What i've noticed lately in amv's

jehutia · Post by **jehutia** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 11:57 am

Hi guys this is my first post on these boards

Well i've downloaded quite a few amv's and some of them are really good! The production values on most of them are tight and its shows through the suberb presentation of the video.

Now its time to bitch

I've noticed recently that some videos are getting a bit predictable. What i mean by this is when the words of the song are literally being shown in the video. For example, if the word "walking" is sung in the song, usually there will actually be a person (anime character) walking in video while the word "walking" is said.
I mean its cool to literally sync the actions to the lyrics however when it is over used the video becomes extremely predicatable. Especially when I already know the words.

For instance when i was watching (A Thousand Miles - Whisper of the Heart) it got somewhat a bit predictable. Dont get me wrong i love the video & song! The production values were amazing & capture was great! Which is why it won best romantic video in 2002 (congrats BTW!).
However since i already knew the lyrics I knew what as going to happen next in that video.
Let me explain.
Vanessa Carlton sings the line: "Makin' my way downtown, Walkin' fast, Faces pass and I'm homebound. "

When this line is sung there was literally a female character walking fast, passing faces was definately home bound! When i saw this for the first time in the video i thought great! but soon after every word that was sung had the actually corresponding action. I knew that was going to happen before it happened, heck i even knew how it was going to end. I just wasnt surprised anymore.

When actual music videos (MTV) are made they dont literally sync in with the lyrics. I'm not sayin that the videos on MTV are fantastic, but they some how are able to abstractly mold the lyrics & tune into the actions that are carried out in the video.

Thus from what ive said i think what makes a good amv is when the words of the song are depicted visually in the video. But in a sense that actions and motions are not governed by the lyrics yet should co-exist together and form one body.

Well that was my Two cents.

HAPPY AMVing everybody!

Org Profile · Post by **Otohiko** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 12:01 pm

Literal lyric sync? It happens, but I don't think it's as common as you might think. I've seen a number of very tastefully-synched lyrics.

Granted, sometimes when a song really fits... you just can't help but be literal. Or even if you know you shouldn't, it's hard not to be.

But then there's also comedic vids that tend to flip song meanings upside down...

***

As for me, that's another reason to love instrumental vids

Zarxrax · Post by **Zarxrax** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 12:03 pm

Some people like to sync the lyrics with the video. Thats just how it is, everyone has different opinions. If you don't like them like that, feel free to make your own videos however you like, but people aren't going to change *their* editing just because you don't like it.

Bote · Post by **Bote** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 12:09 pm

The totally literal lyrical following in "A 1000 miles" is the video's best quality and I personally think it wouldn't have been so good if there weren't so many tight lyrical matchings. Ok, try imagining it in a different way, without so many literal folowings and do you really think that it's the better way it should have been made?

downwithpants · Post by **downwithpants** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 12:46 pm

From a creator's standpoint, lyrics are an obvious way to approach scene selection. All you have to do is look at your CD album cover, or go to a lyrics site and copy the lyrics down, then start thinking of scenes that match with the lyrics. Well, that's how I've been doing it, but I've been trying to stray away from it. Doing instrumental videos really helps. Since there are no lyrics, it forces you to listen to the phrases and verses of the song, and what the music in itself is trying to say. Unlike lyrics, the music often develops its ideas more smoothly and in a controlled fashion, and if you follow the music rather than the lyrics, you end up with a smoother video that is tied to the music more deeply as well. Anyways, Read <a href=http://www.a-m-v.org/guides/avtech31/>ErMaC & AbsoluteDestiny's Friendly AMV Guides</a> has a good section on this http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/ ... udio5.html

From a viewer's standpoint, I prefer scene selection that doesn't depend heavily on the lyrics, but rather brings together a coherent flow in the video. Of course, if it can follow lyrics AND be coherent, that's all the better. However, there are many people who do prefer lyric synch.

mexicanjunior's profile wrote:"if he says "pretty rose" in the song there better be a god damned rose on the f**k**g screen - Quote, professor Lopez at the institute of higher video editing"

The scene selection in Kwasek's 1000 Miles wasn't just good lyric synch, it was also coherent (sequences of scenes would be related to each other in some way- the mood, the setting, character development) and well matched to the music (longer scenes put up against longer notes, quicker scenes put up against quicker notes, bright imagery against warm-consonant sounds, darker/higher contrast imagery against harsher sounds).

Corran · Post by **Corran** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 12:55 pm

I guarantee almost any video I come out with starting at The World She Knows will contain extreme use of lyric sync so I guess it is best if you avoid my work.

SarahtheBoring · Post by **SarahtheBoring** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 2:44 pm

Sometimes the lyrics are what remind you of the anime in the first place and get the ball rolling... it happens. As others have said, you can't expect everyone to conform to your tastes.

And on the other end of the spectrum, I've gotten bitched at because some of mine don't have "enough" lyric sync.

So people have different tastes all across the spectrum.

Tash · Post by **Tash** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 4:53 pm

Over my last few videos and watching many videos of other people. I am trying to get as far as I can from obvious lyrical timing. Its just so annoying to me! To the first post, I agree with you completely, you speak my words exactly, but I'm an idiot and have no grammer. I hate all this obvious shit now that I won't even watch my own early videos again because they are filled with that crap I hate. Sadly any video now that i seeby someone else which contains this style just ruins everything else for me. About the MTV thing, that is why they are profesional, people may think these videos are boring because little timing, but they appeal to the brain....Really it all depends if you want to emphasize the visuals or the music. I kind of got lost in my thought and wrote random things but lets just say I wish their was less of this kind of timing.

DemonSpawn · Post by **DemonSpawn** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 5:04 pm

I think it's a problem when it's the only thing going for the video. It's understandable, I mean, inspiration doesn't hit every day.

Primarily, it's hard because you're more or less trying to tell a story or convey a mood/emotion through the work of another person. Sometimes the lyrics are strong enough to tell their own story, but I imagine when you know the song really well it becomes hard to like an AMV with that music, since you have your own vision of what the song means.

Also, a big part is how the creator deals with figurative speech in the song. You can't find scenes that explicitly match a song word for word. Not to mention, how do you deal with pauses?

I think, in a way, all AMVs deal with lyrics in one way or another.

TobinHood · Post by **TobinHood** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 5:08 pm

It's all in how the video is presented. Sometimes a video will only work if the lyrics are dead on. Lots of comedy videos would fall under that category. Other times being less literal is better.

It's all about the flow. I've been complemented on my Dust in the Wind video for not being literal with the lyrics but having great scene selection if thats more of your taste[/pimp]