The Quickening - Videos

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Kairih
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Re: The Quickening - Videos

Post by Kairih » Wed Jun 13, 2012 3:17 am

Centurione wrote:
LopezAMV wrote:
Radical_Yue wrote: It's down to 2 sexy, talented foreign ladies with determination and 1 sexy 'Merican man.
:P
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Kinematics
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Re: The Quickening - Videos

Post by Kinematics » Wed Jun 13, 2012 4:02 pm

Group F-1

[Chained(E)Studio] MasTweeen

Unusual choice of video source for this type of music. Fun.

Beat sync felt just a tiny bit off in some areas (early segments, up to maybe 0:25; ~0:55-1:04).

CRF 20 with 16 bframes weakens video quality a bit.

Overall, enjoyable, though it never reached an intensity to really match the music source.


[Davis 51] Switchblade Pocket Comb

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

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

Couple scenes with the green guy felt sloppy.

Overall, pretty well done. Pity it wasn't finished.


[Elerye] Slave + Death

Takes work to get a slow-moving anime like Another up to the pace of the song, but did pretty well there (though there were places where it seemed to slip a bit). Nice use of transition effects helped.

Made good use of the dark tone of the music. Good story structure.


[milkorlife] Quaint

Beat sync feels way off.

A feeling of... blandness. The dark and harsh tone of the music seems wasted on scenes of random wandering around town and eating dinner and such.

Audio edit at 1:06 felt awkward.

Generally weak.


[Mkid] The Quickening

Two shots of the zombie biting the arm at the same angle in the first few seconds. Felt sloppy.

Nice framing effects around ~0:42+; probably could have used that a bit more.

Ending audio cuts felt a bit sloppy.

Generally pretty decent.


[Shin] Raging Heart

Very strong sync match. Maintained a constant energy on par with the song.

Some strange audio flub around 0:58.

Good dynamic flow. Movement and direction constantly challenging each other, as appropriate for this type of video.



Top picks:
[Shin] Raging Heart
[Chained(E)Studio] MasTweeen
[Elerye] Slave + Death
[Mkid] The Quickening

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Kinematics
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Re: The Quickening - Videos

Post by Kinematics » Wed Jun 13, 2012 5:16 pm

Group H-1


[irriadin] Farewell To Tomorrow

Heh, easy match for the tone of the song. The general feel of the music goes well with K-On, though the lyrics are a slightly weaker match.

Bubbly effects went well with the mood.

"Playing" sync (characters playing instruments along with the music) had some weaknesses, especially with the sped-up footage, but generally worked ok.

General direction/flow was a little hit-and-miss.


[jade_eyed_angel] After Life

Basic concept worked well, but felt slightly stretched from combining two sources (though the visual design let them mix togther well). Was confused if there was an intent to directly link the characters of the two series.

Piano imagery felt wrong, given the instruments used in the song.

Thematics were generally pretty good, though the combat scenes usually felt a bit out of place.


[Kireblue] A Single Rose

Weak thematic matching. Too much that was just story setup from the anime, but didn't really contribute to the video.


[MimS] Bound A sentimental slice of life video

Basic idea is nice. Pretty good character matching. Weakness in scene selections. Good beat sync. Abrupt ending.

Slight audio skip/cut at 1:10.

[VivifxAMV] What You Know

Good beat sync. Scene selections good, though possibly a bit too much focus on the closeups on people's eyes.

A couple lip sync issues.

Audio skip at 1:40.

Stronger thematic matching in the first half. Second half started having issues with too many moving cuts, and weaker directional flow.


[xDreww] Sweet Beginning

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

Thematic matching felt a bit weak in the first half.




Top picks:
[irriadin] Farewell To Tomorrow
[MimS] Bound A sentimental slice of life video
[jade_eyed_angel] After Life
[VivifxAMV] What You Know


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

This song draws in videos that are more heavily invested in the artistic side, so there's a *lot* of subjectiveness involved. I'm seeing fewer technical problems than some of the earlier videos, so it's taking more work to translate why I "like" or "dislike" a video into meaningful words. Feels like I'm not doing quite as well as I'd like.

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MimS
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Re: The Quickening - Videos

Post by MimS » Wed Jun 13, 2012 5:34 pm

Kinematics wrote:[MimS] Bound A sentimental slice of life video
Slight audio skip/cut at 1:10.
Woaw, you noticed it, I'm surprised, thought only me could notice it :)
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Radical_Yue
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Re: The Quickening - Videos

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

MimS wrote:
Kinematics wrote:[MimS] Bound A sentimental slice of life video
Slight audio skip/cut at 1:10.
Woaw, you noticed it, I'm surprised, thought only me could notice it :)

lol, Kisanzi and I caught it too. There is a change in tempo, it's subtle but it's there.


Nice try though, MimS.

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xDreww
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Re: The Quickening - Videos

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

Kinematics wrote:
[xDreww] Sweet Beginning

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

Thematic matching felt a bit weak in the first half.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So, from the start:

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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Davis 51
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Re: The Quickening - Videos

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

[Davis 51] Switchblade Pocket Comb

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

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

Couple scenes with the green guy felt sloppy.

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

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

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

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LopezAMV
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Re: The Quickening - Videos

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

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

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

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Kinematics
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Re: The Quickening - Videos

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

Group A/B-3


[Centurione] Magical War

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

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


[Kairih] My Past Is My War

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

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

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

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

Intermixing of the band felt off.

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

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

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

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

Errant lip flap at 2:00.

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

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


[LopezAMV] The Moment Of

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



Top Picks:
[Centurione] Magical War

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

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