The Quickening - Videos

[Tonstar]

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

[Centurione]

Spoiler :

Pretty sure I'll be the one to lose though

The funny thing is, I have exactly the same feeling . Oh well, let's just wait for the results.
I love you both, anyways Good luck!

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

[Radical_Yue]

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

[Centurione]

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

The link doesn't work

[Radical_Yue]

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

The link doesn't work

Fixed it.

Edit: Damn it. Hold on >>

Edit2: Ok, they're good now.

[lloyd9988]

Lol XD Copycat, your AMVs are always so awesome and informative Also, why you no have dolphins?!

Anyway. . . umm. . . never given an analysis on vids here before so I guess I'll give it a shot:

*** Hayden: Editing is superb as always. Most, if not, all your editing either goes unnoticed or enhances the video even more. Personally, if this doesn't move on to the next round, its just going to be a huge letdown. Its just plain good editing in general with internal synch and very good flow. The audio cuts go unnoticed as well and the color correction is amazing. Personally, the one thing I love about the video is the symbolism used(i.e. the flowers is the best example I can put). The one problem I had with it was a transition of mood, like at 0:55, it was a girl on some man and then, instantly, it went into action. Sequence of scenes was well placed. There were a few minor problems with the editing in my opinion, 0:27, I thought should've been not such a rough cut of the three scenes, instead, should've been a zoom-out of the first face and then a rough cut transition between the two and 1:18 I thought, at the black and white scenes, there should've been a black fade-out. Overall, though, for a week of editing, this was an amazing AMV to watch and a great character profile. Great job!

P.S. Quick question: What was the name of the anime you used??

*** Riccardocasu: Really liked the editing in most parts, but some parts were. . . Lacking, I guess is the best way I can put it. i.e., The sequence of scenes in some areas didn't make sense. I think the one thing that was holding this AMV was probably the fact that it was too focused on lyric synch and not the concept of the AMV. i.e. 0:45 & 1:48. Weirdest thing is that I thought the best time you synched your video was at 0:37 for some reason because I think that's probably when you had an idea of what kind of concept you were going to use but I think there just wasn't a follow-through with your concept throughout the rest of the video. Also, there is something that can be learned from Hayden's video that can be incorporated into your future videos: At 0:40, you did a zoom-in at a girl's face but the zoom-in was a bit rough because there was no follow through like there was with Hayden's video. i.e. Watch his part at 1:05 - 1:06 and you'll notice that he uses a blur during the zoom-in first then, he keeps his next scene that's fully zoomed-in blurred a little while adding a slight rotation and zooms out. <---- (Sorry I'm teaching myself some new tricks in my next AMV). Anyway, just something to look up for the next AMV. 1:55 felt random because I don't know what its doing there. xD Also, Hayden pointed out some static scenes, like, I'm guessing at 1:08 - 1:10. Lastly, some scenes were too dark 1:39 - 1:42. Like I thought it was good but could've been brighter with some color-correction. Anyway, despite what I said, I still did like this AMV because I seriously feel there's some unseen beauty in this AMV. Also, this AMV does make me wanna watch Karas. ^_^ Sad to say, though, Riccardo, I don't think either one of us is going to make it to the quarter-finals. . . (Group D, we failed!) DX I refuse to let this failure to go unanswered >:O

*** Lloyd9988: . . . Can I have someone else to review mine, I can't do it myself >.< All I know is that 2:14 - 2:16 was a crappy transition, the editing style was too rough, the shakes at 2:24 - 2:26 was lousy, the lip-synch at 3:10 wasn't effective enough, something felt off at 1:48 and the scenes following after and the cross-fade at 3:08 sucked. Oh, and I'm not making it to the next round. xD

*** Copycat_Revolver: Nice! This was awesome xD Its an amazing parody AMV. Anyway, going to be serious now. Scene selection was great, and editing was a bit rough in some areas (i.e. The hard-cut at 1:26; At 1:29, there were some choppy scenes; 2:03 - 2:08 the scene at 2:05 felt like it lasted too long; 1:33, probably could've added something there and the audio cuts at 2:24 & 2:44). Now, on to the awesome parts! Rationalism,the great destroyer! Loved it. xD Also, the lyric synch at 1:05 and 1:10 - 1:12, priceless. Internal synch was amazing, 2:35 - 2:37 was just pure awesomeness, transition at 1:23 was great blah blah blah, don't let it go to your head that the editing was awesome as well. x'D Now, I could go on about the editing and awesome parody but I think anyone who watches this gets it.

P.S. Found the dolphins xD

Anyway, that's all I got to say so far, probably more I could've said but. . . I don't like going into too much detail unless I'm giving an opinion.

Now, if the judges judge on editing, it should be:

Hayden then Copycat

But if the judges judge on creativity, then I think it should be the opposite. Either way, I can only see those two making it to the next round. . . (>:O <---- internally mad at myself for not doing better. xD Don't worry, it's normal)

[HaydenST]

P.S. Quick question: What was the name of the anime you used??

Kurozuka,
I made it in 30 hours just before the deadline

now i'm going to watch your video and the copycat's one

[MagicDarkLight]

But if the judges judge on creativity.

Oh please no swear words

Well Hayden 1st anyways even if you acted lazy and did this good old bad transition in the white xD (1:39) (Ca va t'as fait pire dans ta vie mdr)

And I'd go for Riccardo, well it may be too slow/static but yeah I was hesitating for Copycat, both vids have their qualities and their flaws. I think the cuts from Copycat's weren't always enough clever to me

But let's see what will happen, good luck

[riccardocasu]

*** Riccardocasu: Really liked the editing in most parts, but some parts were. . . Lacking, I guess is the best way I can put it. i.e., The sequence of scenes in some areas didn't make sense. I think the one thing that was holding this AMV was probably the fact that it was too focused on lyric synch and not the concept of the AMV. i.e. 0:45 & 1:48. Weirdest thing is that I thought the best time you synched your video was at 0:37 for some reason because I think that's probably when you had an idea of what kind of concept you were going to use but I think there just wasn't a follow-through with your concept throughout the rest of the video. Also, there is something that can be learned from Hayden's video that can be incorporated into your future videos: At 0:40, you did a zoom-in at a girl's face but the zoom-in was a bit rough because there was no follow through like there was with Hayden's video. i.e. Watch his part at 1:05 - 1:06 and you'll notice that he uses a blur during the zoom-in first then, he keeps his next scene that's fully zoomed-in blurred a little while adding a slight rotation and zooms out. <---- (Sorry I'm teaching myself some new tricks in my next AMV). Anyway, just something to look up for the next AMV. 1:55 felt random because I don't know what its doing there. xD Also, Hayden pointed out some static scenes, like, I'm guessing at 1:08 - 1:10. Lastly, some scenes were too dark 1:39 - 1:42. Like I thought it was good but could've been brighter with some color-correction. Anyway, despite what I said, I still did like this AMV because I seriously feel there's some unseen beauty in this AMV. Also, this AMV does make me wanna watch Karas.

Thanks for the comment and the advice

Sad to say, though, Riccardo, I don't think either one of us is going to make it to the quarter-finals. . . (Group D, we failed!) DX I refuse to let this failure to go unanswered >:O

I know

[Kinematics]

Group C/D-3

All four of these were excellent. Almost nothing to complain about. Almost literally, in fact; I'm finding all of them are at the top end of execution that I usually look for, and that I'm having to completely change my approach in viewing them in order to have anything to say. In other words, they're above my standard 100%, and I'm wondering if I even have the skill to appropriately review them. Time for me to work on improving myself as well, I guess.



[Copycat_Revolver] The Conflictening

The dolphins are back!

Too much reuse of the same footage for the introductory lip sync. Really would have preferred more variation in the character's pose/facing/movement/etc, though that was undoubtedly limited by source.

The first and third segments use the same framing, but you can see the hair of one of the girls on the left side in both of those, whereas in the second segment the characters' relative positions had changed.

Slight bit of errant lip flap by one of the girls in the second segment as they move.

Also, some of the lip flap was too fast; it was trying to match the exact sounds with just the open/mid/close mouth positions, but that actually doesn't work too well. If you don't have a sufficient number of mouth shapes, you want to let each position last longer.

Nice intermixing of the song intro beats. Good balance of imagery. Minor issue: Fallibilism/The God Slayer (0:26) was the only one with a sunny sky background instead of the rain or dark/indoor areas, as contrast with the sunset view of the voiceover.

While I know Sekirei is well known for its fanservice shots, the panty shots at 0:55 and 1:54 just didn't seem to blend with the surrounding action, and actively disrupted the immersive feel. On the other hand, the bit at 2:36 was perfect; worked exactly with the music.

The opening slap, followed by the guy on the ground getting stepped on, at ~0:42-0:45, felt slightly off. I think the slap was a bit slow; felt like the impact should have happened at the exact instant that the music came back in. The final downbeat in 0:44 should have had him on the ground, instead of happening half a beat later. Transition to him on the ground was too abrupt.

Extraneous shoulder pad at 0:48.

Beat sync at 0:56 was excellent, but the background shift from dark interior prior to this, then outside daytime, then dark interior, disrupts the flow.

1:06-1:08 felt too choppy. Also, blue power blazing disrupts the soft oranges from preceding and subsequent segments.

The throw at 1:20 had abrupt change in direction. Most directional flow was pretty good (somewhat chaotic, but it works for this kind of video), but this one definitely felt off.

Flames at 1:25 seem out of place compared to surrounding segments (daytime preceding, rain following).

Similar issues with color/lighting changes in a few other spots (should be fairly obvious; not going to list them). Not bad, but felt like it could have flowed a bit better.


[HaydenST] Immortal Avenger

Nice intro elements.

Time selection for second intro segment probably should have been moved to a little later. Very difficult to make out what was being shown, and feels like there should have been a little more time to focus on the character in the background before it cut to black.

0:24, as the woman's face is approaching, seems a bit too dark on the shadowed side of the face.

Powerful switch to color. The bright background sun, plus the greens of the forest, really help bring out the change from b&w.

I've not seen the original, so I don't know if the psychedelic colors are part of the source or due to editing; I'm going to assume editing. Seemed to be well used as a way to emphasize the psychological aspect of the song.

Shaky line static (eg: 1:03) didn't feel right. Felt too unnatural, like it was explicitly video static, and not psychological static. Needed a larger waveform (ie: more than single video lines being moved back and forth).

Color/b&w shifts were all done well.

Color tone maintained good consistency throughout most of the video, however the red saturated segment around 1:39-1:50 felt off. I think it's because the exact red tones look too artificial, easily viewed as a video gimmick (though the purple corner worked well as a contrast element). If more brownish tones were left in (so overall more blood than red), I think it would have worked better, though it's hard to say exactly.

Video color split (cyan/magenta) at 1:59 (very short cut) - same issue; feels explicitly artificial.

The green/red/yellow psychedelic colors, however, continue to work well.

The falling split mask at the end, with what I assume is a lock of hair hanging out, looked really weird with that little wiggling thing coming out of it. Also, doesn't seem like it needs to be there in that final segment.


[Lloyd9988] The Online AMV Iron Chef Tournament v4.0

Starts too early. Have a good 4 seconds of silence before the first rumble, probably shouldn't be more than 2.

Contrast/saturation levels at 0:23 are way too high.

Color tone impacts to match the beat from 0:25 onwards worked well, especially for transitioning to full color view for the video.

0:42-0:43 -- way too dark

Some ugly artifacting in 0:43-0:45 (possibly source?)

1:28 -- too bright

... I *really* coulda done without the eye removal surgery.. >.>

This video has a slightly different take on the "We're all here 'cause we lost control" portion of the lyric, where 'lost control' is past rather than present tense; ie: penance for past failure, rather than justification for current violence. However it only seems to hold onto that theme for a portion of the video, and falls back to the standard interpretation in the latter half. I think that split focus is what weakens your video the most, as there's not enough strength and focus in either half (after the introductory segments).


[riccardocasu] Die Tonight Live Forever

Too much focus on the hanging goldfish in the intro?

Too much intro relative to video length. Intro goes up to about 0:45, almost 40% of the video, since you cut it off at 2:03. Not that there's a lot of room to trim the intro unless you eliminate it entirely, but it definitely puts pressure on the main portion if you're trimming it that far.

Entire video is too dark.

Errant lip flap at 0:58

Clips are lasting too long.

As opposed to the "lost control" aspect that the other videos focused on, this one focused on the "die tonight" aspect. Overall, though, the theme didn't seem to be well held together. Footage was a bit slapdash, and really didn't help build and support the theme.

Combined with the limited time available for the main portion of the video (just 1:15, after the intro), it would have to be extremely tightly edited to really bring things out, and I don't think it managed that.


Top picks:
[HaydenST] Immortal Avenger
[Copycat_Revolver] The Conflictening



Notes: Great videos all around. Very impressed.