AMV-Review's goal is to foster a sub-community that critically analyzes videos and looks for deeper meaning in the creations editors make. It is hoped that through this process will viewers and editors alike come to better appreciate videos that are well thought out, well executed, and progress AMVs as a medium of expression.
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<strike>On Monday at 20:30 EDT (8:30pm) in #amv-review we have a moderated discussion on a recently released video.</strike>
On Thursday all evening in #amv-review editors present BETAs (come out and present yours!) to get initial feedback on AMVs in the making.
Come join us!
This week's moderated discussion video:
(SkyDust) - 2007 - SunSet (<a href="http://www.umbrellavideo.com/vault/AKRO ... zip">right click, save as</a>)
Category: Other
Anime: Various
Song: Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Maphistopheles' Return
Please use this thread to discuss this video, there's no need to read the IRC log, just watch the video, and start talking about it! What emotions did it evoke in you? What do you think the video taught you about the character it features?
After each discussion, we throw out a "bonus" video, which often doesn't lend itself perfectly to analysis, or is already well established but is worth recommending. Check it out!
Bonus Video:
(Unknown) - 2000 - Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (<a href="http://www.umbrellavideo.com/vault/Unkn ... zip">right click, save as</a>)
Category: Character Profile
Anime: Ramna 1/2 [Spoilers]
Song: U2 - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Archive of previous moderated discussions:
2007 December 039-10, 038-03 November 037-26, 036-19, 035-12, 034-05
October 033-29, 032-22, 031-15, 030-08, 029-01, September 028-24, 027-17, 026-10, 025-03
August 024-27, 023-20, 022-13, 021-06, July 020-30, 019-23, 018-16, 017-09, 016-02
June 015-25, 014-18, 013-11, 012-04, May 011-28, 010-21, 009-14, 008-07
April 007-30, 006-23, 005-16, 004-09, 003-02, March 002-26, 001-19
AMV Review #40: SkyDust' SunSet
-
quadir
- I Know Drama
- Joined: Sun Oct 28, 2001 12:00 am
FAQ:
Found a video for the review?
Please send all submittions to quadir@animemusicvideos.org or pm me on the forums. Don't post em in the thread.
Want to beta your video?
Just join the irc channel and paste it! There's usualy people there willing to take a look at a work in progress and give you initial reactions.
I heard something about runner-up vids?
About twice a week one of the videos that did not get chosen as our main video will announced in irc channel topic for casual discussion, check them out, they are usually also very good!
Can I promote amv-review?
We'd love you to! Tell your friends, we can always use fresh faces. If you'd like to put a button in your signature to link to us, copy paste the code bellow but make sure to change the word RANDOM to some number you can think of or it won't work properly.
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Discussion:
Found a video for the review?
Please send all submittions to quadir@animemusicvideos.org or pm me on the forums. Don't post em in the thread.
Want to beta your video?
Just join the irc channel and paste it! There's usualy people there willing to take a look at a work in progress and give you initial reactions.
I heard something about runner-up vids?
About twice a week one of the videos that did not get chosen as our main video will announced in irc channel topic for casual discussion, check them out, they are usually also very good!
Can I promote amv-review?
We'd love you to! Tell your friends, we can always use fresh faces. If you'd like to put a button in your signature to link to us, copy paste the code bellow but make sure to change the word RANDOM to some number you can think of or it won't work properly.
Code: Select all
[url=http://dunes.quadir.net/review.php][img]http://dunes.quadir.net/review.php?image=true&number=RANDOM[/img][/url]Discussion:
Edited IRC Log wrote:20:31 Download+Discuss: http://www.akross.ru/data/contest/video_77.html
20:35 <Rathisponge> The site is in russian, where should I be downloading it?
20:35 <DriftRoot> Towards the bottom of the page there are two links within the AMV pane, one right above the other. Download the upper one, it's
20:35 <godix> red links at the bottom.
20:36 <godix> the numbers are filesizes. Smaller filesize is low quality.
20:45 <godix> I remember this one now. It's the one that made me finally understand what japanese singers must feel like when an American uses a jpop song and doesn't have a clue what the words mean
20:45 <Orwell> Godix: It's got civilian bombing, they could be using jpop for all I care
20:46 <Orwell> or any other bubbly bullshit
20:46 <godix> orwell: Eh, it just bothers me that there's not even a hint of comprehension about the lyrics
20:47 <DriftRoot> If they indeed speak English
20:47 <Niotex> yeah not to mention the fact that very few rusians speak/read english
20:48 <DriftRoot> Well...the song's in English at least
20:48 <DriftRoot> That offers some small shred of hope that the editor is bilingual..to a certain extent
20:48 <Orwell> not necessarily, when I was in the cold war con most participants could at least slaughter some english
20:49 <DriftRoot> So as long as we confine our comments to the words that are in the AMV, we should be fine.
20:49 <DriftRoot> MEPHISTOPHELES
20:49 <DriftRoot> Is that how it's spelled?
20:49 <inthesto> Magical Mr Mephistopheles?
20:49 <DriftRoot> Deevil
20:49 <Fall_Child42> DriftRoot, tell that to EVERY FRICKIN REMMSTEIN VIDEO THAT HAS NOTHING tO DO WITH THE LYRICS
20:50 <godix> Like I said earlier, now I know how native speakers feel when American totally ignore the lyrics becuase we don't speak that language
20:50 <Kionon> Honestly, the Akross vid didn't do much for me.
20:51 <Kionon> I think I told Orwell, it felt about ten years too late.
20:51 <Orwell> wouldn't that be more like 20?
20:51 <DriftRoot> :(
20:52 <DriftRoot> The mix of series in this was kind of odd...Macross Zero to Tide Line Blue to FMP...like my license plate says....ehh?
20:53 <quadir> ugh, did you miss the stuff from the gas OAV?
20:53 <Rathisponge> The anime combination did seem a little odd DriftRoot, though the scenes used from them seem to indicate a general similarity.
20:54 <quadir> DriftRoot: from one of the memories OAVs
20:54 <quadir> or did you mention it by name? the only one I know by name is Magnetic Rose
20:55 <godix> quadir: Stinkbomb I think it's called
20:55 <quadir> godix: we're getting this because it was submitted and voted on. you submit, you'll likely get something in
20:55 <godix> stinkbomb, magnetic rose, and that boring ass gun one
20:55 <DriftRoot> I meant the mix in general was odd, for several reasons, and gave a few examples
20:55 <G_Q> Yeah, it's Stink Bomb
20:55 <Orwell> the animation combination overall had a generally similiar feel to me, I mean, there's no real marked difference of footage except in a few small cases. Not sure what animate it specifically is
20:55 <PaperIsland> I think the synch isn't very good in this AMV
20:55 <G_Q> And Puni Puni Poemy?!
20:55 <quadir> all the war room footage in the akross vid is from Stink Bomb
20:56 <DriftRoot> lol
20:56 <quadir> along with Defcon computer game put over it for the 'nuke' screens
20:56 <Rathisponge> It didnt seem to be very synched very well PaperIsland, it almost seemed to be "lagging"
20:56 <PaperIsland> The animation had a generally similar feel, but it didn't fit the song for me
20:56 <Kionon> I mean, it was well edited, but it just... didn't move me.
20:56 <PaperIsland> the song would pick up and the animation would be almost still
20:56 <Orwell> If the video had goe for a proper beat sync, I think it probably would have detracted from the overall feel
20:56 <PaperIsland> I don't think it was very well edited
20:56 <DriftRoot> Rath: yeah, it was noticeably off at times
20:56 <G_Q> A pretty interesting mash.
20:56 <Kionon> If it was 1987, and I was still worried about soviet/american blunders, it might have had an effect.
20:57 <DriftRoot> The editing kept me guessing, that's for sure.
20:57 <quadir> hey kids, it's theme time!
20:57 <PaperIsland> the internal sync was off...
20:57 <PaperIsland> I couldn't understand all the words of the song very well
20:57 <PaperIsland> which made it difficult to find a purpose for the video
20:58 <DriftRoot> In fact, in retrospect, it was so off that I kept tripping myself up waiting for something to sync...then it didn't, then I fell down and couldn't get back up until something kicked me in the shins...like a nuke
20:58 <Rathisponge> I believe Kionon would be on the right track regarding theme, which I believe would be war
20:58 <Niotex> quad.. dont you pull out the theme cards on us..
20:58 <DriftRoot> Is this tongue-in-cheek, you think?
20:58 <Rathisponge> The lyrics didn't seem to fit very well Paperisland
20:58 <Kionon> The theme is clearly Mutally Assured Destruction.
20:58 <Kionon> In this case, I think it may be accidentally caused.
20:58 <godix> I believe the theme is 'This is the first time I ever used WMM. What's this button do? Should I put the clips here? I can't figure out this piece of crap software!'
20:58 <PaperIsland> OK, maybe they are not quite as hard to understand as I thought, I just found myself losing interest
20:58 <DriftRoot> This is the first review video that I really don't want to watch again.
20:59 <PaperIsland> I'm going to have to agree with driftroot
20:59 <Kionon> I think I told Orwell almost the same.
20:59 * DriftRoot perseveres, though
20:59 <Kionon> It held no impact for a post-cold war era.
20:59 <PaperIsland> to remove main characters from a video is pretty bold and I don't think this video is stunning enough to pull it off
21:00 <DriftRoot> The song just makes me giggle...it's...so bombastic on the one hand, you don't know whether to take the AMV seriously or not.
21:00 <PaperIsland> Kionon: Your implying that this video would be meaningful to people during the cold war?
21:00 <PaperIsland> you're*
21:00 <Orwell> does a video, any video, really need main characters though? I've a few examples where characters aren't driving the video
21:00 <Kionon> I'm not implying it.
21:00 <Kionon> I'm explicitly saying it.
21:00 <quadir> DriftRoot: ugh I get that with a lot of the little naked girl with metal headcage loosing limb videos we've done
21:00 <Rathisponge> I understand what you mean DriftRoot, it almost feels like a "musical"
21:00 <Orwell> no, it's meaningful to whoever appreciates the cold war
21:00 <PaperIsland> I didn't say it NEEDED them, I just implied it was helpful
21:00 <DriftRoot> There was enough replay of certain individuals, though, to get the idea that there were some main characters...not very well developed though.
21:01 <Kionon> I believe the motivation behind it is that the editor could not express his or her feelings prior to the breakup of the soviet union.
21:01 <Kionon> In America, we could.
21:01 <quadir> Kionon: hm, I didn't really look at it as a nuclear war video
21:01 <PaperIsland> People are just the natural thing human eyes are attracted to
21:01 <DriftRoot> The devil made us do it!!
21:01 <PaperIsland> human problems are the natural things we're interested in
21:01 <quadir> Kionon: infact almost the whole video isn't about nuclear war
21:01 <PaperIsland> that's why film is almost always about people
21:01 <PaperIsland> with the human face being the most natural thing for a close-up
21:01 <quadir> Kionon: most of the video is about carpet bombing
21:01 <Kionon> I disagree, it seems to me the entire point is a march on to World War III.
21:01 <quadir> like vietnam
21:01 <quadir> or kosovo
21:02 <quadir> or iraq
21:02 <quadir> or afghanistan (sp)
21:02 <Kionon> Uh, the mushroom clouds say otherwise.
21:02 <DriftRoot> The dated fashion, too.
21:02 <Kionon> I will admit, there's also a fair level of commentary on the issue of killing civilians.
21:02 <quadir> Kionon: there /is/ nuclear stuff in here but there is tons and tons and tons of more conventional warfare
21:03 <quadir> Kionon: and you can't have world war III if it's nuclear
21:03 <Orwell> I think part of that might have to do with the fact that, how common is a nuke going off in anime
21:03 <Kionon> No WWIII would start with nukes necessarily, but it would end that way.
21:03 <G_Q> quadir: I think it's a pretty big nuke message.
21:03 <DriftRoot> Do you think the old general dude is Mephisto? I noticed it's heavily focusing on him/the military at key times.
21:03 <PaperIsland> I feel like there's a lot being added to this video by the audience here
21:04 <DriftRoot> Like, the military is evil...
21:04 <PaperIsland> I don't know how specifically the editor separated the images other than the way they look
21:04 <Orwell> PaperIsland: The style of the video is for that point I think
21:04 <G_Q> Or, as it was said elsewhere, "A STRANGE GAME. THE ONLY WINNING MOVE IS NOT TO PLAY."
21:04 <quadir> G_Q: for all sides not to play :)
21:04 <DriftRoot> This song is going to be stuck in my head for the next week. -_-
21:05 <G_Q> Also, "I think that, in the nuclear world, the true enemy is war itself."
21:05 <quadir> I dunno I guess I drew more parallels in this video to current situation, which is the war machine drive
21:05 <PaperIsland> Well, I thought this video just felt like doing whatever it wanted.
21:05 <DriftRoot> I completely agree
21:05 <PaperIsland> It was sarcastic and then it was serious
21:05 <quadir> instead of the old soviet thinking cold war nuclear threats, which I'm not seeing feature prominently
21:05 <Orwell> PaperIsland: When was it serious?
21:06 <Orwell> I can see sarcastic, and war, but, overtly serious?
21:06 <quadir> PaperIsland: so how would you categorise it? obviously it's not driving a narative
21:06 <PaperIsland> Around 2:15 I think
21:06 <DriftRoot> Yah, burning kids
21:06 <PaperIsland> I don't feel like it was being sarcastic with that sequence
21:06 <Kionon> I saw it as commentary on late seventies/eighties tension about how despite seeming moderation by both sides, America and the USSR could still kill the world over a snafu.
21:07 <PaperIsland> How did you get that though kionon
21:07 <quadir> do you think russia is more aware of this then we are?
21:07 <PaperIsland> where does the text support that
21:07 <PaperIsland> specifically
21:07 <quadir> like they are thinking "we are still in the game" when we have mostly shrugged them off?
21:07 <PaperIsland> I think if it wasn't from a russian site, we wouldn't see it that way at all
21:08 <quadir> like I admit the video ends with the nuclear climax at 4:16
21:08 <DriftRoot> Would any Americans make an AMV stressing the nuclear threat? I kind of doubt it. So why are the Russians? I think the whole nuclear theme is looking too deep into this.
21:08 <quadir> but everything up to that point seemed conventional warfare
21:08 <Orwell> I would have, the fact that nukes are involved and that any other country prepared to fight a full nuclear war is USSR
21:08 <DriftRoot> This is about the dangers of modern war, about things getting out of control...
21:08 <quadir> DriftRoot: did you see the 9/11 video... pwolf I think... did?
21:08 <Kionon> I have to agree.
21:08 <DriftRoot> Hrm, no
21:08 <Orwell> the other nuclear powers, parts of the west, are armed under the fact that their were our ideological allies
21:09 <Kionon> I think I pretty clealry understand the message here.
21:09 <Kionon> I could be wrong, but I don't think I am.
21:09 <Orwell> you don't see China with nukes, you don't see india with a nuclear arsenal to fight a world war, just a regional one
21:09 <Orwell> and I think we can conclusively say that the war going on here is global in scale, not regional
21:10 <G_Q> DriftRoot: http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members ... hp?v=53350
21:10 <G_Q> It's a must-see
21:10 <Kionon> Oh, definitely. The war depicted is at the least intercontinental.
21:10 <PaperIsland> I'm pretty sure india has nukes that could go farther than regional
21:10 <DriftRoot> Yah, everyone's suffering, there's no winner in this kind of war.
21:10 <PaperIsland> As does china
21:10 * DriftRoot investigates
21:10 <Orwell> PaperIsland: they may have ICBMs, but I'm talking quantity of functional ones.
21:11 <Kionon> Actually, they don't have the booster rocket capabalities. Not like us or Russia anyhow.
21:11 <PaperIsland> I'm pretty sure they could mess up plenty of the world with ease
21:11 <quadir> DriftRoot: I originally actually deleted it thinking it was a really bad 9/11 video but it's actually really well thought out and executed
21:11 <Kionon> Yes, but the US and Russia alone could destroy the entire planet hundreds of times over.
21:11 <Orwell> sure, one nuke's going to set off a problem, but, you can't implement MAD
21:11 <godix> Indian is regional. So is pakistan.
21:11 <DriftRoot> I'd think that if this was meant to depict two specific nuclear powers, it would have been made much clearer which side was which and who's the "good" guy (and/or bad guy). I don't pick up any patriotism in here...unless it's a warning to everyone in general.
21:11 <quadir> I think the discussion is straying a bit too far guys
21:12 <Kionon> There's no patrionism.
21:12 <Kionon> t
21:12 * DriftRoot nukes quadir
21:12 <DriftRoot> :)
21:12 <Orwell> It's the effects of war, not the ideological drive behind it
21:12 <PaperIsland> I think driftroot was on topic...
21:12 <Kionon> This is social commentary.
21:12 <Kionon> Not propaganda.
21:12 <quadir> we have a video, that depicts carpet bombing, and ends with a nuke. You have the japan / america war-room footage. It's a multi-anime video that isn't driving a perticular narative. It's more a image montage
21:12 <Fall_Child42> http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/end
21:12 <Fall_Child42> that's all i got to say about that.
21:12 <PaperIsland> I think the person who made it just went, I wonder if I could sync up all this war footage with this song
21:13 <DriftRoot> Yah, that's why I'm saying labeling it so heavily "Russian" is not exactly a good idea...it's a general statement, not "Don't you dare bomb us, America!"
21:13 <quadir> at the same time, did he just go "I wonder if I can take all the WWII anime ending themes from animes and put them all in one video"
21:13 <quadir> that alone is a commentary on anime and japanesse culture itself
21:13 <DriftRoot> There's got to be more than this. I mean, where's EVA?
21:13 <Kionon> The statement is "This could have happend if your leaders and our leaders fucked up, and I suppose it could well still happen if they do so now."
21:14 <Fall_Child42> AHH MOTHERLAND
21:14 <DriftRoot> So does this video transcend the culture it was made in? Which we assume was Russia? Hrm...
21:14 <quadir> Kionon: I guess that's where perspective changes things. In my mind this has happened, several times. Like the Desert War, I forget what it was called.
21:15 <Orwell> very much so, I can't see how it'd matter where it was made
21:15 <godix> FC: That flash thingie is better than the akross video
21:15 <Orwell> anime is anime
21:15 <quadir> especially with a russian video, it might be easy to get trapped in a us/russia cold war scenario
21:15 <Fall_Child42> godix oh I know
21:15 <Kionon> I don't know. I'd say that, but then I'm an American.
21:15 <PaperIsland> Well, the russians messed with afghanistan a bunch
21:15 <PaperIsland> for the record
21:15 <Fall_Child42> AHHH MOTHERLAND
21:15 <PaperIsland> So they're not uninvolved in the middle east
21:15 <Rathisponge> The Gulf War, quadir?
21:16 <quadir> Rathisponge: right.
21:16 <Kionon> I think it's a direct reference to the cold war, but I also think it's an overall warning.
21:16 <DriftRoot> Again, this isn't a heavily "us vs. them" AMV...so overall warning gets my vote.
21:16 <godix> I think it's just a really bad video.
21:16 <DriftRoot> heh
21:16 <PaperIsland> but it was probably some young adult who listened to the song, and then said "I'll sync this to war footage, it'll be cool"
21:16 <Fall_Child42> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086567/
21:16 <PaperIsland> that's what I think
21:16 <quadir> PaperIsland: do you think that's worth the effort?
21:16 <Fall_Child42> Joshua
21:16 <DriftRoot> Now...it is too late...bum bum bummm
21:16 <Fall_Child42> Don't blow up the world Joshua
21:16 <PaperIsland> I think it would have been if the editing was better perhaps
21:17 <quadir> oh, and for the record, does the girl who drinks the cup actually die in the anime?
21:17 <godix> I swear, you guys would stare a piece of shit on a sidewalk and debate what the meaning of the corn kernals was for an hour. Shit is shit guys, just move on.
21:17 <PaperIsland> I don't need a specific point if you make it visually excellent
21:17 <PaperIsland> you can just bring up an issue
21:17 <quadir> I can't figure out if he put that in on purpose or it was from the original anime
21:17 <DriftRoot> This song reminds me of something...a Disney cartoon??
21:17 <quadir> is it FMP?
21:17 <PaperIsland> but I don't like someone bringing up an issue without any tact
21:17 <Fall_Child42> godix: How about a nice game of chess?
21:17 <PaperIsland> or purpose
21:17 <godix> FC: Tic Tac Toe motherfucker
21:17 <quadir> at 3:11
21:18 <DriftRoot> Yeah, that's FMP Fumoffu
21:18 <DriftRoot> I think...
21:18 <Fall_Child42> godix: Strange game, the only way to win is not to play.
21:18 <quadir> I'm going to assume she doesn't die there?
21:18 <DriftRoot> No, not at all
21:18 <quadir> yet in this shot she's commiting suicide in the middle of footage of biochemical warfare
21:18 <DriftRoot> I almost laughed at that scene, actually, because in the anime it's supposed to be quite funny
21:18 <quadir> is how I saw it
21:19 <godix> FC: WHOOPER. Greatest computer name evar.
21:19 <DriftRoot> quadir: that's how I think it was supposed to be seen
21:19 <quadir> stuff like that makes me rethink this as a "mismatch of random war scenes"
21:19 <Fall_Child42> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_DaMKUP3Og
21:20 <quadir> of course that could be the only thought out scene in it
21:20 <quadir> but the editing was decent otherwise
21:20 <DriftRoot> Oh yes, now I remember, she thinks she's dying from a biochemical spill, and basically goes off to expire alone in a classroom, dreaming of her class president
21:20 <quadir> heh
21:20 <DriftRoot> It's supposed to be a very angsty, melodramatic (exactly as is used in this AMV) scene
21:21 <DriftRoot> It's funny, that one scene is like a deep breath in the middle of all kinds of fuss.
21:21 <DriftRoot> ok, I need to stop listening to this song now, I'm not actually watching the AMV, I'm just listening...
21:22 <DriftRoot> ah, blessed silence
21:22 <quadir> final thoughts?
21:22 <Orwell> More videos need to bomb civilians
21:23 <Rathisponge> Overall I think the editor did an OK job, I felt it could have been better in quite a few areas such as synchronization.
21:23 <godix> quadir: My final thought is that this week you have moved beyond showing us videos that are bad because you taste just sucks and moved into the realm of just sadistically torturing us for fun.
21:23 <PaperIsland> I think we were reading our own meaning into a fairly uninspired video
21:24 <Kionon> esoterism?
21:25 <quadir> as a political message I think it could of been better. the montage format is an interesting medium that has really gone out of practice around here, so I was happy to see it used again to decent effect. Multi-anime these days tend to be lip-sync-athons and less about pulling themes out of anime.
21:25 <DriftRoot> This AMV had an interesting flavor, I'm just not sure it's easy to swallow.
21:25 <DriftRoot> The odd editing cuts don't help, either.
23:19 (snip) I actually agree with everything quadir says.