AMV Autobiography

General discussion of Anime Music Videos
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Pwolf
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Post by Pwolf » Fri Oct 24, 2008 8:38 pm

2000

It was a lonely Friday night and the year had just started. I was open to new ideas and eager to learn. The family computer was in the living room and hardly anybody used it for anything other then homework. I was just starting to get into computers. I knew enough to get around but had a lot to learn.

I was in High School at the time: a sophomore. Didn't have many friends so I had the time so screw around with new things without being bothered to go out and do something. I recently played Final Fantasy 9 and wanted to try and get the cutscenes off the disk. For no real reason other then to watch them. My brother's senior friend had several Final Fantasy soundtracks and was generous enough to share them with us. Then there it was. Be it a spark of genius or insanity, it was surely a thought to behold. What if I could make something? I didn't want to just string the videos together, that was too easy and accomplishes nothing. What if I could add music? What if I could create something that I could enjoy? No, not just myself, but other people as well.

So there I was. I had these video clips and I had this music. What the hell do I do now? Well, it turns out there was this program out there that let you cut together mpeg files. No audio track, no layers... One. Linear. Track. So, for $45, i purchased this amazing piece of software. Before I knew it had created my first music video... if you could call it that.

I let it sit and ended up making another one with Final Fantasy 7. It was cool, so I thought. After spending some time at a friend's house and showing them these cool videos i made, they introduced me to something I had never heard of before, yet have already been doing. They showed me an AMV.

So I wasn't the only one. In fact there were a bunch of people doing this already. It never occurred to me to even think about using anime. At the time I was just getting into it. In my life at the time I had only seen a small handful of shows. I also had no idea how to get the video to my computer.

So it began. I learned about the org and used the forums when i needed help but mostly tried to learn on my own. I used DVDs as my source of choice. I managed to get a copy of Premiere 5.0. My first <a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... 2645">real AMV</a> was using Evangelion to "Kryptonite" by 3 Doors Down just 10 months after I made my first music video that January.

2001

So I pretty much spent my weekends and any free time I had making videos. I averaged about 4 a month. They weren't spectacular by any means, but I enjoyed it and my friends seemed to like them as well. I was starting to learn a lot of about computers and managed to get a Laptop which sported a fast 600 MHz CPU and 20 GB of hard drive space. I also purchased a USB capture adapter for capturing VHS sources. I started a website and got to know some people in the AMV world. It was great. I was having the time of my AMV life. I was learning so much.

Some time in April i released a <a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... ">video</a> using Gundam Wing Endless Waltz to Ramstien's "Du Hast" and it my best at the time. Shortly after releasing it, I started receiving e-mails about it. Holy shit, people are actually watching my videos and they like it. I could go on Kazaa and download my video. Here I was, a lonely High School student and I have fans on the internet.

Throughout the rest of the year I dealt with a lot of hosting problems. From my host capping my download speed for using too much bandwidth, them telling me to delete my videos due to copyright, getting on a server just to lose it a month later. I even tried setting up a server on my 56k modem for people to download stuff. Fun stuff. That’s how it was though so it was worth the trouble I guess.

Later that year I upgraded my laptop and was able to do a lot more with double the capacity but I also ran into a lot of problems with my hard drive crashing and lost a lot of work. I managed to finish a video during the crashes which was a feat in itself i think. Other then that, the year was mediocre, video wise at least. I was knee deep in editing and just wanted to make videos and have people see them. I entered my first con, Anime Expo 2001 but the videos didn't make the cut.

2002

So there is where I slowed down. It's my senior year of high school and I was interning at Intel in the afternoons. I had more friends who liked to drag me out to do things so I didn't have a lot of time to edit. There was also a fundamental change in my thinking. I no longer wanted to just make a video for the sake of doing it. It needed more thought. It needed more depth. It needed to be perfect. It took time.

I entered my second contest, Anime Expo 2002. I didn't make the cut, but I also decided to attend. This was my first convention. A little exciting but also scary. Here I was, a noob, in the same vicinity as some of the greatest editors at the time. I was still very unknown in the community other then my noob posts on the forum. I met Carlos of Mind Warp Ent. as well as Mr. Tim Park, aka Doki Doki. Albeit he doesn't remember me sitting by him at the rescheduled AMV contest. It was fun but I didn't really meet anyone or really make an effort to tell people who I was. Remember, I was a noob.

Back from Anime Expo, just graduated High School, what's an AMV editor like me to do? Nothing. I did nothing. I ended up going to college in October and only managed to squeeze out a small 4 videos, mediocre at best. During this time I also spent more time in the community though. I was just some random guy. I've been doing this for over a year now! The org had an AIM chat room, which is surprisingly still around.

That’s where I met Koopiskeva, Atomx, LadyDX, PieRowManiac, Burnttoast, ... The list could go on and on. I was starting to actually feel like I was apart of the fledgling community. Before my time it was there, but it was small. When I joined it was just starting to grow into something bigger.

It was at this time, the end of the year, that I came up with a concept that would change my AMV life forever...

2003

Early in the year while working on a video I was contacted by a band from South Africa to make something with their song. Wow, someone thought I was good enough to make a video. I said sure but the project was way over my head and I just couldn't muster the motivation to work on it. But, like I said, I was working on another video at the time.

<a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... idnight</a>. No, that’s not the time of day; it was the title of my newest video in March. I set three vampire themed anime to a relatively known German band. Ermac had used one of their songs before I released the video and I had been using the same song for over a year as an intro to my videos so it's wasn't completely unknown at the time.

When I first heard the group, it was at my friend's place well before I thought of the video. My friend had been using one of the songs in a flash video. I got hooked. One night I decided to look for music and I found myself looking up more E Nomine. Then i found it, "Mitternacht". It was perfect. I had to make a video to this song.

So, it's late March, I release this video. I'm unknown to virtually everyone outside the chat room i frequented. Then it started. O. M. G. MITTERNACHT!! :O It was an epidemic. It couldn't be stopped. I wasn't sure if I was being made fun of praised. There were people I never talked to talking to me. It was different from before. Just two years back "Du Hast" had generated some e-mail traffic but this was different. I was being noticed.

I submitted "Midnight" to Fanime that year and to my surprise, it made the contest. I made some changes to Midnight though. The quality was bad and the edits needed some tuning. It wasn't con worthy. I changed the name to "<a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... ernacht</a>" and I was excited to see it in a contest. I went with my brother and a friend to see it in San Jose. We were late but we managed to catch the contest just as it started. It was amazing seeing my video up there but I didn't win. I wasn't terrible disappointed. The video had flaws and my competition was good. I was beat by a fellow chartroom editor, Steakslim. It was exciting but the experience was nothing compared to what would happen later.

July 2003. Anime Expo. 5000 people in the audience. It was truly a sight to behold.

I started the trip meeting some editors at the AMV dinner. I was sick from anxiety and a ham sandwich that morning. I met everyone. I was in my element. I hung out with Ikasu and Chibimofo. We all had videos in the contest. It was great, a lot of fun. We all made our way to the AMV contest together, we were AMV editors, it was our event, it was our night to shine.

The room was huge. 5000 or more seats, 4 huge screens, multiple speakers stacked on top of each other were setup all over the room. It was awe inspiring to say the least. To think, my video was going to be shown in this venue was nerve racking. I was anxious as the contest started.

Good video after good video filled the screens. Drama, then Action. My category. My time to shine. I was up against an editor known all over the community. Tim Stair, Fluxmiester. The video I was up against at Fanime was playing as well. There was no way I could win. My anxiety began to rise as my video played, it was amazing. To be in a contest of this magnitude was something I never imagined. After the video was over, I was congratulated on a job well done. By the audience and by the new people I just met. But it wasn't over just yet; no one had taken home the prize.

Anime Expo is weird. They hold their awards ceremony during the Cosplay intermission. It was daunting waiting for the results. It was like they were torturing us for giving them a good contest. It felt like forever but finally, they began to announce the results. They were going to announce Drama. "Center of the Sun" came over the speakers but when they played the video, a familiar sight. It was my video. Wait is going on? Was this a mistake? Did I win my category? While they were trying to get the right video to play, my fellow editors congradulated me. I was still in shock as the video ended and they moved to the next category. My category. Low and behold, they announced and played my video. The shock never went away as I was congratulated again by my peers and then by the audience. I was asked to stand on stage with the other winners and collect my award and prize. It was an experience like no other. 5000 strangers cheering for you. I would give anything to experience that once again.

The rest of the year was rather uneventful other then taking home several more awards at AWA and the org's VCAs. My wins seemed to fuel good and bad reactions from the community. Who is this noob? Where did he come from? Everyone in the chat room knew who I was. But now it seemed everyone knew.

2004

2004 was an interesting year. It was a year of good and bad. I accomplished a lot even though my father died early in the year. In January I decided to remake a video of mine I've always liked. I always wanted to remake it and now was the time.

"<a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... 262">Every Breath You Take</a>" made it's way to Fanime 2004 in May. This was the second time I would be able to see my video in the contest. When I arrived at Fanime i was greeted by Ashton, SpPanda, and Chibimofo. It was great to hang out with them once again. At Anime Expo I didn't get the chance to see the crowd’s reaction to my video. I only heard it from anxiety driven shock. This time, I wanted to make an effort to really see how the audience reacted.

The contest was great. They played my video, but I was too nervous to remember to pay attention. It was over quick and we found ourselves walking around the con and having lunch with Quu. It was later reveled to me that I had won an award before the announcement. Was it true though? I wouldn't know until we actually see the results.

When the drama category came up, I was uneasy. Was what I was told earlier true? Did I really win? Scottanime announces the award for the Judges choice... "Extraordinary World" Ermac's last video. My heart skipped a beat. Maybe I didn't win. Scottanime then announces the award for the Viewer's Choice... "Every Breath You Take" and my heart skipped a beat again. Wow I did win. I got up to accept my award but Ermac was still on stage accepting his so I sat to the side and watched the audience. As Ermac walked by and I congratulated him, i don't think he heard me as he kept walking, I noticed reactions from a few people. Couples were moving closer, people were wiping tears from their eyes. It was surreal. This can't be real. Who would have this kind of reaction to something I made? I accepted my award and left San Jose feeling that my videos can actually reach out to people.

I was burned out by now. I didn't want to make anything large. I had an idea brewing and some notes but no motivation. I was offered a <a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... 1">part</a> in the Retro Video Game Project. I created <a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... 105">two<a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... hp?v=39572"> tracks</a> for Animix. I remade <a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... =31355">Du Hast</a>. After Atomx couldn't complete his DDR4 track due to computer problems I was offered to <a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... 0000">fill in on short notice</a>. I joined <a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... eflections of Style</a>. I worked with SnhKnives on a <a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... laborative project</a>. I also created <a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... 69">two</a> <a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... railers</a>. They were all relatively small projects.

Later in the year, after spending months and months planning and brooding over the concept I decided it was time to dig in and start preparing my footage for a new video. "<a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... =53350">As The World Crashes Down</a>" started off as an idea about the post 9/11 world we live in and how it relates to everyone around the world. Basically, everyone is having problems, not just us in America. After finishing the video I had a problem. The beginning was too harsh. The song starts out really rough. I had the idea of using audio from radio and TV broadcasts then showing all these character watching or hearing them. It was brilliant in my eyes.

Not soon after releasing the video, I had a bunch of comments criticizing me for making it about the 9/11 attacks. I was annoyed. The video wasn't about 9/11. The whole point of the video was to recognize that 9/11 isn't the only tragedy in the world. The 8 seconds of audio I used for the introduction seemed to spark people's memories. It was a double edged sword.

I premiered the video at Animania Con Ja Nai XI where it won best drama. I also sent the video to Anime Destiny where it wasn't shown due to there could be a conflict over the subject line. The video was given an Honorable Mention though.

2005

In January, I started a project that would take me over 2 years to complete. It was something new that I hadn’t done before. It was a Live Action video. I would work on this off and on throughout the year.

As for AMVs, I created a 3rd trailer. <a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... 64668">Ace Combat Zero Trailer #3</a>. To this date, I still believe it is the best trailer on the org. I have not seen anything better. Doesn't mean it doesn't exist, i just haven't seen it. That being said, I'm very proud of what I've made and later winning awards at AWA10 Expo and Ohayocon 2006.

This year I decided to start a project. I called it the Multi Editor Project. I idea behind it was that the software a user uses doesn't make good or bad videos. It's all in the person using it. The first video in the project was "<a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... lements</a>" which was video using Adobe Premiere Elements only using still frames. I received a good reaction from the video and it later won Achievement in Simplicity award from Anime Destiny 2005:

"In just under 90 seconds, this video convincingly tells an emotional story of meeting, betrayal, and redemption, using nothing but still frames linked by simple fades to black. Also perfectly timed and paced to acoustic guitar, Elements shows that you don't need fancy effects, a popular song, or, in this case, even motion to create a powerful video. For this exemplary creation, we award the Achievement in Simplicity."

Within the same project I decided to do something that no one had done before, or publicly announced to the community. I wanted to make a video with Avisynth as my editor. All scripted. It was a pain at first but with time I created something not only decent but all done in notepad. I named the video "<a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... 0">Pain</a>" after the amount of work I put into it.

Another video in the project was "<a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... iveness</a>" which was an attempt to see what all the fuss was about with Sony Vegas. The video itself was nothing spectacular other then a single mask at the end to remove Zack from the frame but it was well received.

2006

I was approached by Scottanime to make an <a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... duction</a> for his contest in Denver. We had become friends shortly after I started going to Fanime to see his contest there. For this contest he wanted me to make it look like the Firefly opening. It was a challenging task but I completed it and it was a success.

Another year, another set of videos. I continued the Multi Editor Project with my entry into the Valentine Project with “<a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... 3329">When I see You Smile</a>”. Later I created a <a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... trailer</a> and a video about my <a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... 79">cat</a> after she passed away. I then started thinking about a new concept. It would stem from several conversations with friends.

When "<a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... 9615">This Time</a>" was first conceived it was nothing more then a technical experiment. I had been in a conversation with Atomx and Trythil several weeks before, or maybe it was months, about what if someone used a video camera to capture footage off a TV screen, for an effect. I tried it and it worked. From the initial experiment my idea grew and before I knew it I was making a new video. I released it later that year and it has been called my best video to date by some.

I sent the video to AWA12's Pro contest, as well as <a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... 3">Rain</a>, another video I made this year. Other then a small number of people, no one knew I made it. It was great to hear people say good things about it. It made the finals in multiple categories but unfortunately didn't win any of them. It did however win a Guest Award: the "Are you friggin kidding me, this didn't win in Pro?!" award given to me by Koopiskeva. However, I didn't leave AWA empty handed. Rain took home an Expo award for "Best Angst" despite my uneasiness about the title. The video isn't angsty, but it's sad. I was told by one of the staff that they liked the video a lot and wanted to give it an award but couldn't think of a good title to differentiate from drama.

2007

It took over two years to finish and finally it was completed. "<a href="http://www.pwolfamv.com/index.php?pageI ... 20One">One by One</a>" would be my latest creation. It was very well received by my friends and fellow amv editors but I couldn't send it to a con. It wasn't anime. I used Band of Brothers to Nightwish's "10th Man Down" as my source. It was a challenging project and I view it as one of my best works.

I was confronted by Scottanime once again to make the intro for his <a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... acAnime</a> and for <a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... 30">NDK</a> again. I was busy and had a lot of things going on so I ended up making one video but modifying it for each con. It did well at both events.

This year was slow. Hasn't been since 2003 that I've made only 4 videos. A lot of that had to do with personal issues. Between school, work, and life in general, there wasn't enough time and motivation to make anything. In September, I created my <a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... 8">last</a> video of the year while most people were at AWA.

2008

Life has a way of changing everything on you. 8 years ago I could edit a video a week. Now, I can't seem to edit a video in a month or even two for that matter. A lot of that has to do with my mindset. I don't make videos for the sake of it anymore. My videos over the past few years have some inner connection emotionally. From "Always" which was an expression how I felt about my cat that passed away, to "This Time" which held some inner meaning for me when it came to relationships.

"<a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... =153196">I Wish You Were Here</a>" stemmed from my loneliness, and sadness, about my Father's death, as well as my grandfather, my cat, and other people in my life who seem to be slipping away. I was actually edited late in 2007 but I waited to release it during a panel I did at SacAnime 2008. Unfortunately it wasn't received as well as I would've liked. I then wanted to do an experiment. How would one prepare and edit with HD footage. So I made a <a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... ">video</a> with HD footage. Later I created a video and decided to enter it into the AWA14 Pro contest. "<a href="http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... 162099">Ai to Shi</a>" is a short instrumental video taking after the concept of "Elements" by only using still frames. I ended up releasing the video early thinking it didn't have a chance of winning anything. Turns out it won best Instrumental to my surprise.

Present and Future

It's another lonely Friday night, just as it was 8 1/2 years ago. I've spent the last two days remembering everything that’s happened over the years. It's been an interesting ride. To think I would even be doing this still back then was amazing. I've accomplished things I never imagined. I've met a lot people and have become good friends with them. Looking over what I've typed already, there is so much I want to add, like getting to know Suberunker (Kevin), DWChang (Daniel), Castor Troy (Ryan), Koopiskeva (Jay), Atomx (Brad), Moonlight Soldier, and Nessephanie who are some of my best friends now. Then there was when I separated myself from the community. I've only just started to bring myself back into it. Not to mention my various nick names. I just wonder when people will start calling me "King Waffle". What about the elusive "Project Genius" that hasn't been released since it was first thought of over 5 years ago. I guess no one will ever know until it finally reaches the light of day.

So what am I working on now? Some people already know, but for the rest of you:

<a href="http://www.pwolfamv.com/other/Macross%2 ... .jpg"><img src="http://www.pwolfamv.com/other/Macross%2 ... (720p).jpg" height="360" width="640"></a>

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dwchang
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Post by dwchang » Fri Oct 24, 2008 9:30 pm

THE KING HAS SPOKEN AND NOW ALL IS GOOD IN THE WORLD.
-Daniel
Newest Video: Through the Years and Far Away aka Sad Girl in Space

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Radical_Yue
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Post by Radical_Yue » Fri Oct 24, 2008 10:29 pm

dwchang wrote:THE KING HAS SPOKEN AND NOW ALL IS GOOD IN THE WORLD.

:cry: I came...

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Castor Troy
Ryan Molina, A.C.E
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Post by Castor Troy » Fri Oct 24, 2008 10:53 pm

dwchang wrote:THE KING HAS SPOKEN AND NOW ALL IS GOOD IN THE WORLD.
DON'T
STOP
BELIEVING!
"You're ignoring everything, except what you want to hear.." - jbone

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Farlo
expectations of deliberate annihilation
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Post by Farlo » Fri Oct 24, 2008 11:38 pm

x_rex30 wrote:
NerdStrudel wrote:
Farlo wrote:im too lazy to do this kind of thing, someone make up a biography for me.

METAL!

/done
Best Autobiography EVER! :up:
:twisted: :twisted: :ying:

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dwchang
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Post by dwchang » Fri Oct 24, 2008 11:52 pm

Castor Troy wrote:
dwchang wrote:THE KING HAS SPOKEN AND NOW ALL IS GOOD IN THE WORLD.
DON'T
STOP
BELIEVING!
CLARENCE CARTER!
CLARENCE CARTER!
CLARENCE CARTER!

OOOOHHHH SHIT!
-Daniel
Newest Video: Through the Years and Far Away aka Sad Girl in Space

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Vlad G Pohnert
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Post by Vlad G Pohnert » Sat Oct 25, 2008 12:07 am

Well, as I have probably one of the longest History in AMVs, so I suppose I should write something… HOWEVER, I’ll keep it a lot shorter so people might actually read it: :wink:

I did not start making AMVs as my first Editing projects like a lot here. I started making Music videos to Science Fiction shows out of wanting to do something cool for programming for the first convention I ever was involve in as Director of Programming and co-chair back in 1988. My first music videos were to Doctor who done on two VCRs (and only one had a flying eraser head)…

From there I did more videos for s Star Trek convention I was involved in during 1991. It was not until 1993 that I figured I might as well make a AMV since I owned the very rare Orange Road Laser Disc OVA box set (no, mine did not have laser rot and that’s another story)… I used my laser disc player and four head VCR to create it and proceeded to show it to the local Anime club I help create… I then made a second one in the same year to Gundam 0083 using the laser discs I bought (and at $50 a pop to 30 minutes!). Shortly after I also made my third video based on Akira (Wild Boys)

Up to this point I only made videos for conventions and just as a hobby and never even thought about doing them form contests (I made over 45 live action videos to date, lover half with two VCRs!)

When I went to my first major Anime convention (Anime Expo 1994) when it was around 3000 people large, I decided to bring my three videos with my on VHS as I heard there was an AMV contest, but that the deadline was 3 days before the con. After spending a long time in the pre-reg line, I was tired and decided not to ask if they still accepted AMVs in to the contest. Little did I know that they were right hat the table next to pre-reg!! That could of totally changed my focus on AMVs right there if I had entered… Most of the AMVs in the semi-finals I saw had audio drops and crappy quality, The only one that won was actually done digitally and belonged to Nic Neidenbach of Studio Hybrid… I ended up regretting I did not enter as I figured I could of even won (well, maybe…)

After that I spend more time on Science Fiction AMVs for cons I ran (Guest tributes, etc)… When I got my first digital editing card back in 1997, and after making two more years of science fiction MVs on it, I decided to go back to Anime Expo 2000 and for that I made a new AMV totally digital (Villainous Destiny). It was the first use of After Effects for me and I figured I would kick ass (yea, in my dreams!)… After I attended the contest and stayed up all night judging 75 entires with the likes of Joe, Brad and the legendary Kevin C and his fan girls. (I send the night wondering who the hell are these guys)… I ended up a finalists and not winning, although the front two rows started to chant my first name when I went to pickup my consolation prize as they thought Vlad was a cool creator name (people after that kept asking what my real name was—go figure)…

I went back to Anime Expo for 2001 and that is where my most fondest memories came to be when I met a lot of cool creators and we talked all night in the main lobby (until they kicked us out) and I managed to win my first ever contest (with my Memories Dance AMV) and got to go on stage for my trophy with 3500+ people in a packed theatre cheering (that is something I’ll never forget)… I’m to this day still very much honored that Memories Dance remains so popular and seen as one of the best Studio Ghibli/Miyazaki tributes as that was my goal in making it, to make the best tribute video to a master of anime! It’s probably the video I’m most know for.

Since then, I’ve gone to Otakon, Jacon, AWA, Sakura-Con , Anime Evolution, Animethon and other and met a lot of creators, many I now call friends! That what it’s all about, not just making videos, but meeting and having a good time with people who share the same interests..

In 2003, I got involved in running AMV contests and AMV rooms and up to this day, I now run more AMV rooms and contest combinations then anyone else. I enjoy it immensely and love showing the works of my fellow creators to the audience. So much so , that I end up poring many hours into the rooms I run and feed of the joy of everyone there who stops by to watch AMVs. For me, I learned to make AMV rooms so successful, one must put live interaction into the programming just like a radio personality (DJ)…

So from my start into editing (just a year over 20 years) and making AMVs, I’ve made a lot of friends and talked to a lot of people from all over the world to putting back into the community by running AMV events and helping out where I can… I honesty thing that is all one can hope for in this world, as AMVs have shown me that we are all more alike then we think and the world is truly a small place indeed

Do I intend to stop anytime soon? Why should I as I enjoy it too much and besides, there are still many more people to meet out there!

Vlad

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Post by Haunter103 » Sat Oct 25, 2008 1:03 am

I got into AMVs in my first year of University. I had had watched some anime during high school, but it wasn't really until after moving into residence at UofWaterloo that I had any great access to it. We had dial up at home, and compared to the vast internal network of students on residence sharing anything and everything, it was a welcome change.

I was a ranma fan at the time, and while searching for episodes on Kazaa, I came across Phade's Material Girl. I am Eternally grateful that this is the first AMV I'd ever seen, because if it had been something that wasn't as well done and fitting as it was, I probably would have dismissed the whole concept of AMVs in general. After watching more like it, it got the ball rolling for my own ideas. I also showed them to a friend of mine, (dschlag007 aka Iceman_F1), who got into making them before I did, and showed me how to use Adobe Premiere.

My first video, Sensitive Martial Artist took about a year and a half to make. I only worked on it periodically, and I guess it just took me longer to work out some scenes. There was also the matter of acquiring footage by downloading dubbed episodes, which I didn't know was frowned upon and it didn't help that most of them were in realmedia containers instead of avis. Eventually I had a basically finished version, but by that time Iceman_F1 had purchased some HK DVDs of the entire series online (he didn't know they were knockoffs at the time) and it made more sense to just redo the entire video with the better quality footage. Of course I knew nothing about encoding so a lot of the clips ended up looking pretty bad anyways. But the video turned out just the way I wanted it to regardless. The action parts were never as fast paced during the instrumentals as I'd liked, but all the scenes fit the lyrics and I was very pleased with it.

I put my second idea on hold, since it would require a lot more work and rotoscoping which I wasn't nearly ready for, and decided I wanted to make a yuri romance video. At this point, I felt like I should try to be original and make AMVs using anime that nobody else seems to use. Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito had just finished airing, and I decided to go with it. The problem being that I really don't listen to much music outside of anime themes songs :oops:, so I had to rely on my friend once more.

I basically said I needed something that would fit the anime and kind of had a techno-ish beat (I was going for something similar to the show's theme song). This must have sounded like a ridiculous request since I gave him very little to work with, but after the second song he presented to me he said "I don't know if this is what you're looking for", to which I replied "What are you talking about? This is perfect". "Traveling the Books in Search of Why" took less time to make, although I still had some trouble with the footage (raws were hard to come by and I nearly lost the ones I did have), but it all came together and I decided it was good enough to enter at Anime North 2005.

I'd been going to Anime North since 2003 and been very impressed so I didn't know how I'd fair. It premiered on a Friday showing, and the awards weren't until the saturday that year. The problem was that there were a number of really dull videos that played just before mine, so even though it was a decent sized crowd, no one was paying attention and they were all talking amongst themselves during my video, which gave me a terrible feeling. This carried over to the awards showing, and I thought I was going to suffocate I was so nervous. I'd never been so uneased and I never have since. But the crowd was polite this time around and paid attention, and I even ended up with my first award ever: the Criterion Award for Artistic Vision. Incidentally, the original title for the vid was "The Search and the Why", which is what the trophy reads, and is different from the org entry, because I decided the name was stupid.
(I also made a short video for the Challenge competition that year which I mention only to be thorough. It won nothing and deserved nothing, It was a failed experiment of an idea I thought was good at the time but was fundamentally flawed)

After that I really got going. I was working on a new video the night I got home from the con. I worked a lot of mundane jobs that required little to no thought at the time (line work mostly) so I was able to generate AMV ideas and let the fester in my head as I worked. AMV Hell was big and I kept coming up with little ideas of my own and thought I'd make a Hell vid. Eventually I realised that 90% of the ideas I had used songs by the Arrogant Worms, a Canadian comedy band. So I realized sooner or later to just go with that as the theme.

This one took me much less time, it seemed much faster to do the vids in little portions. I had finished the first segment, "Carrot Juice is murder using" Ranma within a day of Anime North ending, and took less than 2 months to get Arrogant Anthology announced. UNfortunately what I hadn't realized that there was one song in the mix that WASN'T performed by the Arrogant Worms, and after this was pointed out to me, I quickly had the video taken down. I kind of ruined my night actually. In the long run though it was fine. I remade the video with additional segments and improved transitions and re-released it about 3 months later under the new title "Arrogant Anthology Advance". It won me my only best in show at Con no Baka about a month later (I still have some of the blank DVDs I won). The segment that got dropped found a home in AMV Hell 3. I found out there were open submissions for Hell 3 the day before submissions were closed on it. This was before I released it the first time, so I had to contact Zarxrax informing him of the correciton for the credits. The segment was "The War of 1812" using ROD.

Con no Baka was also the first year I started really meeting other AMVers. It's where I met Fall_Child42 for the first time, and he revealed his secret plans for Dewelopers. I remember us all finding an empty panel room to sit down in and count the number of times "Developers" was said in the song (152). The con was cancelled due to lack on attendance by Saturday evening and thus I am the undefeated king of AMVs at Con no Baka.

After that there were a few MEPs, some which didn't get released (7.53, 8.47, Old School Cartoon Project). I submitted a segment from AAA to XMas Hell 2 because it didn't require any additional work on my part, and I broke out the karaoke microphone for the second Iron Chef Idol (MSTRB80's), which Fall_Child42 persuaded me into doing, but it was fun, and my first Iron Chef experience (although not a true IC by any means). There was also the AMV Hell Championship Contest, which was a fun thing to do on a weekly basis (and I did make something for every week).

Then I figured it was about time to make that AMV that I had left on the back burner since I almost the beginning. It was the second of the two ideas that I had first come up with when I started my AMV career and I felt I was ready to make it. There were a lot of Weird Al videos out there and a lot of Excel saga videos out there, but the song "Everything you know is wrong" had only been used a few times and not very well at that. So I made "Everything I Know = Weird^2" for Anime North 2006.

This one was made right up to the deadline and premiere certainly wasn't helping things go any smoother. I had to export in chunks and piece it together with VDub later just so I could get it out of premiere without having it crash on me. Eventually I got it uploaded ok. When it played during the contest however, I had to hide my face after the projector or the DVD player or whatever else they were using to play the vid choked and stalled for a few seconds on one shot near the end of my vid. Apparently it didn't like the noise+wind effect I had used as a substitute for lack of any form of decent-looking "rewind" effect. But I got a nice bronze medal (overall point judging system) which was nice.

After that a few more MEPs - another Iron Chef Idol (THEEND) and "Dedicated to Sailor Earth's MEP". Then I made something else just for the hell of it. First one in a while I never had any intention of submitting to any convention. It started with a picture in a signature I saw on Arlong Park forums (a One Piece fan forum I lurk for the sake of weekly spoiler pictures) which had a few frames of luffy doing the Leeroy Jenkins yell, which I thought was very fitting. Problem was, this event had just happened in the manga, and would be several months away from being animated. So I bided my time and got raws as they came out. I had plenty of practice lip syncing from Arrogant Anthology Advance as well as AMV Hell Championship Edition so that wasn't a problem. Even after I had the bulk of the footage collected and most of the timeline filled, I still had to wait 2 months to get the final shot I needed (I accept no substitutes for good scene selection). I released "Leeroy D. Jenkins" as soon as I could export it after the episode I needed had aired.

Then it was decided that I would be going to my first ever convention out of the comfort of my own country. So I got ready for AWA 2006 with two entries for Short Attention Span Theatre (one recycled from 8.47, the other brand new), and a brand new vid for Expo (because it took too much work to have it ready in time for Pro). This was one I could not show my mother, as I decided it would be a good idea to take the audio from an old Canadian PSA advising children not to just stick anything they find around the house in their mouths, and turn it into PSA about something entirely more sexual. "A Message From Concerned AMV Editors" was a lot more work than I bargained for in a one-minute long video. Had a lot of support from Aqua on this one, she even provided me with corn.

Little did I know that regardless of the fact that it contained no nudity, the video was bumped to the late night block, where it didn't even air until something like 5am Sunday for reasons I'm still unclear about (thank you CBR). But I did come away with best sick. It's one of my videos that I'm really proud of and enjoy, but no one really knows about it.

"Marineland", the new video I had made for SAST at AWA, was clearly lost on the Southern US audience, who hadn't had to listen to the commercials summer after summer. So I decided a Canadian audience needed to see it, and thus it was sent to AC Cubed in Ottawa (along with "A Message From Concerned AMV Editors"). After what happened to it at AWA, I figured "A Message From Concerned AMV Editors" would get disqualified, and sent it in knowing that would likely happen (it did), and it was AGAIN not worth staying up until midnight to see it with 6 other people, 3 of whom I dragged there. But at least it played when they said it was going to. On the other hand, I got a surprise when Marineland won not only most original but Best in Show as well. So while I think they gave that one too much credit, clearly I made the right choice to send it there.

After that I was contacted by Ileia to join the ranks of the editors of CornDog VidVids. I honestly had never seen the point of a studio, but I couldn't overcome the need to feel wanted, so I agreed. I really don't directly affect how we make videos, but somehow being part of a smaller team like that just makes things a lot more fun for some reason. It's good being a part of something.

I had decided at this point in my life, after barely making it through University that the only thing I had any confidence in doing was Video Editing, so I thought I would aim towards making that my career choice, so I enrolled at the Toronto Film School (International Academy of Design and Technology), and took a year off (2006) to work up funds. it was a 9-month course that started in January 2007, and despite the long hours I put in the labs, I ended up making the most full AMVs that year than I'd made in any previous years.

Anime North 2007 deadline was around the end of my first term, which hadn't been too chaotic, so I was actually able to get two videos made. "Eye of the Dragon" was made for the Challenge competition, using the song "montage" (montages were a topic of a recent lecture we'd had in class so I wanted to try one). The challenge was to use an anime from before the 90s and My options were Dragonball, Project A-ko and Gatchaman (which I hadn't opened since I won it at AC^3 and didn't feel like watching it just yet). I had an idea for Project A-ko but it just never really came together and the Dragonball idea was a lot more fun and simple. It was also my first official AMV as a CDVV member)

My other video for the main competition was a full-length version of a segment I made in Arrogant Antholog Advance: "Uryuu, the Guy From Quincy", which I had been meaning to make for a while. I got runner-up (silver medal) for Quincy and managed to eek out the win for the challenge competition with "Eye of the Dragon"

Then I committed to making a track for Video Game Project 4. I was saddened by the lack of StarTropics representation in the VGP series and sometimes when you want something done you have to do it yourself. But it required piecing element from several anime together, 80% of shots required some kind of compositing, and THIS was during my final term which WAS quite hectic. Although I was able to incorporate some of the techniques I’d learned in class into the project (After Effects was particularly helpful). In the end, even though the pacing is a little too fast in some parts, I’m still VERY glad I did the track and that I could be part of such a large scale MEP such as VGP4.

To lighten my load of sorted I decided to create an AMV for one of my class projects, that way I could also make something for AWA Masters that year. The project theme was to make something in picture-in-picture or split screen. So I made “Welcome to Acute Social Withdrawal” as a change of pace from my comedic/fun bend that I was on. Although some of it was slightly forced, and I still don’t feel the concept was ever 100% solid, I’m still reasonably happy with it (with exception of the video quality, which is terrible since the footage got compressed too many times). It won nothing at AWA, there could only be one winner in Masters anyways, and if Ileia hadn’t taken it ZephyrStar would have since they both blow everything else out of the water. What did bother me though is that my entry had uploaded incomplete, but since they file played, they assumed that was the full video. This was somewhat disappointing but the end result doesn’t change so I can’t dwell on it too much. But I did get a perfect score on my project at least.

During this Time I also made submissions for Hell4, which didn’t eat into my school hours so much since they could each be done in a since evening (for the most part). There was also some Iron Chef activity earlier in the year, including CDVV vs. VNS (gg Kristyrat), and the Online Iron Chef 3, where I managed to get to round 3. But VGP4 was what was really pushing it and cramping my schoolwork at the time. So many overnights that last term…

After that I finished the program and eventually found work. I’ve been working at the same small video production company, editing wedding and bar/bat/b’nai mitzvah videos since the start of 2008, and it has cut into my creative well being. The entry (“Potato Head Pochis”) I sent to Anime North this year was actually something I had made 2 years prior for the Old School Cartoon Project MEP which unofficially tanked. I just cleaned up the last shot to make it more presentable and sent it off. I also decided there was no point in holding onto the other OSCPAMV vid I had made anymore so I released it (“Incandescent Allies”) as well at the same time.

But I haven’t really edited a full AMV in over a year. Thankfully, after watching a certain musical, a couple of new ideas have sprung up and I currently have something in production after so long. So all hope is not lost \o/
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Castor Troy
Ryan Molina, A.C.E
Joined: Tue Jan 16, 2001 8:45 pm
Status: Retired from AMVs
Location: California
Contact:
Org Profile

Post by Castor Troy » Sat Oct 25, 2008 1:47 am

1999-2001
Back in 1999, I saw my first amv through Dannypoo's DBZ warriors site which was DBZ to Rob Zombie's Dragula. I really liked it, but it didn't inspire me to make my own since I had no software or a way of getting footage. I also started watching some videos from Meri's Temple O Trunks and liked those too, but still wasn't too interested in making videos since it looked complicated at the time.

That all changed when I got my first video capture card and started making DBZ clips for my site. My friend Eric, aka firey started taking my clips and made videos to various AFI and j-pop songs. That's what finally inspired me to start making my own. When I finally got a copy of Premiere, I made my first video. I thought it was the best thing ever and I wanted to show it to Eric so bad. After he finally downloaded it on his 56k connection..

He told me it was crap.

Taking his words to heart, I was determined to become better and was watching how he did his videos, so he basically became my rival and mentor at the time. He never directly taught me anything, but I really learned alot from watching his videos.

Not wanting to fall into the rock/metal DBZ video scene, I wanted to be unique by mostly doing DBZ videos to j-pop songs, specifically Megumi Hayashibara. From 1999-2001, I would be known as the guy who constantly did DBZ videos to j-pop songs. Since I had a popular DBZ site and tons of motivation at the time, I made over 45+ DBZ videos, which you can see in my profile :P

Sadly in 2001, Eric retired from amv making to pursue playing in his own band. So I was left without the aid of my former rival and mentor.

Late 2001-2002
In late 2001, I stumbled upon other amv sites like Aluminum Studios and Maboroshi Studios and was completely blown away by their videos. Seeing how good those videos were inspired me to enter my first contest at AX2001. Sadly, I didn't make the finals with my DBZ-Megumi video that had cartoon network and fansub footage, but I got to see Tainted Donuts on the big screen which showed me that videos with japanese music can win contests.

From the end of 2001 to the start of 2002, I would create the video that bridged the gap from me being a DBZ video editor to an AMV editor = Dragon Bebop Z.

It was the first video I made that ever won a contest and not really knowing what "trolling" was, I entered it in as many contests as I could and starting winning more prizes... not realizing the price of fame...

After winning Best of Show at Akon 13, I was starting to get yelled out by fellow members of the community for my constant winnings. It really sucked to have people that I respected talking down to me, calling me a ripoff and a hack. :cry:

I felt really alienated by the community until I started talking to mexicanjunior, who was a fan of my old DBZ-Jpop videos. Through him, I met Carlos and the Hypeo crew who accepted me when everyone else didn't.

At AX2002, I finally got to meet Eric Kobet, the creator of Tainted Donuts himself and he was really cool with my video. That also helped me get over the harsh times I was going through in the community.

Eventually more popular videos were emerging and my past deeds were beginning to fade away. I would assume that everyone decided to let it all go and I continued to remain part of the community.

2003-2004
In 2003, I joined my first MEP, the NES Project, not knowing that it would be the project that saved my entire career.

Trying the crossover route once again, I decided to make a more original concept, The Haunted Ship which was incredibly frustrating to work on and I was disappointed with it's final result. I was so burnt out from making it, that I was considering retiring from videos.

One day, Fluxmeister IM's me asking for progress on my NES track. At this point, I felt like telling him I was gonna quit, but I decided to change my track after he talked to me and liked it enough to finish it in 14 hours. The end result was my Megaman 2/Yu Yu Hakusho Track. It was such an incredible joy to work on that it totally rejuvenated my interest to work on videos and I even made a 2nd NES track in the summer.

After the success of the NES Project, I became a coordinator of the Retro Video Game Project 2004 which became my pride and joy. I finally flew out to AWA for the first time and saw it on the big screen. Seeing it with alot of the people I worked with in person was one of the most surreal and awesome experiences I've ever had.

2005
A couple of bad things happened to me in my personal life at the end of 2004, but I remained strong by continuing to edit. I helped coordinate Video Game Project 3 which we thought would be the last one, but I refused to let it go. After nearly getting into a car accident which almost killed me, I created Resident Evil 4 - Die Another Day which became my next biggest solo project success since Dragon Bebop Z. I also did my first 2 non-anime videos and joined MEPs like Doomrider, the FFVI character project, ROS2, and AMV HELL 0 and 3.

Because I developed a reputation for crossover videos, people on the .org kept asking me if I was gonna make a "Naruto and DBZ" crossover. After making 2 crossover videos, I didn't want to do another one, but after my interview on RDS radio, I finally decided to make Naruto Ball Z - A battle of epic proportions which became my biggest video to date. I worked furiously on it over the summer and premiered it at mine and Flux's panel at AWA 2005.

2006
This was a pretty low key year for me since all I really did was my first trailer, The Warriors and a full extension of my AMV HELL 3 track, Sakura's Love is a Battlefield.

I sent out Naruto Ball Z to 3 contests and won something from all of them. Brad DeMoss and I battled it out for the Best of Show at AX2006 and when I thought I would finally win the big prize at my home con.... it was me who lost. For some reason, even though the crowd and I were surprised, I didn't feel that bad about it.

After missing out on AWA this year, mj talked about having another VG project on the big screen and I finally decided to run Video Game Project IV - Rebirth

2007
While this was low key year for me contest wise, all of my amv time was spent managing and making videos for VG4. It started off difficult without the aid of mj and Flux, but I was able to manage it and get it sent off to AWA.

2008
This was the start of probably one of the biggest transitional years for me.

I made Go the distance which was going to be a simple Rocky tribute using Ippo, but everyone else saw it as something different as a video about motivation. I never realized that this would end up really applying to my life later on this year.

I was set to graduate college by June and had no idea what I would be doing after that. After realizing that Beowulf became a professional editor through his amvs, I finally decided on the career path I wanted to take. I started doing small freelance gigs for various clients to earn a few bucks. I didn't really consider myself a professional editor yet and after graduating college, I struggled to look for a job as an editor. I was feeling discouraged that times may have changed and that amvs weren't as appealing in the professional world as I thought they would be.

But then, it finally happened.

A director from one of the jobs I applied for was impressed with the work I did for Go the distance and offered me a job to work as an editor on his film. I had now used my amvs to finally become a professional editor. So Beowulf was right, it can be done! :D

Reflections and the future
Over the years, I've met countless people and been to various cons around the country. I've made many friends and learned new things. I'm truly grateful for the joy that this hobby has brought me and has truly affected my life in a positive way. AMVs eventually brought me to the career path I'm going to go down for the rest of my life and I'm truly thankful for that.

As for the future, 2009 will be my 10 year anniversary editing. I plan to release an old school type video which is a throwback to my DBZ days by the summer. It was really difficult to edit and there won't be any fancy effects or beat synch, but I'm proud of it and I hope it kind of gives back the old school feeling.

I also have alot of ideas I want to do. I actually have another 3 crossover videos planned, one being a sequel to a previous one, but I'm not 100% sure I can do them all. I also have a few drama, action, and comedy videos I want to do as well.

However, my main amv priority for next year is VG5. I really hope it becomes something fun and memorable like the past few projects.

Sadly amv editing has to take a backseat to my professional editing, but I still have the desire to keep making amvs and as long as I have that desire, I'm here to stay. :)
"You're ignoring everything, except what you want to hear.." - jbone

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Kionon
I ♥ the 80's
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2001 10:13 pm
Status: Ayukawa MODoka.
Location: I wonder if you know how they live in Tokyo... DRIFT, DRIFT, DRIFT
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Post by Kionon » Sat Oct 25, 2008 3:13 am

1998

Although I had become really interested in anime in 1996, it wasn't until I moved from Austin Texas to Plano Texas in 1998 that my fandom became creative rather than mere viewership. In March of 1998, I joined the channel #sailormoon on undernet. It went through a civil war of sorts, and half the people left. Several of the individuals who left set up #fanfics, a channel that I am still an active part in, and can be found on irc.sorcery.net, in case anyone is interested. Not long after I found the Fanfiction Mailing List, and the ffirc, #fanfic, on irc.nabiki.net. I can already hear people asking what this has to do with AMVs... two of the people who were regulars on the ffirc included Quu and Phade. I believe Jingoro also stopped in, and perhaps even Waldo (though I am not entirely sure about that). I also got my first computer the previous october, it was a Sony VAIO 333mhz Celeron with 64MBs of RAMM and- most importantly- a TV capture card and a DVD-ROM drive. I also had Ulead Media Studio, which I immediately started playing around with. These experiments would eventually be turned into my first video, which was not released to the internet until 2001. I saw my first AMVs, all DBZ to Metal videos this year. I was not impressed. It did not inspire me to take my experiments further. I then moved to Frisco, TX. I also discovered Kimagure Orange Road. Nuff said.

1999

One of my best friends at the time, Jason Thode, was an intern for the local television station. One day in mid-1999, he asked me if I would mind filling in for a job he had could not do because of some emergency. All I had to do was hold a camera on the City Council and start racking up the hourly rate. I said yes, and that changed my life forever. It was the launching of AMVs, but it was also what would become for me, a lifelong love of journalism, documentary, and politics. I make AMVs largely because of that experience, and because of the head of the station, Phil Rogers. Over the summer months I learned how to use cameras, tripods, SVHS decks, TelePrompTers, manual A/B roll devices, and an assortment of connectors, jacks, and cords. The bug was there. By the end of the summer, it seemed like my entire group was involved, and I wasn't the only one thinking of how we could have fun with this. The Powers That Be were also watching us.

We learned at the start of the school year that, in addition to being head of station, Phil would become the new Radio Television Film teacher in a new vocational experiment that would help high schoolers learn skills they could use immediately after graduating, or set a good footing for entrance into college. A good character of people, he immediately set us to work in a very democratic structure. The class was to consist of elected directors, positions created by the class, and nominations and elections were voted on by the class. Phil was more like a cabinet advisor than a teacher! To my shame, I only remember three of the positions, although there were as many as six or seven. Editor in Chief was held in 1999 by Clint Watson and in 2000 by Kent Gillenwater, I held the most political of the positions for both years, the School District Liaison. The others, I believe, were like any newsroom, so entertainment, sports, weather, etc... Each position had equal votes, although the Editor in Chief was considered discussion moderator and the First Among Equals. All positions were expected to come up with story ideas, put together a team from the non-director students, and produce the final product. My job specifically was to deal with the political aspects of making sure that what we produced didn't get censored, informing students of undesirable activity by the district, producing programs the district wanted produced, and, of course, budgetary and equipment requests. I was a two way road, informing students of what the district expected, and pressuring the school district to meet the requirements of the students. As you can well imagine, it prepared me well for both the intraoffice politics of the newsroom as well as politics in general.

The first year we didn't even have a classroom. The school was only half built, and although a broadcast room was to be built, they hadn't even finished the foundations for the new wing yet. So, instead, a full class of students, racks of decks, green screen, news desk, two NT based editors and a Play Trinity the size of a refrigerator (that's a massive editing computer, it's literally is the size of a refrigerator, the tower alone is a giant cube about the size of a small end table) were shoved into a MAINTENANCE CLOSET.

I continued writing fanfiction, watching DBZ AMVs, and generally being very weeaboo at this time. 1999 was my first Akon, and my first AWA. I saw my first AMV contests, and was rather more impressed with what I saw. I also got a newer computer for my birthday, and the files from the VAIO were transfered over. I continued to experiment. Especially now that I had access to the equipment at school... and I nice new software package: Adobe Premiere 5.

2000

This is the year where it all really started coming together. I was involved in an award winning production called Shattered Dreams which ended up being recognized on Good Morning America, I had made it through to the final round of entrance interviews for the Naval Academy (although this was not to be), and I did several conventions that year. By the close of the school year, we still didn't have a classroom, the west wing of the building was still under construction. Writing and editing had become like breathing to me. In the summer, I started working for AMC Theatres, and was very interested in filmmaking and cinematography. I watched every movie I could. Clint and Kent also worked for the theatre. Although Kent did not last very long (and frankly did not need to), Clint and I would put in several years for the company, on and off. I last worked for AMC in late 2007, even though it was a second job I did mostly for fun.

After school began again, I started discussing AMVs, in the context of visual fanfiction, with the ffirc. This included ffirc regulars, like Quu and Phade. Phade eventually let everyone know he was working on a repository for AMVs. In the early days, of course, it was incredibly difficult to find AMVs, and often you didn't really know what you were downloading until you had it. Programs like napster, kazaa, morpheus, as well as personal sites, of course, were really all you could hope for. Most of the known circulating videos were DBZ to LimpBizkit, it seemed. Phade knew there had to be another way. Despite being a regular in #fanfics on sorcery, I was only an occasional visitor to the ffirc, usually during the sunday review sessions (which in form and content, really do resemble #amv-review sessions, only about fanfics instead of AMVs). So although the site was set up in and apparently started registering real members (instead of just Phade's dummy test accounts), I was not aware of this.

The experiment changed when RRomig became part of the broadcast class when he transfered into Frisco High School. He took editing even more seriously than I did and really threw himself into it. Together we discovered a whole host of other videos, videos that really inspired us, videos that made me want to go back to the Utena vid I had been tooling around with since 1998. Editing really began in earnest. By the end of 2000, I was solidly hooked.

2001

I was working on Utena (Story of a Girl) alone, and collaborating with RRomig on Heero's a Mess. I continued to write fanficition although not quite as much as I had, I was in a long distance relationship, and spent a lot of my time on alt.fan.sailor-moon and alt.fan.utena, where my girlfriend was a regular. I did watch the development of the org, but it didn't actually occur to me to register until rromig and I had finished our videos. On Friday, March 2, 2001 at 10:13 PM, I became the 615th account on the org. Many of the accounts are dummy test accounts, so I don't know what my "real" number is, but it's quite a bit lower, I guess.

I had a website at the now defunct wox.org, and so I placed both Heero's a Mess and Utena (Story of a Girl) up on that server and shared the links with the ffirc, alt.fan.sailor-moon, and alt.fan.utena. It did not take long for them to migrate the the file sharing programs mentioned earlier. I have met several people who tell me Utena (Story of a Girl) was the first AMV they ever saw, and for several more, it was their first Utena or non-DBZ video. Since MaisonOtaku's Utena video to Natalie Imbruglia's Torn had been my first non-DBZ video, this is something that really made me feel good. I still have people tell me this today.

Although I was pretty down to find out that I had not been accepted into the Naval Academy (some screw up with my ACT scores), I had been accepted to my back up school, Stephen F. Austin State University (yeah, I know, g'job, Kio, with making the final round of the USNA, I probably could have had a much better back up school... stupid teen confidence...) I worked over the summer at the movie theatre again, but my focus was pretty much on AMVs. In June, I put out Arima to Miyazawa, which remains a personal favorite of mine. I think it pretty much sums up my view of and style of amv creation. It's a romance to a popular song of the time (I was the one to place Lifehouse in the catalogue), very simple, just fades and cuts. Focus was telling the story, showing how I viewed AMVs in the context of a narrative. It used SVHS source.

I went to ten conventions in 2001, becoming heavily involved in the AMV scene at each convention. I met several of the people who would become life long AMV friends at the conventions. Including MexicanJunior and EK, as well as people in other fandoms, especially at AWA.

Generally regarded as my best of the 2001 videos by others, my next video was Sakura's The Girl I've Been Telling You About. It was my first attempt at using stock effects that came in premiere. It was also made on my brand new laptop, another sony vaio. This laptop would eventually get stolen. Sad days. I used a Dazzle 80 to capture footage to MPEG-1 and then Premiere 6.0 to edit with. It took me a few weeks to make. The stock effects looked cheesy then, but look even cheesier now. This is MexicanJunior's favorite video, and the dazzle 80 used to make it was given to him so he could make Service with a Smile. Again, this was the first entry to use Blessed Union of Souls.

Self Induced Danger Zone was my last video of 2001, and was frankly total crap. It seemed like a cute idea at the time, but really didn't work out that way.

2002

I had entered college as a music major, and when 2002 started, I found out quickly I really didn't have room to do anything else but practice, play, rehearse, studio, theory, piano, piano, piano, dear God make it stop. I essentially burned myself out during the latter end of 2001 and most of 2002. I did go to a few cons which were near places I went to visit family at, but overall, most of 2002 was devoted to music education. I worked briefly for the school newspaper, but even that was sacrificed to the God of Music. By the end of 2002, I hated music. Two years had been too much for me. I had other interests, and music was killing them all.

I was still trying to edit, but in fits and starts that honestly produced a bunch of nothing. I met Carl Macek at Anime Mid Atlantic and began work on Minmay's A Bitch. The I broke my computer and that was the end of that for 2002.

2003

Produced Minmay's a Bitch 1.0, it was far too ambitious for my skills at the time. On May 9th, I joined the United States Navy as a midshipman and transfered to the University of Texas. This would, with the sole exception of showing Sakura's The Girl I've Been Telling You About and hosting a Beginner's Panel at Ushicon 1, see a hiatus stretching until mid 2005.

2005

In 2003 I had planned Some Other Beginning's End, my Kimagure Orange Road video, but it wasn't until 2005 when the DVDs came out that I was able to actually edit it. Of all of my videos, SOBE means the most to me. I wanted to tell the story of how the triangle ended, and although it is clear that few people understood the narrative behind the editing, I really didn't much care. The effects were present, but sedate, and tied strongly to Kyosuke's interest in photography, and his later job as a combat photographic journalist. After the pretty much nothingness of 2002, 2003, and 2004, even with attending cons, 2005 saw a resurgence of my interest in the community I had become a part of very early. That December, I resigned from the Navy over policy disagreements, and began work on my next project, Popularity, which sprung from my mind having to listen to the song Popular from Wicked everyday at my job, where it was included on a loop over, and over, and over. SOBE was supposed to have been in AWA Pro that year, but the file was somehow misplaced.

2006

I worked very heavily on Popularity over the holiday season, completing a large chunk of the work. I continued to peck at it during my last semester of college. I graduated with a degree in English, with an emphasis on Journalism/Public Relations.

I moved to Atlanta to work for in GA politics. However, working in politics during a campaign year meant that I could not continue working on Popularity during many of the summer months. I had no real regret, working for Greg Hecht provided everyone on the org with a lot of entertainment value, with FC even making a Greg Hecht AMV. When my candidate lost his primary, and before I had another job, I spent nearly every waking hour finishing it up. I would wake up, spend the "work day" searching for a job, spend the rest of my time editing Popularity, go to sleep, and do it again. I also worked on Iron Chef Idol 3 during this period. Despite how long I had been around, it was my first MEP. I also wrote the So You Want To Be An Anime Music Video Editor sticky, and began work on my Mac research.

I started work for the Democratic National Committee, which put me at ease, and allowed me to continue working on Popularity and attend AWA without worrying about where my next meal was coming from. Popularity was shown in Pro, SOBE was supposed to be in Expo, but someone lost the damn file again. There was no crowd reaction to Popularity, none. That disturbed me, and was largely a jolt that restarted the level of editing I hadn't seen since 2001. Like my videos or dislike my videos, but please, don't ignore them.

2007

Politics is a harsh mistress. If I had to describe 2007 and what I learned from it, that would be it. By February 2007, with Congress safely in Democratic hands, and the presidential race far from anyone's minds, fundraising for the DNC pretty much dried up, and with it, my paychecks. Eventually I couldn't pay rent, I couldn't pay my car payments, I couldn't eat. I knew the cycle, my job would be lucrative again, but not until fall. Not until people started talking about the primaries. I couldn't stay in Atlanta, I didn't have the time or the money. I moved back home with my parents. After having lived alone since 2001, this hurt. I went to work for Macy's in Frisco, but living with my parents was just too much to deal with. By mid-summer, I had gone insane. I moved in with my old friend RRomig and paid half the rent. Editing became pretty much my only refuge. I worked, I edited, I slept, I ate, I edited some more. This produced my second Iron Chef, The Ninja Has A Mastertape, which played at SacAnime and made it to the finals in Connecticon that year. Amore et Da Capo, my first instrumental video, followed not long after on 07-07-07. It was dedicated to my music mentors, even though I never finished my music education degree. What was to become my favorite AMV, and generally regarded as my best overall, Countdown, was started July of 2007 when I borrowed RRomig's copy of Hoshi no Koe.

Eventually I asked for and supposedly received a transfer to a Macy's store in Atlanta. When I arrived I found out I was now in Atlanta, and the position I had? No, the Atlanta store had decided they didn't actually need me. I went back to work for the Democratic Party of Georgia and then the Democratic National Committee, but things still hadn't cranked up enough. There was just enough money to cover my rent and keep me in Atlanta, but there wasn't really enough to pay much of anything else.

I was offered my job back in Dallas, and was seriously considering taking it, when one of my coworkers mentioned she had just come back from teaching English in Korea. She had enjoyed it, and had made quite a bit of money there. I already had experience teaching, and I had a passion for the English language that seemed to be able to translate, so she said I should try it. I did my research and applied. I was accepted for a position in Ilsan, a rich suburb north of Seoul, and after wrangling over vacation days to be in compliance with Korean labour law, I began the visa process. I attended AWA, but did not have enough time previous to that with all that was going to actually make a Pro entry. I did have time to remaster Arima to Miyazawa. I was disappointed I had nothing for AWA, but had bigger things on my mind. The visa finally came through on November 29th, and by December 2nd, I stepped off a plane in Seoul.

From the get go I really didn't like Korea. I didn't speak the language, I didn't know anything about the customs, and the other foreigners in Korea did not seem to have a lot in common with me. All the research I did was wholly inadequate. I mostly spent December in my apartment working on Countdown.

2008

On New Year's Day, I released Countdown. This was intentional, not only for the reference of the New Year's countdown itself, but also because Countdown represented for me a new productivity. It was a New Year's resolution. A resolution to do more. Do more with my editing, and do more with my life. I didn't like Korea, and I didn't like my job, and I didn't like how I was so alone. I knew I could not leave my job before my contract allowed, which was six months, and I also knew I didn't yet have enough experience to go back and teach in America. I needed to hold on until I could be reasonably certain if I left Korea, I would have another job. And that meant doing something, anything, to make the days go faster. For me, that meant becoming a lot more active in a community I was supposedly already an elder statesman for. Seemed odd to me, I hadn't done that much, but I embraced it as a means to keep me from going insane.

In February of 2008, I competed in another Iron Chef against MD, and produced Golden, which was heavily inspired byC-Ko's "Fields of Gold." A classic amv that for the time period it was produced, it was absolutely amazing. I have a few Miyazaki films ripped to my hard drive in case inspiration strikes. Luckily, Nausicaa was one of those when MD challenged me to an Iron Chef. It was dedicated to the older editors I watched and learned from in the late 90s and early 2000s.

In March, I competed in another Iron Chef and produced Main de Dieu, which is my third Utena video, and is just a fun little action video. Nothing special behind it, but it is a cute, as AquaSky calls it. I began work on several highly technical videos, including Lucky Charms (known affectionately by my betatesters as Lucky Shit) and Strawberries. I also continued work on Minmay's a Bitch 2.0, which had originally started in 2003, and been worked on every few months for years. This set the stage for techniques that would be used in Obamanation. Private Papers was also started during this time. It remains unreleased; I am not satisfied with its current "completed" state.

In April, I realised I was only a month from where I could legally break my contract with my Korean employer and leave. It was time to start looking for a job. The won was suffering badly, and flying back to the United States, even if I could get a job there, was not an option. It would take too much money. I could take another contract in Korea, hopefully a better one, but that would not solve the issues of isolation I felt. Yet perhaps there was an option, I hadn't considered in years, not since I had graduated from college: what about Japan? The money, I had heard, was about the same, the visa belonged to you not your employer, so you could not be locked into a contract like in Korea, I knew a lot about the culture, and I spoke the language conversationally already... I was sure I would be much happier in Japan, so I looked into the feasibility of moving. Unfortunately, It is always best to apply before April, since April is when the school year starts. I was offered two positions immediately that I had to turn down because the start date was long before I could leave Korea. I was very clear with several job offers that I had to remain in Korea until May 9th in order to be legally protected (as well as receive my last paycheck). This meant turning down more job offers, and being rejected for others. Rather than alarm me, this gave me confidence. I was not being turned down because of qualifications; I just could not get to Japan soon enough. Eventually, enough time passed that I did find a position that could deal with my time requirement. In fact, I found two. I took the job closest to Kyoto, and about a week later, arrived in Japan.

I now teach English on a block schedule, half of my days spent at Toei Junior High School, and the others at Oe Junior High School. I love my job, and my students rock. In some ways, my editing has dropped off in the second part of the year as opposed to the first half, this reflects how much I love Japan. I don't sit around the apartment very much anymore. I travel a lot. I take a lot of pictures. I go to all the events my students hold. I go in early, and I come home late. Indeed, although I have worked on Minmay's a Bitch 2.0 a lot since coming to Japan, and have also worked on Strawberries, Monday, and Boy at the Piano, how much I love my job and care about my students can be seen in my main project of 2008, Obamanation. The idea was germinated when I really just wanted to make something that my kids would find hilarious. They were all curious about the fact their AET makes "M@Ds" but it is hard for them to watch my character profiles and romance videos because they are too lyric dependent. Sure, there are political jokes and Editor references in Obamanation, but those are side things I added for the English speaking adults, be they other editors or my political contacts I have shared the video with. All I really wanted was for my kids to laugh at the German sputtering Hidamari characters and the dancing Obama.

I am currently remastering Tom the Fish's Top of the Rain, and plan to finish Boy at the Piano before the year is out. Expect Strawberries, Lucky Shit, Monday, and Minmay 2.0 to be worked on throughout the holiday season, but don't expect them to be finished.

It's been a wild 10 years.

2009 and Beyond

Do expect a lot more MEP participation, a lot more holiday shorts, a lot more Iron Chefs, a lot more con entries, and mostly, start expecting a lot more experimental stuff from me. I am really, really proud of the reactions that Obamanation received, positive and negative, and I see 2009 as a year of rebirth. A year that resembles 2001 more than any year in my history. A year where I edit in ways that only I can edit in, using resources only I have access to. A lot of people will hate it, and a lot of people will love it, and a lot of other people will wonder what the hell kind of crack I was smoking to produce it. I resolve to challenge myself and challenge the community. I plan to integrate a lot more live action footage, as an example. I live in Japan, and I really think that integrating what's around me with the animation that depicts what is around me will produce some amazing visuals. I am happy here, and Japan has me feeling the way I haven't felt in several years: that anything is possible.
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That YouTube Thing.

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