectually connect the scene with the apparent intent, but there's no emotional link. Further, the dispersal of the shadow bugs seems to have no relevance to the song in general.

Second verse was pretty well done. Lots of good scenes that supported the overall structure, though also several that felt like they'd have fit better in the first verse.

Bridge section and final chorus: this is where it starts picking up. It's displaying the elements that showcase the core of the song -- the breakdown and recovery -- though it has its own weakness in that it stopped doing the dynamic scene cuts and relied solely on a couple of anime scenes that dragged out a bit.


Overall: didn't quite approach things as a 'whole' that needed to be constructed, and left in too much that didn't actively support the final product. Weakness presenting the envisionment of the characters.

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Davis 51
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Re: The Quickening - Videos

Post by Davis 51 » Wed Jun 13, 2012 8:07 pm

[Davis 51] Switchblade Pocket Comb

Incomplete. However, since what was done was all contiguous, reviewing based on that.

Nice match with intro. Good beat sync, good flow. Generally maintained an intensity to match the music.

Couple scenes with the green guy felt sloppy.

Overall, pretty well done. Pity it wasn't finished.
:oops: yyyyyyeaaaaaaaah. About that.....

I made the mistake of trying to do this the same week i wrapped up my Otakon entry. Whoops.

I'll definitely get it doneon my own time as i had a lot of fun with the song.
Under The Box Productions is my studio.
My youtube page is: http://www.youtube.com/user/UnderTheBoxProduct

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LopezAMV
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Re: The Quickening - Videos

Post by LopezAMV » Wed Jun 13, 2012 8:34 pm

Centurione wrote:
LopezAMV wrote:
Radical_Yue wrote: It's down to 2 sexy, talented foreign ladies with determination and 1 sexy 'Merican man.
:P
A much better correction :P

Both of you made great videos this round. It's a little sad that this will be the last round for one of us :o
I wish you the best...regardless of who moves on and who doesn't.
Spoiler :
Pretty sure I'll be the one to lose though ;) got a unneasy feeling in the bottom of my gut lol.
Good luck!

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Kinematics
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Re: The Quickening - Videos

Post by Kinematics » Wed Jun 13, 2012 9:32 pm

Group A/B-3


[Centurione] Magical War

Beautifully done. Solid theme, excellent scene selection, consistent direction (though occasionally felt a bit choppy in the heavy action scenes), good use of effects.

Only 3 ref frames, which is kind of meh for animation. For level 4.1 (what it was encoded at), you want to go ahead and use the max (for 720p) of 9.


[Kairih] My Past Is My War

Secondary flicker at 0:23 (faded offset copy of scene) was weird.

The use of only two people for all the named references in the song (martyr, civilian, etc) felt too constricted/redundant.

Direction issue: Angel thrusting at 0:30, but with surrounding clips of static view of Yuzuru holding the gun on either side of that clip.

Pacing on Yurippe's past scenes (0:56-1:05) felt off.

Intermixing of the band felt off.

Variation between color and b&w felt inconsistent. Yes, past vs present, but it felt too random within the video.

Drum speed up at 1:32, with the faster cuts, felt like it slipped. Expected progressively faster cuts until it hit a peak, but it stopped before it reached that point.

Skipped frames on the masked band member's running at 1:49.

Direction of transitions between views at ~1:55 was sloppy.

Errant lip flap at 2:00.

Largest weakness seems to be inconsistent direction (video flow from scene to scene).

Also only used 3 ref frames. See above comment (except it has a max of 5 ref frames at level 3.0 for 848x480, if that was the desired encoding level).


[LopezAMV] The Moment Of

Dead soldier falling at 0:06 felt ill-placed. Framing distance at that point in the song felt wrong. Would expect that sort of shot as an impact scene, not an introductory shot.

Cuts around "the liar" and "the honest" were poorly timed.

Lost the flickery/grainy effect when moving to "the pariah". Lack of consistent image color/grain tone across video (such as extremely clean footage is used later in the video).

Rather chaotic direction. EG: right/left/fight/end chorus starting around 0:58, had explosions happening in random directions (including upwards), not corresponding to the lyrics, nor flowing with each others, followed by running people: single person moving left, crowd moving right, wolves moving left, upward explosion, followed by throwing bodies towards the screen, etc. In other words, a random jumble of movement. Problematic throughout the video.

More bits of occasionally poorly timed cuts around 1:00-1:10; not always enough time to see what the clip was about, but too slow to be rapid-fire cuts.

Distance shot at 1:38 was kind of ugly; no character detail.

Final clips felt rather 'meh'; too literal, and motion was a bit unbalanced.



Top Picks:
[Centurione] Magical War

Notes: Hard to pick a #2. Both the others were pretty good, though each had a fair number of flaws. I'd pretty much be flipping a coin at this point.

Tonstar
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Re: The Quickening - Videos

Post by Tonstar » Wed Jun 13, 2012 11:57 pm

Can someone help me? This may be a very noob question, but:
When i download the files instead of getting a zipped file with the amv video files inside, i get a single video file that shows 1-3 amvs. The first 4 or so i downloaded were fine but now its doing this. Please help, im missing out on some awewome videos. Thnx.

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Centurione
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Re: The Quickening - Videos

Post by Centurione » Thu Jun 14, 2012 10:13 am

LopezAMV wrote:
Spoiler :
Pretty sure I'll be the one to lose though ;)
The funny thing is, I have exactly the same feeling :roll: . Oh well, let's just wait for the results.
I love you both, anyways <3 Good luck!

@Tonstar, I certainly would help you if I was clever enough :sweat:

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Radical_Yue
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Re: The Quickening - Videos

Post by Radical_Yue » Sat Jun 16, 2012 10:07 am

Round 3 videos for Groups C & D are now available!

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Centurione
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Re: The Quickening - Videos

Post by Centurione » Sat Jun 16, 2012 10:14 am

Radical_Yue wrote:Round 3 videos for Groups C & D are now available!
The link doesn't work :(

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Radical_Yue
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Re: The Quickening - Videos

Post by Radical_Yue » Sat Jun 16, 2012 10:23 am

Centurione wrote:
Radical_Yue wrote:Round 3 videos for Groups C & D are now available!
The link doesn't work :(

Fixed it.

Edit: Damn it. Hold on >>

Edit2: Ok, they're good now.

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