making video's for the music or music for the video?..

[EkaCoralian]

Usually I find a song and consider a few anime for it that might fit.
Other times its the other way around, but the other times are usually mad gambles for any song because I'm too fanly for my own good. =P I tend to find the song first then consider anime more often.

[xXHarbingerofDeathXx]

could you just randomly gobble up video's and run alot of songs until you find one that fits? or does everyone just make the video with the music. Kind of a silly idea but you never know...

it's kind of a gamble.

Well I generally choose an anime than think of a good song to go with it or sometimes Ill be listen to a song and think "That would be good for an AMV!" and thats pretty much how I do it XD.

[Krueger]

Right now I only make VGMVs but when doing so I'll either A.) pick a game series and think what kind of genre I want to make the video. Then once that's done I pretty much have how I want the whole video to play out in my head so I just think of a song to go with it or look for one. However sometimes a song itself will inspire me to do a video.

[xPiikanyaa]

Well, I don't really plan the video before I make it. Sometimes I just get an idea while I'm listening to a song and go with my instincts.

[Kionon]

1) Song as Storyboard

For most of my videos, I was a song first person. I would hear a song, my mind would immediately start storyboarding. This still happens, but I make a lot less of these videos because it is very easy to storyboard in your mind using scenes that do not actually exist in the source. I have started quite a few song first amvs only to get half way through and realise that they key sequence of scenes I was depending on to tie it all together never really existed. I am not skilled enough, because I lack the willpower, to create the footage myself for drama or romance videos in a way that doesn't detract from the message.

Assuming the footage is available, I feel this is the most enjoyable, and least stressful approach for me.

2) Concept as Storyboard

Increasingly, over the years, I tried concept first approaches. To me these approaches are specifically types of literary criticism. I have something in particular to say about the anime involved, either about the anime itself, or about one or more characters. In that case, I have to search for a song. Boy at the Piano is an example of this, although not perfectly. When I heard the song I eventually chose, the point of view of the video changed, and the theme became darker.

This type of approach has always been difficult for me, just based on the way my mind edits. When I have come up with a general concept first, and I allow myself to become too involved in its structure, then I have a very hard time finding a song that fits just so. And I am not without recognising that as soon as I do find a song, the understanding of the lyrics subtly alter my conceptual structure. It may not alter my message, but it does alter the way I go about it. As long as I am not too married to my original concept, then I can go with the flow. The problem is when I find a song I like that goes with the general message, but makes parts of my previous structure wholly inapplicable. I then struggle to fill in the gaps.

3) Concept as Loose Framework, Song as Storyboard

My current procedure is a combination of the two. I have a lot of ideas about different anime, specifically KOR, Utena, Maison Ikkoku, and TokiKake, that relate to a very loose conceptual structure, either of a character profile, or of a message about the philosophy in the series, but I avoid getting bogged down, and I avoid committing myself to any project so as not to put a requirement on me for any particular of these loose ideas. Instead, I have these rotating though my mind whenever I am listening to music, and while it is a passive sort of databasing, it still seems to work effectively. When I hear a song that fits one of these loose ideas, I mentally change gears, snap awake, and start storyboarding like I would in example 1.

Shadow is a great example of this. I've wanted to make a video about Shiori for a long time (in fact, I have loose structures running around in my head for all the minor characters of Utena, especially the Dark Rose group, which Shiori and Kozue from Boy at the Piano, are part of) and I had a general idea of what I wanted to say about her character. What traits I wanted to bring forward, and how I wanted to let Shiori speak for herself the way I let Kozue speak for herself. I heard JoyDrop's Beautiful and I immediately sat up in my chair, and hit repeat on iTunes. I had found it, the song, and only then did I let my mind take my knowledge of the series and start storyboarding in such a way that I feel Shadow came out exactly as I intended it, and I am very happy with it.

4) Sky Greenly Bottled Fierce

Then there are videos like Obamanation which are just me breaking my own rules. I don't pay attention to what is or is not in vogue or has been done, or what have you on the org. I've been told Obamanation was not ground-breaking, that it did things other editors have done before me. That's great, and all, and immah let you finish, but breaking my own rules is the best damn purpose for me doing stupid videos ever.

[JaddziaDax]

Depends on the video, sometimes it's one way, sometimes it's another. Sometimes it's this song reminds me of this, or I see that when I listen to it. Then other times its I love this anime, I need a good song...

Then sometimes it's zomg tuna.

[Kionon]

Depends on the video, sometimes it's one way, sometimes it's another. Sometimes it's this song reminds me of this, or I see that when I listen to it. Then other times its I love this anime, I need a good song...

Then sometimes it's zomg tuna.

or fishheads, fishheads... you two should do a seafood MEP

[JaddziaDax]

now if I only liked seafood O.o

/me passes out

[Kitsuner]

I know there are a couple instances where people have taken an existing video (either an unedited clip from the anime or a previously released AMV), stripped off the original audio, and designed a new audio track specifically for that video.

[xPiikanyaa]

1) Song as Storyboard

For most of my videos, I was a song first person. I would hear a song, my mind would immediately start storyboarding. This still happens, but I make a lot less of these videos because it is very easy to storyboard in your mind using scenes that do not actually exist in the source

That's what I do, but like you said, I sometimes end up imagining this non-existent clip, especially with anime I haven't seen much of. When I come round to making the video I usually just go with my gut instinct and make it up as I go along.