The AWA 2013 Video Review Thread -- Final Voting RIGHT NOW!

[BasharOfTheAges]

When I select Videos for any of my AMV Blocks I do at cons, of course the criteria is different (I must take the audience into account), but even though I see the creator's name on a video, or I love the music or Anime, I try to pick regardless of my personal preferences of what will be best for the block and the audience will enjoy in some form or another. Hence I try to judge "Blind". I really wish I could watch a lot more to try to get the gems out there, but that quite impossible due to the shear volume.

Vlad

I always found it funny how some creators like to think if you made a video that specifically targets the audience and gets them worked up is cheating. I always care more about whether people like my videos or whether it got a good reaction to the audience instead of winning a prize. Sure, I still would love one, but I don't get too butthurt if I lose.

It's the same as the concept of "selling out" or "artistic purity" ... to some at least. If you want to be less cynical about it all, you can think of it as wanting to challenge yourself instead of "going for the easy win" or somesuch. It's no different than challenging yourself to use a genre you're not that good at or a song you don't like.

[SailorDeath]

Seems the con dramas kinda killed the reviews in this thread was kinda hoping to see more people say how much my amv sucked but oh well.

Anywho, tomorrow we should be seeing the final voting. I'm excited to see which ones made it. more importantly Once voting is done I wanna see how accurate my predictions are on who made what. I'm fairly certain I know which ones l33tmeatwad, Todd and Koop made. Best of luck to everyone who gets nominated!

[l33tmeatwad]

...I'm fairly certain I know which ones l33tmeatwad...

I guess you figured out mine was 135...

lol, jk...

[SailorDeath]

...I'm fairly certain I know which ones l33tmeatwad...

I guess you figured out mine was 135...

lol, jk...

No way, it's was that Naruto video for sure.

[l33tmeatwad]

...I'm fairly certain I know which ones l33tmeatwad...

I guess you figured out mine was 135...

lol, jk...

No way, it's was that Naruto video for sure.

Oh noez! I've been found out!

[CrackTheSky]

Okay. Finally done. Here are my reviews. It should be noted that I am extremely jaded and cynical and am more than happy to take godix's role as the one who can never be satisfied with anything. So I'm sorry, hope none of you are too offended.

Additional note: I've no idea who any of the editors are - I have guesses, but reading through this thread it looks like there was concern over stacking votes, etc. I have no idea who edited what, so these are my honest, unbiased opinions. Also, I didn't rate the hentai videos because I didn't watch them for personal reasons.

Spoiler :

002 - Spirit Rush
Consists of two types of scenes - either close-ups of characters' eyes or shots of people swiping at cards. Literally nothing else. Pass. 1.5/5

004 - Two Hearts
Competent and, for the most part, consistent editing. Story was boring and cliche and didn't do anything, and it was primarily the editing that held my attention. 2.5/5

005 - O_O
Well that's a video I never want to watch again, ever. At least do some lip sync. Some beat sync. Something. Once you start riding on the novelty of the song alone, it ceases to be a comedy video and just turns into a funny song with some visuals on top of it. 0/5

006 - Dissociation
Bad tech demo reel-type video with editing that was inconsistent with the music. Cool general atmosphere, and I liked the song, but as a music video it just didn't work. 2/5

007 - Make Believe
Almost no actual editing; the entire video relies solely on the same boring emotional manipulation I've been through hundreds of times with hundreds of other like-minded sentimental/romance videos. Nope. 1/5

008 - 17 Minutes to the Deadline
Good editing, fun video, great use of multiple sources, which I normally don't like. 4/5

009 - Textually Active
Meh. Good lip sync, okay use of text, and some clever scene selection. Didn't make me laugh so it failed as a comedy video though, so that's a huge hit against it. 2/5

010 - A Ghost Story
Could not hold my attention. Nothing stood out with this one. 1.5/5

011 - Trial By Fire
I could not for the life of me figure out what was going on in this video. Way too many close-ups that didn't last long enough for my brain to register. Didn't enjoy it, and the editing wasn't anything special. 1/5

012 - Band of the Hawk
No real story development in this video - just fighting through the whole thing. Editing couldn't keep this one afloat - too many missed opportunities and little mistakes - lip flap, choppy footage (when certain scenes were slowed down), etc. Just kind of messy all around. 1/5

013 - Boxxed
Great use of text effects, lip sync mostly sucked, kinda seemed like the anime was secondary to the effect work (i.e. any anime could have been used and the video would have felt exactly the same). Still, fun fun fun. 4/5

014 - Get Your Eggs
No. Just no. 0.5/5

015 - Who Runs Your Anime...
From a purely objective standpoint, the video was edited pretty well (too many crossfades though, for a song like that hard cuts are your friend). I just didn't connect with it in any way, really. 2/5

016 - Lose Your Soul
Good, clear concept, decent editing, but what a horrible song choice. The anime and music just did not match, whatever creepiness factor the anime displayed was ruined by the goofy-sounding music. 2.5/5

017 - The Solution
The text just looked awful. It could have added to the video if it had been done right, instead it just felt lazy. In the spirit of the video I guess, but sorry, you don't get points for being meta. 0.5/5

018 - Sentimentalness
Lip sync was hit-or-miss, so was the editing, and the scene selection. There was also a lot of lip flap. A little more effort and this could have been passable, but there were too many mistakes. 1.5/5

019 - The Choice
Meh, it was okay. Didn't really do anything for me, and I'm not really sure that there was much editing to speak of. That could be a compliment, I just really don't know. 2.5/5

020 - Next To Me
Just another sentimental video that I will forget about in ten minutes. 1.5/5

021 - Crucifix Combustion
There is no reason for me to remember this video as anything other than completely generic. Competently edited, sure, but it stands out in no way. 2/5

022 - Two Hearts
Thank you for introducing me to this band. The video itself was pretty sloppy editing-wise, but I didn't hate it. The multiple animes didn't always mix so smoothly, but the overall concept was clear and, for the most part, well communicated. 3/5

030 - The Power of Rolling Along
I know perfectly well in my head that this was a pretty bad video editing-wise, but it felt a lot like a fun old-school video and provided me with feelings of nostalgia that I didn't know I had. It's not going to win any awards, but against my objective judgment I liked this one a lot. 4/5

033 - Won't Let Go
Better than most of the other sentimental videos so far, though that's not saying much. Too many fricking crossfades during the action-y parts, completely ruined the flow for me at those points. 2.5/5

039 - Take My Hand
Just boring. Nothing stood out. 1/5

046 - Space Pirate Captain Harlock
I just don't care for these drama/action/classical music videos. Well-edited for the most part but did absolutely nothing for me. 3/5

048 - Thought I Lost You
CROSSFADE CROSSFADE CROSSFADE WHITE FADE CROSSFADE 1/5

050 - KarutaKaptors
Didn't get it. I must be too far removed from the current anime fandom. Plus one point for decent editing. 2/5

051 - Rebellious
Boring. Doesn't do anything I haven't seen a million times before. Too many crossfades. Etc. 2/5

068 - Always
Could have been a good video, ruined by poor editing. Didn't do anything for me. 2/5

070 - Overmind
Interesting concept and execution, but badly paced. A fresh use of an overused anime though. 3/5

071 - Six Titles, One Dream and Just the Beginning
A good song/anime combo in terms of concept, but just really, really flat editing. Way too many static or almost-static frames that went on for way too long, just nothing captured me with this video. 1/5

074 - RD Oh, Action
As with everything MLP-related, can't tell if this is supposed to be a comedy, satire, or serious. Since satire works best, that's what I'm going with and this video was awesome. Excellent editing, great job capturing the music visually...just a really solid video. 4/5

075 - Hope's Embrace
I can't find much to actually dislike about this video editing-wise, but I didn't like it really at all. I unfortunately think the song was horrible, so that dampened any kind of emotional impact. Also, the story wasn't really clear. Meh. It was okay, but I don't really ever want to watch it again. 2.5/5

078 - Silent Movies
I have no idea what this video was about. Editing wasn't that great. 1.5/5

079 - Dra-Co-Ty-Ra - Shu Watanabe, Akira Kushida
There weren't many effects/textures/transitions, but every time there was I cringed a little inside. The editing besides that was pretty solid, but nothing struck a cord with me. Felt way too generic. 2/5

080 - Adapation
The mixing of live action and anime and manga was completely useless. Didn't add anything to the conceptual execution, it looked sloppy, stopped the video from gaining any kind of momentum. Did not enjoy this one. 1/5

089 - Taichi is Chihava's Salvation
So many amateur editing mistakes I don't even know where to start. Virtually no actual editing to fit the music. Close-up after close-up. 0.5/5

090 - Possibilities
Had a perfectly followable story that made me feel feelings, so props for that. The editing was really boring though. 3/5

095 - Ain't Nopony Got Time For That
Either make it a good comedy video or make it a good dance video, don't do both halfway. 1/5

097 - My Mama Totoro
This was actually really interesting. There were more than a few places where the scene selection horribly mismatched the audio, which kind of shattered the illusion. On the other hand, quite a few times where the two synced up beautifully. I liked it more than not. 3.5/5

098 - A Thorn In His Heart
This video would make a great argument for there needing to be some sort of qualifier for editors to enter the Pro contest other than "if you consider yourself a professional". Ugh. I thought we'd moved past these kinds of videos. 0.5/5

101 - Revelations
I liked it. The best parts were those when nobody was rapping. The rest was just a bunch of disconnected sped-up scenes of people fighting, and it felt kinda lazy to me. Still overall the editing was good, the video maintained a nice visual flow throughout. 3.5/5

102 - The Mark of Crom Cruach
Held my attention, didn't overstay its welcome, was well-edited and pretty to look at. 3.5/5

105 - Liberation
Well somebody just learned how to mask and wants to show it off. There was no real visual flow throughout the video, although props to the editor for preferring hard cuts over crossfades. 1.5/5

109 - Darkness Inside
I thought the sync was off on my computer for this one for some reason, but nope, the editing was just really, really bad. 1/5

110 - A Dying Oath
Having to sit through a Nightwish video is a special, extra horrible type of hell for me. What's worse is when the editor doesn't take advantage of any one of the SEVERAL very obvious musical cues throughout the song to create any kind of sync or flow. This gets my vote for worst in the contest yet. 0/5

113 - Wishes in the Dark
Way overedited, effects that didn't actually add anything, no conceptual point; this came off as a sub-par tech demo reel. 2.5/5

115 - Blood and Water
Wooo, stock Vegas effects! Ugly fonts (in *Italic*)! Layers upon layers upon LAYERS of footage, all at once! This can't go wrong! 1.5/5

132 - Rescue Me
Video footage was way overfiltered and ugly as sin, but other than that all my complaints are very, very minor. One of the most emotional videos in the contest that I've watched so far and one of my favorites. Just really, really great editing choices all around. 4.5/5

134 - Heartbreak
If this editor has made more than three videos in his/her lifetime, I'd be utterly shocked. So many basic mistakes I couldn't count them all. Lip flap, fansub watermark in the corner, same types of scenes being used over and over, no visual rhythm...the list goes on. 0.5/5

135 - Let Go
I make every effort to watch through every video that gets submitted to Pro because I feel it's disrespectful otherwise (other than hentai videos - personal reasons). But when a video like this gets submitted - DivX logo in the corner, subtitles within the first 30 seconds, improper aspect ratio between different animes - and it's clear that the editor doesn't have any respect for the contest, that rule of mine gets thrown out the window. 0/5

136 - Radioactive
What did I just watch? There was nothing redeeming about this video. Nothing fit together. No concept. Horrible quality footage. Nonexistent editing. What is going on? 0.5/5

138 - Saamon Dansu
This video gets points for being original, creative, and clever. It was somewhat boring at times, and I think it went on for a bit too long. But still, it was a fun watch. 3.5/5

140 - Sanctus Infernus
That text was a baaaaaad idea. Completely unnecessary, and really detracted from the rest of the video. If that text weren't there, my opinion would probably be exactly the same though, I just didn't like this. Boring action, predictable editing, it brought nothing to the table. 1/5

156 - Doomsday (The Way)
This video. I like this video. Brilliantly executed concept, fantastic, spot-on editing...but what I liked best was that at no point was I sucked out of the illusion created within the video, which is especially impressive considering the use of live action and multiple sources. Awesome. Too bad it got DQ'd. 4.5/5

163 - Ghost Reloaded
Were you even listening to the same song I was? It was an interesting journey, but not one I'd ever like to take again...way too seizurific for no good reason. 2.5/5

167 - Crescent Charm
Uninteresting. Editing was competent but feels very similar to every other sentimental video ever. 1.5/5

[Warlike Swans]

Okay. Finally done. Here are my reviews.

Spoiler :

002 - Spirit Rush
Consists of two types of scenes - either close-ups of characters' eyes or shots of people swiping at cards. Literally nothing else. Pass. 1.5/5

004 - Two Hearts
Competent and, for the most part, consistent editing. Story was boring and cliche and didn't do anything, and it was primarily the editing that held my attention. 2.5/5

005 - O_O
Well that's a video I never want to watch again, ever. At least do some lip sync. Some beat sync. Something. Once you start riding on the novelty of the song alone, it ceases to be a comedy video and just turns into a funny song with some visuals on top of it. 0/5

006 - Dissociation
Bad tech demo reel-type video with editing that was inconsistent with the music. Cool general atmosphere, and I liked the song, but as a music video it just didn't work. 2/5

007 - Make Believe
Almost no actual editing; the entire video relies solely on the same boring emotional manipulation I've been through hundreds of times with hundreds of other like-minded sentimental/romance videos. Nope. 1/5

008 - 17 Minutes to the Deadline
Good editing, fun video, great use of multiple sources, which I normally don't like. 4/5

009 - Textually Active
Meh. Good lip sync, okay use of text, and some clever scene selection. Didn't make me laugh so it failed as a comedy video though, so that's a huge hit against it. 2/5

010 - A Ghost Story
Could not hold my attention. Nothing stood out with this one. 1.5/5

011 - Trial By Fire
I could not for the life of me figure out what was going on in this video. Way too many close-ups that didn't last long enough for my brain to register. Didn't enjoy it, and the editing wasn't anything special. 1/5

012 - Band of the Hawk
No real story development in this video - just fighting through the whole thing. Editing couldn't keep this one afloat - too many missed opportunities and little mistakes - lip flap, choppy footage (when certain scenes were slowed down), etc. Just kind of messy all around. 1/5

013 - Boxxed
Great use of text effects, lip sync mostly sucked, kinda seemed like the anime was secondary to the effect work (i.e. any anime could have been used and the video would have felt exactly the same). Still, fun fun fun. 4/5

014 - Get Your Eggs
No. Just no. 0.5/5

015 - Who Runs Your Anime...
From a purely objective standpoint, the video was edited pretty well (too many crossfades though, for a song like that hard cuts are your friend). I just didn't connect with it in any way, really. 2/5

016 - Lose Your Soul
Good, clear concept, decent editing, but what a horrible song choice. The anime and music just did not match, whatever creepiness factor the anime displayed was ruined by the goofy-sounding music. 2.5/5

017 - The Solution
The text just looked awful. It could have added to the video if it had been done right, instead it just felt lazy. In the spirit of the video I guess, but sorry, you don't get points for being meta. 0.5/5

018 - Sentimentalness
Lip sync was hit-or-miss, so was the editing, and the scene selection. There was also a lot of lip flap. A little more effort and this could have been passable, but there were too many mistakes. 1.5/5

019 - The Choice
Meh, it was okay. Didn't really do anything for me, and I'm not really sure that there was much editing to speak of. That could be a compliment, I just really don't know. 2.5/5

020 - Next To Me
Just another sentimental video that I will forget about in ten minutes. 1.5/5

021 - Crucifix Combustion
There is no reason for me to remember this video as anything other than completely generic. Competently edited, sure, but it stands out in no way. 2/5

022 - Two Hearts
Thank you for introducing me to this band. The video itself was pretty sloppy editing-wise, but I didn't hate it. The multiple animes didn't always mix so smoothly, but the overall concept was clear and, for the most part, well communicated. 3/5

030 - The Power of Rolling Along
I know perfectly well in my head that this was a pretty bad video editing-wise, but it felt a lot like a fun old-school video and provided me with feelings of nostalgia that I didn't know I had. It's not going to win any awards, but against my objective judgment I liked this one a lot. 4/5

033 - Won't Let Go
Better than most of the other sentimental videos so far, though that's not saying much. Too many fricking crossfades during the action-y parts, completely ruined the flow for me at those points. 2.5/5

039 - Take My Hand
Just boring. Nothing stood out. 1/5

046 - Space Pirate Captain Harlock
I just don't care for these drama/action/classical music videos. Well-edited for the most part but did absolutely nothing for me. 3/5

048 - Thought I Lost You
CROSSFADE CROSSFADE CROSSFADE WHITE FADE CROSSFADE 1/5

050 - KarutaKaptors
Didn't get it. I must be too far removed from the current anime fandom. Plus one point for decent editing. 2/5

051 - Rebellious
Boring. Doesn't do anything I haven't seen a million times before. Too many crossfades. Etc. 2/5

068 - Always
Could have been a good video, ruined by poor editing. Didn't do anything for me. 2/5

070 - Overmind
Interesting concept and execution, but badly paced. A fresh use of an overused anime though. 3/5

071 - Six Titles, One Dream and Just the Beginning
A good song/anime combo in terms of concept, but just really, really flat editing. Way too many static or almost-static frames that went on for way too long, just nothing captured me with this video. 1/5

074 - RD Oh, Action
As with everything MLP-related, can't tell if this is supposed to be a comedy, satire, or serious. Since satire works best, that's what I'm going with and this video was awesome. Excellent editing, great job capturing the music visually...just a really solid video. 4/5

075 - Hope's Embrace
I can't find much to actually dislike about this video editing-wise, but I didn't like it really at all. I unfortunately think the song was horrible, so that dampened any kind of emotional impact. Also, the story wasn't really clear. Meh. It was okay, but I don't really ever want to watch it again. 2.5/5

078 - Silent Movies
I have no idea what this video was about. Editing wasn't that great. 1.5/5

079 - Dra-Co-Ty-Ra - Shu Watanabe, Akira Kushida
There weren't many effects/textures/transitions, but every time there was I cringed a little inside. The editing besides that was pretty solid, but nothing struck a cord with me. Felt way too generic. 2/5

080 - Adapation
The mixing of live action and anime and manga was completely useless. Didn't add anything to the conceptual execution, it looked sloppy, stopped the video from gaining any kind of momentum. Did not enjoy this one. 1/5

089 - Taichi is Chihava's Salvation
So many amateur editing mistakes I don't even know where to start. Virtually no actual editing to fit the music. Close-up after close-up. 0.5/5

090 - Possibilities
Had a perfectly followable story that made me feel feelings, so props for that. The editing was really boring though. 3/5

095 - Ain't Nopony Got Time For That
Either make it a good comedy video or make it a good dance video, don't do both halfway. 1/5

097 - My Mama Totoro
This was actually really interesting. There were more than a few places where the scene selection horribly mismatched the audio, which kind of shattered the illusion. On the other hand, quite a few times where the two synced up beautifully. I liked it more than not. 3.5/5

098 - A Thorn In His Heart
This video would make a great argument for there needing to be some sort of qualifier for editors to enter the Pro contest other than "if you consider yourself a professional". Ugh. I thought we'd moved past these kinds of videos. 0.5/5

101 - Revelations
I liked it. The best parts were those when nobody was rapping. The rest was just a bunch of disconnected sped-up scenes of people fighting, and it felt kinda lazy to me. Still overall the editing was good, the video maintained a nice visual flow throughout. 3.5/5

102 - The Mark of Crom Cruach
Held my attention, didn't overstay its welcome, was well-edited and pretty to look at. 3.5/5

105 - Liberation
Well somebody just learned how to mask and wants to show it off. There was no real visual flow throughout the video, although props to the editor for preferring hard cuts over crossfades. 1.5/5

109 - Darkness Inside
I thought the sync was off on my computer for this one for some reason, but nope, the editing was just really, really bad. 1/5

110 - A Dying Oath
Having to sit through a Nightwish video is a special, extra horrible type of hell for me. What's worse is when the editor doesn't take advantage of any one of the SEVERAL very obvious musical cues throughout the song to create any kind of sync or flow. This gets my vote for worst in the contest yet. 0/5

113 - Wishes in the Dark
Way overedited, effects that didn't actually add anything, no conceptual point; this came off as a sub-par tech demo reel. 2.5/5

115 - Blood and Water
Wooo, stock Vegas effects! Ugly fonts (in *Italic*)! Layers upon layers upon LAYERS of footage, all at once! This can't go wrong! 1.5/5

132 - Rescue Me
Video footage was way overfiltered and ugly as sin, but other than that all my complaints are very, very minor. One of the most emotional videos in the contest that I've watched so far and one of my favorites. Just really, really great editing choices all around. 4.5/5

134 - Heartbreak
If this editor has made more than three videos in his/her lifetime, I'd be utterly shocked. So many basic mistakes I couldn't count them all. Lip flap, fansub watermark in the corner, same types of scenes being used over and over, no visual rhythm...the list goes on. 0.5/5

135 - Let Go
I make every effort to watch through every video that gets submitted to Pro because I feel it's disrespectful otherwise (other than hentai videos - personal reasons). But when a video like this gets submitted - DivX logo in the corner, subtitles within the first 30 seconds, improper aspect ratio between different animes - and it's clear that the editor doesn't have any respect for the contest, that rule of mine gets thrown out the window. 0/5

136 - Radioactive
What did I just watch? There was nothing redeeming about this video. Nothing fit together. No concept. Horrible quality footage. Nonexistent editing. What is going on? 0.5/5

138 - Saamon Dansu
This video gets points for being original, creative, and clever. It was somewhat boring at times, and I think it went on for a bit too long. But still, it was a fun watch. 3.5/5

140 - Sanctus Infernus
That text was a baaaaaad idea. Completely unnecessary, and really detracted from the rest of the video. If that text weren't there, my opinion would probably be exactly the same though, I just didn't like this. Boring action, predictable editing, it brought nothing to the table. 1/5

156 - Doomsday (The Way)
This video. I like this video. Brilliantly executed concept, fantastic, spot-on editing...but what I liked best was that at no point was I sucked out of the illusion created within the video, which is especially impressive considering the use of live action and multiple sources. Awesome. Too bad it got DQ'd. 4.5/5

163 - Ghost Reloaded
Were you even listening to the same song I was? It was an interesting journey, but not one I'd ever like to take again...way too seizurific for no good reason. 2.5/5

167 - Crescent Charm
Uninteresting. Editing was competent but feels very similar to every other sentimental video ever. 1.5/5

Lol! Just, lol

[l33tmeatwad]

Okay. Finally done. Here are my reviews. It should be noted that I am extremely jaded and cynical and am more than happy to take godix's role as the one who can never be satisfied with anything.

Except you were satisfied with a few videos...seeing some of the videos you gave high ratings to gave me a good laugh though...nice joke ratings

[BasharOfTheAges]

Glorious amounts of butthurt

[l33tmeatwad]

Glorious amounts of butthurt

Seems like you are enjoying being butthurt...but I'm not surprised after making this...