Song selection for an AMV

[CaTaClYsM]

How do you pick your songs for your AMV's? I just try to make sure that the song and anime have something common, whether it be certain lyrics title or theme. But what would you say infuences your song selection?

[mexicanjunior]

Whether I can stand listening to it for weeks at a time. =P

[shinto]

i look at my footage and think of a song that has many parts that can relate to parts of the film. if that makes sense. ive decided for my next amv to use an (almost) instrumental song because it is about war and peace (its princess mononoke)

[RichLather]

Listen to the lyrics; print them out if you must and make notes as to which footage matches the lyrics.

I can't speak for others, but the way lyrics match up with what is on screen is important to me.

Example: a visually beautiful Princess Mononoke AMV with great slow dissolves was set to Lorena McKennit's "The Mummers' Dance", which lyrically has next to nothing in common with the movie. To me, it was quite distracting.

[Neptune L`amour]

For me its not really much of a tecnical process, the song just has to feel right. Granted it dose take a little more then that for anything decent to come from the finished product (so I'm told)

[shinto]

what really annoys me is when somebody makes a visually great amv but uses a song just because it is one of their faves even if it doesn't go with the anime at all.

[ShonenDizzyCow]

(I tend to use vocal songs)

Song must have the right mood, right lyrics, right perspective, right voice, right length (or able to be easily editable), right originality AND one that I can almost never get tired off even after listening to for MONTHS.

It's really hard, but it's by far the most important decision you'll ever make in each AMV that you do.

[SarahtheBoring]

... I usually start (uh, in terms of ideas and finished videos) with the song, when visuals will come into my head just as I listen - or a lyric or a sound will remind me of something I've seen.

For example: I was listening to "Drama!", while waiting for a ride after work one day. Since I had played FF8 lately, the line "Your shame is neverending, just one psychological drama after another" reminded me of all the melodrama in that game. Over time that evolved into my second (and badly edited ) video.

Almost every other idea I've had has gone like that, song first, visuals just suggested by my wandering mind.

The exception to this would be "Sea of Stars", where I was watching the footage without sound and thought, "I need a nice floating song to go with this..."

Anyhow, I would pick a song, if that's the case, that first of all fits the tone or mood of the idea I want to present. Thoughtful, angry, whatever. Then, the lyrics - unless they're not very important in the song either - have to match, or at least be warped around in meaning to fit the series.

Title is irrelevant to me, though it can be useful sometimes in titling the video when it's done. Most important are sound/mood and lyrics.

[trythil]

I like to listen to the musical elements of a song before I go anywhere with it -- tempo, time signature, key signature(s) and key changes, chord progressions, rhythmic patterns, scales...and so on.

From there, it's mostly a process of watching lots of anime and doing other stuff until the "right" combo pops into mind.

I find that, by analyzing those components, it's possible to create visuals that not only reflect the music but interact with the audio. That is, if you know where and how the music is going, you can edit your sources in such a way to provide a visual path to an aural destination. (Overextended metaphor. Sorry.)

[shinto]

Geez u do a lot of research into your music, are you a musician?