Video Information

Information

  • Member: dwchang
  • Studio: Ninja Gaijin
  • Title: Glory of Love
  • Premiered: 2003-05-16
  • Categories:
  • Song:
    • Peter Cetera Glory of Love
  • Anime:
  • Participation:
  • Comments: This video is a fairly simple Romance Video about Vaughn and Hitomi from the Vision of Escaflowne (no surprise since Believe in Me was the same thing). One editor has commented that the video feels like a fairytale, which is somewhat accurate (Knights, daring rescues, etc.). I know it's nonsense, but at the same time I am a hopeless romantic.

    Anyway...I got the idea while on my Springbreak roadtrip to Vail during my last year in college. I could see a lot of the video (the vision) already and well...I wanted to see if I could recreate it :). It may be unoriginal (even within my own videos), but it's a hobby and I wanted to do it...so I did :-P
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    Comments on particular scenes:
    Beginning portions with piano to night sky, Vaughn's Face and Hitomi's face
    -Seemed fairly obvious and seemed like a nice way to introduce the video and the concept

    "As we're both lying here"
    -Hitomi blinking to the piano...I just like it..it is SO tiny, but I think it adds to the atmosphere.

    "There's so many things I wanna say"
    -Obviously went with scenes that seemed sadder. In particular, I wanted the second one to imply that he wants to tell her how much he loves her. That's not what the scene really is in the show, but I wanted to imply that. That "wanting" that I'm sure many guys have faced in relationships :).

    "I will always love you."
    -Scene of them saying goodbye as Hitomi goes back to Earth. I love their relationship because their love was so strong that they didn't need to "be" with each other per se. They could "see" each other whenever and also, they're love was strong enough. So it made sense to use that particular scene for "I will ALWAYS love you."

    "Sometimes I just forget"
    -Have him throw her off his arm on "get." Felt it would be more powerful with the use of the way he says the word since well..the song emphasizes it like that.

    "It breaks my heart to see you, crying"
    -On 'crying' go to two scenes of Hitomi...one on 'cry' and another on 'ing.' Seemed to work well.

    Transition into the "I am the Man who will fight for your honor"
    -Flashing Vaughn while charging to the drumbeat. This one works a lot better than the second one in my opinion. Obviously used this to transition to the action/chorus.

    "I'll be the hero, you've been dreaming of"
    -Transition to Vaughn on "of." I thought it worked nicely.

    "We'll live forever, knowing together"
    -I wanted to have it appear like he was telling her this (the lyrics). Given, I dislike having non-lip synced mouth movements, but well..the scenes had it and there was little I could do. Although I did slow it down and make the lip movements to a minimum. If I wasn't lazy I would've liked to "close" his mouth (with Photoshop) and just have them looking at each other (which the scene has). I like the part where she is blushing too since it's like she is blushing to the lyrics he is saying :).

    "We did it all for the Glory of Love"
    -I love this scene where Vaughn breaks through the Atlantis Machine and hugs Hitomi. It illustrates that their love was stronger than fate and hence the use at this particular lyric. You'll notice throughout that I end almost all the "We did it all for the Glory of Love" lyrics to some sort of embrace or powerful scene...because well...it's a powerful lyric.

    "You've helped me through it all"
    -This is the scene where Hitomi helps him communicate with Escaflowne. She saves his life a number of times.

    "I'm always strong when you're beside me"
    -Used scene of Vaughn "powering" up (haha). Have the scene zoom out on "strong." Transition to two scenes of Hitomi embracing Vaughn. One on "Beside" and second on "Me."

    "You've been Dreaming of"
    -Once again show Hitomi "dreaming" on the first part and transition to Vaughn on "of."

    "We'll live forever, knowing together"
    -Used the scene in the opening where she is "flying." Thought it would flow well (musically). On "forever", had her float upwards (since the notes he sings get higher). On "knowing forever," not necessarily lyric sync (like the majority of these scenes), but I like the concept of her closing her eyes...kind of like thinking about it or remembering...that makes no sense :).

    "Just in time I'll save the day"
    -I just like this scene. Timed "day" to when they jump away from the fire.

    Guitar solo to Angel Scene
    -This is probably the climax of the song and (unfortunately) very few people have noticed the work I put into it (although they still like it and can't explain why ^_^). I will explain since every edit is intentional. First notes "sounded" like falling to me and hence two scenes of her falling. Afterwards, the second guitar section sounds like an "explosion" and hence the wings coming outwards. Last high note sounded like "reaching" and hence the hand reaching towards her. This is one of the scenes that has been planned from the beginning. I saw it from the start. I know many might find it shocking, but this scene took quite a bit of time.

    "You've been dreaming of"
    -Something most people won't notice, I obviously use the vision where Hitomi is saved by a faceless angel (seen in episode 1), but on the word "of," I transition to the real Angel Event (in episode 8) and reveal his face. Most will probably think it was part of the anime, but no...I had to pick the exact frame to transition the faceless version to the real event on "of" (Episode 1 -> 8). I think it works nicely, but sadly few will know how much editing that required. This is another scene I saw clearly from the start. Most will think it was one scene in the anime (as opposed to two). Subtlety :)

    "We'll live forever, knowing together"
    -Used scenes from the very last scene in the show where Hitomi thinks about Vaughn and they see each other (their love traverses their worlds or something...wow sounds like something from Vlad's Transcending Love video). The Hitomi scene has her move her head slightly (to acknowledge him), which is timed to "forever." For Vaughn, had him smile and move slightly on "together." I kind of wanted (again) to make it seem like they were saying these lyrics to each other. Geez I think too much about this stuff...and most people won't care :).

    Dragon Scenes
    -This is one of the sections I didn't have a vision for and found them by luck. In particular I like the first one (Dragon rockets off to the first guitar notes) and the last one (Dragon twirls to the last "upward" notes...ooh use of music. Surprising coming from me the lyric-syncer). At first, I was against this idea since the Dragon has nothing to really do with the love relationship, but there is very little "romantic moments" in Escaflowne. I figured I'd use the music and the basic sense of flight and freedom here.

    "We'll Live Forever" (echo)
    -This is easily my favorite part in the entire video. It is another scene I saw from the start where Vaughn would be looking upward and Hitomi looking upwards in the opposite direction. Like they were either looking at each other or looking at the same sky thinking about each other. I have Fluxmeister to thank for teaching me Image Mattes. One of two effects in the video.

    "We did it all for the Glory of Love"
    -Hitomi with Pendant creating light. I used this scene since the last scenes were brighter and this scene would be a nice transition to brighter backgrounds (the light growing from pendant).

    Final Scenes
    -This is my favorite (non-action/cool scene) in Escaflowne (they both realize they love each other), so I had to use it as my ending :). The flashes to Black & White (my second effect in the video) I thought would be an excellent way to really drive-in the romance concept. It seems to work since a lot of people have commented positively on the last flash to B&W.
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    Final Thoughts:
    As you can see from my lengthy write-up, I really liked creating this video and put a lot of thought into every scene I selected and how I would use it (I hope it shows). Escaflowne is full of beautiful scenes and well...to be honest, I think the imagery (and song) does most of the work and not my editing per se. All I had to do was find those (already) beautiful images.

    It also seems the most effective in how it conveys the emotion and relationship I am trying to illustrate. A few editors have said that although simple, it does it's job and gets you from Point A to B effectively and clearly (concept...although mine is simple). I am thankful for their comments and more thankful that the concept "follows-through" and flows well with the music (not only the words). It is the most accurate recreation of the vision I've had in my head and hence the satisfaction to hear that people "see" it.

    Another thing I've noticed is my maturity as an editor . I generally use the lyrics to tell a story or relationship, but this video I *tried* to use the instruments and "music" as well. Don't get me wrong, I'm not denying that there isn't shameless lyric syncs (the words are too powerful not to), but I *hope* it is evident that I also try to use the "flow" and "feel" of the music (things like "sounds like falling, sounds like blinking, etc.") This is something I have never really been proficient in doing. I do think that it enhances the video quite a bit since the music portion is quite powerful and beautiful.

    Koop has called it "Believe in Me 2.0" and I (unfortunately) would have to agree. This video is the same simple concept of protecting the one you Love, believing in them and simply....love. However, this time it was done better since I have matured as an editor and the song is more powerful. I've always wanted to revisit the concept and do it "right" :).

    On a personal note, I am amazed that I could revisit the same concept in Believe in Me, enjoy editing it and make a (debateably) better video. If you've read the description for Believe in Me, you'd know that it has personal ties (to an ex-girlfriend). This video was *just* a vision I had and I wanted to see if I could create what was in my head (like most of my videos). This has no ties to anyone and yet, it's debateably my most accurate portrayal of one of my visions and more importantly, the emotions these two characters share. The reason I say this is because Believe in Me had more of a stereotypical "motivation/inspiration" (i.e. a girl) and yet...this one turned out better :). Odd.

    I guess I'm surprised because I never thought I could capture such emotion or a relationship without some external motivation/inspiration. I'm glad that I could finally create an accurate portrayal of their triumph and love. I've always wanted to create a video "worthy" of such a beautiful relationship and was accurate to what I felt and got out of it.

    I'm rambling and repeating things...sorry. As you can see, I really like this video (my favorite of mine) and it's special to me.

    Thanks for reading (sorry, this is a like a thesis or something) and I hope you enjoy the video. ^_^
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    Hours Spent: 100+ (stopped counting) - I know it seems surprising with such simple editing (not many effects), but I spent a great deal of time picking the perfect scenes for each part. I hope this effort shows.
    Sanity: A distant memory

    Equipment and Software used:
    -My Dual 2 Ghz Athlon Computer
    -Adobe Premiere 6.0
    -Adobe Photoshop 6.0

    Thanks to:
    -AtomX
    -Doki Doki
    -Fluxmeister - specifically for help with "drum beat" strobing and image mattes of Vaughn/Hitomi.
    -Hitori
    -2pacalypse
    -kolinahr
    -Duo

    Awards/Recognition:
    AnimeMusicVideos.org's 2004 Viewer's Choice Awards
    -Best Romantic Video
    -Nominated for Best Drama Video
    -Nominated for Best Sentimental Video

    Otakon 2003
    -Best Romance/Sentimental

    Animethon 10
    -Best Drama/Romance

    Anime Central 2003
    -Nominated for Best of Show
    -Nominated for Best Theme (the 80's)

Opinions (128)

  • Orig
  • Visual
  • Sound
  • Synch
  • Lip
  • Effects
  • Effort
  • Re-View
  • Overall
  • 8.87
  • 9.65
  • 9.75
  • 9.60
  • 9.78
  • 9.14
  • 9.54

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