Throughout it, I never stopped editing, never stopped entering into contests, never lost that passion. But every darn weekend I think about uploading, something comes up, something stops me midway, some other lame excuse overrides the reasoning center of my brain. Worse, seeing the Org decline in that period was almost like a further deterrent for my stupid skull. And yet, I wasn't even motivated upload my work onto Youtube. My friends became my exclusive critics, and this isn't helping me grow as an editor.
I know this isn't healthy. I recognize that in order to fix the problem, I have to change my habits and stop worrying about things out of my control. The Org is what it is, and that's that. I can't fix it, there's no way around it. Hopefully it gets redesigned, hopefully it stays stable. God, I hope it does, this place shaped so much of me. But I can no longer be part of the problem.
The new rule I'm instituting for myself is that things go up when they are done. On the Org and Youtube. That's final. Same goes for con work. I need to get better at being timely. If I don't excuses pile up. My wife, and co-Under The Box Productions Member, Krigen will also upload her work. I honestly can't wait for you guys to see it. It's brilliant, just like her. I also pledge to participate more in exchanges, and announcements, and be a more active member of the forum.
All of that said, it would mean a ton to get some words of encouragement from you guys. I always welcome constructive criticism, positive or negative. If it isn't seen, then there's no point to any of this. I've got two videos right here. Next week, I got two more, plus a Karaoke version of one of these. I hope you watch them. Even if you hate them, it would mean a lot if you said something.
About the video:
Can Shinji be redeemed?
That simple question sparked my most overly ambitious idea: An Evangelion AMV Rock Opera! It would be a five AMV series, from 0.00 (using End of Evangelion as a starting point), and running through the four films. I just pulled a George Lucas and did the middle first. So why not include the rest of the show? Because we already know the quintessential Shinji. Everyone knows Shinji. Everyone hates Shinji. Shinji hates Shinji. If there was ever a character in need of a cleansing, it's Shinji.
I will talk about the visual motif here. He listens to the same tape over and over again. His life is a recurring song. Even in the micro level, when one battle ends, another begins...immediately. Of course he snaps.
Each of the four parts (besides 0.00) will contain an object as a motif, just as the films do. These objects are, in fact, the obstacle Shinji must overcome. Speaking more broadly, the objects end up literally 'objectifying' his romantic interests. I'd wager to say that is his main problem. His objectification of people around him. Objects to make him happy (something explored heavily in End of Eva). He needs to break out of that cycle if he wants to win. Will he? We'll find out when the fourth movie hits.
I am not giving you too much here, but when the other four parts are done, I will probably have a novel typed out 'splaining myself. Mainly why I thought this was a good idea. Y'all deserve that much.
About the editing process:
Because this is a part of a series, I left out my studio logo. There will be one at the beginning of part zero.
There was one editing trick tying up a few match cuts...the Z-Axis Zoom! DUN DUN DUUUN!
I'll admit, I had some fun with this one. Normally the z-axis cut creates a pausing effect. This was still too sudden, with not enough time to reflect and absorb. I found the zooms as a good way to emphasize that, as well as complimenting the visual symbolism of the cassette player being on a loop. "Pausing" time for the viewer is perhaps the perfect way to snapshot his desperation to escape.
Contrast with the jump cutting when I wanted to rush the audience through visual "exposition". Also effective, but for the opposite reason. It's all about the right tools for the right job.
I did had one masking effect. Edited out some Asuka lip flap. No biggie.
The song is layered in intensity. There is a frenzy, and percussion increase through the end of the song that just keeps ramping up with some serious dark undertones. It gets loud and frantic real fast. Hence the action does too. My one regret is that this does not carry on large screens and speaker systems. Oh well. Hopefully the other parts tie it together a little better.
Otherwise, this one was pretty vanilla, with some speed ramping. No crazy effect tricks, so it all came together with very few timeline layers, thankfully.
About the video:
This was one video that I couldn't find anyone else had done, and decided needed to exist. It's short, its sweet, its a barrel of fun! If you want to sing along, there's the karaoke edition!
No, seriously, I made this AMV so I could sing along to the song. That's it. No deeper meaning. No hogwash about the human spirit. Just fun racing.
About the editing process:
I did it in a week ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. It took another week to add karaoke lyrics. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)