how NOT to make an AMV

[Bauzi]

I'v seen those vids too, even before i started making amv's like 4 years ago i hated those amvs. When i started in wmm i was like "there's no way i'm turning out like that" and came up with original and well put together ...crap :/
But hey, without crappy amvs like those, we'd have nothing to make our vids look so much better, lol.

From Bauzi:

I know them of course too and that is the reason why I avoid to click on the new vid on the block link.
I think: OMG Whats wrong with the new ones? Even I used in my amvs more cuts, effects and footage, what a lot even don´t do after... 5 amv. And I´ve started 5 or even more years ago with a crapy PC and Ulead 5 (to hell with this programm...). It is ok to present his first amv, but after a few amvs, there has to be an effort and a change

If you don't believe that, you should go look at some of Michel Gondry's music videos....say, the ones he did for Kylie Minogue's "Come Into My World" and Lacquer's "Behind". Both of those flow as one continuous take, and, really, I gotta say, they work really, really well.

Big different: The video source was made for the music.
And in amvs: The videofootage is made for... well nothing except for a preview. (and of course to get pain in the ears, because of bad sync )

[trythil]

Big different: The video source was made for the music.
And in amvs: The videofootage is made for... well nothing except for a preview. (and of course to get pain in the ears, because of bad sync :P )

No, there is absolutely no difference.

There is absolutely no technical reason why existing animation cannot be synchronized using methods other than "cut here, splice here, speed this up and slap another clip here". The MAD scene already does this to a great extent.

[sirvayza]

To look at it from the other perspective, it requires an equal, if not greater, investment in time, talent, and dedication to make a very long shot "work".

If you don't believe that, you should go look at some of Michel Gondry's music videos....say, the ones he did for Kylie Minogue's "Come Into My World" and Lacquer's "Behind". Both of those flow as one continuous take, and, really, I gotta say, they work really, really well.

Maximum clip length is one of the most ridiculous metrics to judge an AMV by. There's many more, and sometimes far superior, ways to synchronize video and audio.

OK, once again from the top.

ok, let me preface this by saying that some AMVs can work in this fashion, just not everyone you make!

[SarahtheBoring]

Us complaining about the makers of hosatchel-hosted three-clip AMVs is like a painter complaining about people who doodle on bits of paper.

x3. They're having fun, and I don't care if they do. I just don't really want to watch them.

Though trythil brings up a good point, albeit a devil's-advocate sort of point. (OMG all pro videos suxorz cuz I saw a bad one on MTV once lolololololol.) Actually, my favorite pro MV - "Star Guitar" by the Chemical Brothers - is one continuous shot, IIRC.

More to the point, why are you complaining about this? Yes, bad videos get made. Duh. If you're trying to offer people advice, next time try advice that isn't ridiculously obvious. It might actually be helpful.

[OmniStrata]

Here's one idea to hit people in the face...

Don't watch bad amvs? I learned that after oh... 2 Linkin' Bark Z vids... Well, if you want to do op exchanges, you may not have a choice in the matter...

I too find it very hard to consider one LOOONG clip synched to music, but ya know, if it IS synched to the lyrics bit for bit, even if off beat, maybe that's what the editor was intending...

[shit, I did it for my very FIRST amv and for some stupid reason, people didn't notice the clips were like 15s.+ in length]

LOL

[downwithpants]

To look at it from the other perspective, it requires an equal, if not greater, investment in time, talent, and dedication to make a very long shot "work".

If you don't believe that, you should go look at some of Michel Gondry's music videos....say, the ones he did for Kylie Minogue's "Come Into My World" and Lacquer's "Behind". Both of those flow as one continuous take, and, really, I gotta say, they work really, really well.

Maximum clip length is one of the most ridiculous metrics to judge an AMV by. There's many more, and sometimes far superior, ways to synchronize video and audio.

we don't make film, we edit pre-existing footage. lengthy single-shot segments are difficult to film for many reasons, but, in and of itself, not hard to edit. not to say an amv with long continuous segments can't be carefully edited, but just that i see problems with the comparison between filmmaking and amv editing in this regard.

[trythil]

OK, once again from the top. :lol:

ok, let me preface this by saying that some AMVs can work in this fashion, just not everyone you make!

I don't consider clip length to have any bearing on the quality of an AMV. However, your post, all disclaimers aside, seems to imply that you think that there is some correlation.

we don't make film, we edit pre-existing footage. lengthy single-shot segments are difficult to film for many reasons, but, in and of itself, not hard to edit. not to say an amv with long continuous segments can't be carefully edited, but just that i see problems with the comparison between filmmaking and amv editing in this regard.

The line, if it ever existed, is becoming really blurry.

One example that just came to mind is Nightowl's Playground Love, which is probably as much original material as edited material. Vicbond007's 3D Evangelion dance video is another example.

I mentioned MADs in my last post, so I'll give an example of that here: there's a MAD out there based on Tsukihime that is entirely composed of original 3D animation based on Tsukihime character designs -- its filename has the pattern (MAD)[感電注意][月姫] 幻蒼姫.mpg, if you're interested.

All of these take existing footage and/or existing work, but they manipulate it and surround it with original work to the point where you're no longer just editing sequences and slapping more layers on, and that gives you new levels of control. (In cases like that Tsukihime MAD, you've got the same control as you would in filmmaking -- probably more, if you consider that computer graphics frees you from a lot of real-world constraints. Like gravity.)

So it's stuff like that that makes me question just how well-defined the line between filmmaking and AMV creation (let's just drop the word "editing") is, and the only thing that I can see that keeps that line there is the amount of effort that most people are often willing to spend on AMVs.

[iamfanboy]

Quite honestly, I think the amount of time, length of footage, special effects, splicing, or even the songs/anime used matter but little to the final product. What can be seen as the dividing factor between the good and the bad is one simple word:

Planning.

Forethought is the key to a good video. Thinking ahead, plotting out what goes where, what episodes have the necessary footage, where the footage is that you might want to use, having more footage than you might need, etcetera, etcetera...

Some mutants might be able to storyboard and rough-edit an AMV in their own heads in the course of about an hour of thought (I belong to that mutant category), whereas others may take days or weeks to consider and plan a proper project before diving in.

On the other end of the spectrum you see jokers who say, "Linkin Park? That'd make an AWESOME Dragonball Z video!" Then they try it and panic when they realize that they didn't THINK ahead, that they only had footage from one or two episodes and somehow had to make that in to a 4 minute video, and they didn't know a damned thing other than how to use a Star Wipe.

Moonie, I broke 2 of your rules, but I did them intentionally (I'm no fool!). I have subtitles in my video but I WANT them in there (well, in almost every place that I have them, at least); I drew from xvid source because that's what I gots (and you have to get the idea out while it's hot).

The difference was planning.

Which reminds me, better go watch Peach Girl all the way through - gotta get some footage for my next possible AMV. *sigh* It's such a chore.

[Niotex]

People who don't output above average video's, shouldn't even bitch in the first place. As they are bitching about themselves. And when it comes to the average or even below average. That is the category I also fall into myself, so don't bitch me for "arrogance". I am just fed up with people who think they know things so well without looking at themselves first. Now all crawl back behind your little presets and take a cup of shut the fuck up.

[Minion]

you forgot the pic