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Information

• Member: Kaji01
• Title: Don't Fear (Take 2)
• Premiered: 2008-10-19
• Categories:
  • Drama
  • Character Profile
  • Romance
• Song:
  • Blue Oyster Cult Don't Fear the Reaper
• Anime:
  • Neon Genesis Evangelion
  • Neon Genesis Evangelion (Director's Cut)
  • Neon Genesis Evangelion (End of Evangelion)
• Comments: Man, been too long since I seriously worked on a video. Put out two five years ago, then got a new computer, new software, then a new life. Things have finally settled down, thankfully.
  
  The biggest thing that bugged me about my first two videos is that while reception with regard to concept and execution was great, the picture quality on them was, suffice to say, crap. In the intervening time I also found that they weren't as focused as I'd originally thought to boot, and so I figured that a remaster would be a good way to both fix what had been bothering me and really hone my skills with the software.
  
  Along the way what started out as a simple remaster turned into a total retooling in many ways, and as such I'm going to be leaving up the old version [vidid=23219] in case anyone cares to check it out.
  
  Technical Details
  I scrapped the source files I used for the original videos a long time ago; the footage used was ripped from ADV's Platinum Edition of the series and Manga's original release of the movie. Movie scenes were scaled up and shifted as appropriate to maintain a consistent aspect ratio. Many, many thanks go out to DeinReich for helping keep me from botching up the image quality this time around while simultaneously making life in FCE a breeze. I really owe you for that. Thanks to LivingFlame as well for reminding me to compress the audio.
  
  Effects are plentiful, but generally understated. This video makes heavy use of layering and opacity. Most of the lipsynching was done frame-by-frame, and on several occasions I layered a cropped version of the scene with the mouth isolated on top of the original so that I could not just lipsync, but also erase flapping mouths when necessary. I also used this effect frequently to let backgrounds play out when I wanted something else to stay a certain way (e.g. blinking lights, fans, feet under the table, etc.). Whereas the original used a lot of crossfades, I ditched that this time around and played with the opacity as needed as I've found I quite enjoy the greater degree of freedom and control it grants.
  
  Unlike last time where I tried to bend things to make it work incidentally from time to time; with one exception, Kaji is the only one lipsyncing in the video this time.
  
  The countdown seen at the start of the second verse was completely recreated via hand-vectoring in Photoshop (with the exception of the gradient in the background) so that I could exercise more control over it and extend the times displayed beyond the random clips that appeared from time to time, after which I assembled it frame-by-frame in FCE so that it actually ran. It runs perfectly accurate at 29.97fps. If anyone else happens to be interested in borrowing the timer footage I created for it, just PM me and I can arrange for it.
  
  Concept
  Potential video and definite series spoilers ahead!
  Almost debated giving this version the subtitle "Love in an Elevator" for reasons which will become apparent below...hehehe...
  
  As with the original video, I wanted to focus on two relatively minor characters in the series: Kaji and Misato. Initially I didn't really have any idea what the reaper was, and made it out to be just about anything of danger in the series. This time around I took a more focused view, making Gendou the reaper, and thus the source of all that happens with regard to the angels and such, finally culminating in his own death.
  
  Without giving too much away, we basically begin with a shared moment between Kaji and Misato where Kaji is giving her a warning. She then proceeds to turn it over in her mind through the first two verses and the solo, after which we revisit what happened immediately prior to the start of the video, after which she storms off in frustration. While in solitude she recalls her feelings for Kaji, but alas, it's too late. From here she finds his last gift he left for her, giving her that little bit of inspiration as his memory comes back to her. We have a reunion of sorts and then move into the ending sequence.