Taming The Animal- Bleach AMV

[DustlessDragoon]

Hey there I would really appreciate some feedback on my new AMV. My AMVs are pretty amateurish compared to many of the ones on here so any constructive feedback would be appreciated. This AMV is about Ichigo dealing with his inner hollow and harnessing it's power. I mainly focused on syncing in this AMV while experimenting with some simple effects and I think it turned out okay. Excuse the bad quality, when i converted it the quality went bad. If you want to see it in better quality it is also on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUgr2c6L6Ig

[AceD]

There are numerous problems i can't be bothered to touch upon, since i'd feel like am bitching, but the main problem i find watching this is the originality, how many amvs do you think people have seen with this song, about Ichigos hollow powers over the years....its boring.

It has its audience on youtube though which is fine...but the moment you want to share on an internationally diverse website there needs to be something about it to capture people, and its not like you need to be technically brilliant either, just an original idea to at least keep the viewer interested

[DustlessDragoon]

I do know it's not the most original song/idea, like I said this was mainly just practice for syncing and simple effects, so comments towards those would be more appreciated to help me improve. Finding original songs/ideas is pretty hard, especially for someone like me who is not that good with finding music, so if you have any good artists or ideas I could use with a Bleach AMV please do suggest some.

[Kairih]

I agree with AceD and I guess he told you how to improve... find better music (these are my favorite bands if you need some names: Rise Against, Muse, Coldplay, Owl City, Evanescene, Within Temptation... I guess that's enough for now xD) and edit with something different (there are a lot of anime out of there, I don't guess you need names, or do you?)
It's not required to be the "most original" or "technically better", but your idea was totally unoriginal, if you know what I mean.
Watch a lot of AMVs and learn the programs (there are a lot of tutorials, simply type "amv tutorial" in youtube or google and you'll find a lot of them) if you really wanna get better.

[DustlessDragoon]

Well for the anime I only own Bleach on DVD and I don't really have a lot of money so buying other DVDs is kinda not possible at the minute. As for the music I have most of the artists you mentioned, I avoid Evanesance though since it is highly overused. And as for your advice its pretty generalised just like AceD which is not what I was looking for, I wanted specific feedback based on my work itself rather than the song/anime/concept.

[drewaconclusion]

Well since the only help you're getting is people saying "DURRRRR, your video isn't original", I'll give you a hand and point some things out.

To me, one of the major issues with your video is the pacing. The song is mildly up-tempo, but a lot of the footage you used seemed to either not have much going on or too slow (ex. a number of scenes where Ichigo, etc. swings their sword quickly in one shot and then you cut to three more shots of the character holding that pose; 0:49 would be a specific example).

Another thing is that you're using a very mechanical/clockwork-type of beat sync. For good portions of the song, you do a hard cut on every last snare hit. That's not to say you can't ever use a mechanical type of beat sync, but it doesn't really suit the song and instead feels like you're editing off of a checklist. You could try mixing it up a bit and instead of doing hard cuts on the snare (this is known as external sync by the way), you could have something in the shot occur on the snare, say the moment someone is pierced by a sword or hits the ground (this is known as internal sync). Even if you still only sync on the snare hits, mixing it up in this fashion can reduce any vibes of being monotonous.

One more slightly less specific issue is that your cuts within fight scenes are sometimes fairly disjointed. Take 1:46 for instance. Ichigo slams the vizard into the wall and then you pretty much cut straight to all the others sitting on top of Ichigo. From a continuity standpoint, it's kind of like "WHOA, where the heck did those guys come from? Out of thin air?". It probably would have come off better if you had a shot or two of them rushing in to save her in between the those two scenes.

Now for some more specific comments:

Those ghost zooms/bursts (don't recall what they're called exactly) that you use in the beginning; I can tell you're trying to sync to the guitar riffs, but the ones on the bass riffs seem like they're coming in a hair late. Even still, they don't really add anything to the video; it just feels like a canned effect being used for the sake of using an effect. A good rule of thumb to remember is, if there's no specific purpose to using said effect, then it's best not to use it or at least use it very sparingly.

On 0:23, you start using white flashes. White flashes can be quite jarring and using them a lot can annoy your audience. That's not to say you can't ever use them; in fact they can be used to convey surprise quite effectively (for instance, having a white flash when a character is supposed to be waking up from a nightmare).

The bouncing ghost image at 2:37 doesn't really add anything to the video (and instead, just kind of drove my eyes batty). This falls into the purposeless effects bin as well.

You have some lip flap scattered around your video as well. This is when the characters' mouths are moving but the lips aren't synced to anything. An example of this would be H-Ichigo talking at 2:23. Some lip flap isn't a terrible thing, depending on the genre of the video; however, it doesn't work well at all with action. For the time being, I would suggest avoiding using clips with random lip movements. There are ways of getting around lip flap, but I wouldn't test them out until you become a bit more comfortable with the technical side of editing.

Lastly, at 3:37, you miss a great opportunity to sync up Ichigo falling to the ground with the last spurt of drum hits. Yes, you have Ichigo fall to his knees on the first drum hit, but then he stops falling and the effect is ruined. You'd be better of cutting out all the frames of him kneeling and just cutting straight to the next frame of him falling. Also, I would speed up the footage so that he's not still falling by the time the drum hits end. You lose all of your visual impact otherwise.

Excuse the bad quality, when i converted it the quality went bad.

One factor here that plays into that is the Bleach DVD's (or rather all DVD's in general) are 480p and your video is 720p. Upscaling in a quick and sloppy fashion will degrade the video quality quickly.

find better music (these are my favorite bands if you need some names: Rise Against, Muse, Coldplay, Owl City, Evanescene, Within Temptation... I guess that's enough for now xD) and edit with something different (there are a lot of anime out of there, I don't guess you need names, or do you?)

Ignore this. If you want to use sources that have been used tons of times before then go ahead. To quote Rider4Z, "make the videos that YOU want to make".

[Kairih]

find better music (these are my favorite bands if you need some names: Rise Against, Muse, Coldplay, Owl City, Evanescene, Within Temptation... I guess that's enough for now xD) and edit with something different (there are a lot of anime out of there, I don't guess you need names, or do you?)

Ignore this. If you want to use sources that have been used tons of times before then go ahead. To quote Rider4Z, "make the videos that YOU want to make".

Geez, honestly, that's my opinion. I didn't say he doesn't have to use those sources... I just said I don't find it original. If he wants to use those sources it is is choice. He can do whatever he wants, I don't mind it, I don't even know him.
I was trying help him finding what I think he could enjoy editing instead of the same sources again and again.

Well since the only help you're getting is people saying "DURRRRR, your video isn't original", I'll give you a hand and point some things out.

Why there should be so much sarcasm? I've said what I thought about the video, I wasn't trying to be rude.
It was my opinion about it, deal with it.
I wasn't trying to make him feel uncomfortable...
I don't understand you, really... I had my opinion, he can think whatever he wants, he can use whatever he wants but I think it's not the right choice.
Then I don't mind it at all if he wants to use Bleach with Three Days Grace. I don't agree with him but I don't say he don't have to use it...
=_='''

Edit: and a big sorry if my english isn't perfect, but that's what I meant in the first place: trying to say my opinion about the video. It's my taste, respect it.

[irriadin]

I was going to leave an extensive comment, but drewaconclusion pretty much covered it. As far as the whole "don't pick this song or this anime" well, Bleach IS overused, but that DOESN'T mean you shouldn't use it if you want to. Can someone make a really good Dragonball Z video set to "In the End" in 2012? Yes! But damn, you're going to have to work REALLY hard to overcome the initial distaste over the combination.

[Kairih]

As far as the whole "don't pick this song or this anime"

Yeah, but I wasn't trying to say that, I expressed myself in a wrong way. Sorry .-.
I was trying to say that I don't like the video, but I was also trying to be kind, but well... If I knew that would came out I would shut myself up.
Btw, use whatever you want.

[irriadin]

As far as the whole "don't pick this song or this anime"

Yeah, but I wasn't trying to say that, I expressed myself in a wrong way. Sorry .-.
I was trying to say that I don't like the video, but I was also trying to be kind, but well... If I knew that would came out I would shut myself up.
Btw, use whatever you want.

It's all good! Like I said, if someone uses a typical song / anime combo, they have to do something extra to make it special.

[DustlessDragoon]

Thanks alot Drewaconclusion thats alot more like what I was looking for

[Kairih]

It's all good! Like I said, if someone uses a typical song / anime combo, they have to do something extra to make it special.

Thank you for understanding. Yesterday I was a little tired, I guess drewaconclusion's not right but my reaction was excessive.

[drewaconclusion]

find better music (these are my favorite bands if you need some names: Rise Against, Muse, Coldplay, Owl City, Evanescene, Within Temptation... I guess that's enough for now xD) and edit with something different (there are a lot of anime out of there, I don't guess you need names, or do you?)

Ignore this. If you want to use sources that have been used tons of times before then go ahead. To quote Rider4Z, "make the videos that YOU want to make".

Geez, honestly, that's my opinion. I didn't say he doesn't have to use those sources... I just said I don't find it original. If he wants to use those sources it is is choice. He can do whatever he wants, I don't mind it, I don't even know him.
I was trying help him finding what I think he could enjoy editing instead of the same sources again and again.

Well since the only help you're getting is people saying "DURRRRR, your video isn't original", I'll give you a hand and point some things out.

Why there should be so much sarcasm? I've said what I thought about the video, I wasn't trying to be rude.
It was my opinion about it, deal with it.
I wasn't trying to make him feel uncomfortable...
I don't understand you, really... I had my opinion, he can think whatever he wants, he can use whatever he wants but I think it's not the right choice.
Then I don't mind it at all if he wants to use Bleach with Three Days Grace. I don't agree with him but I don't say he don't have to use it...
=_='''

Edit: and a big sorry if my english isn't perfect, but that's what I meant in the first place: trying to say my opinion about the video. It's my taste, respect it.

Upon a reread, my post comes off far more harsh than anything near what I'd intended. Sorry about that. It was just that dustlessdragoon was looking for help with his execution and all the comments at that point were about his originality/source choices.

[AceD]

Ignore this. If you want to use sources that have been used tons of times before then go ahead. To quote Rider4Z, "make the videos that YOU want to make".

I dont disagree with that one bit, if thats the kind of combination one finds the most fun to play with, then of course....use it. My only point was that if you want others to enjoy it, using that combination its going to have to be more original or technically supreme to enjoy. Thats the honest truth, nothing wrong with what i said. Only reason i didn't go into full detail on the lack of other things is i don't enjoy been overly critical of something somebody spent time on no matter how bad it might be.

[irriadin]

Only reason i didn't go into full detail on the lack of other things is i don't enjoy been overly critical of something somebody spent time on no matter how bad it might be.

Yea, but he'll never get any better if people don't give him criticism.