DBZ [trippy] Tokyo Ghoul [Halloween vibes]

[ultimeaguy]

[seasons]

I can't quite connect with this effort but there were a few really clever moments of internal sync that made it worth watching.

Split screen/masked clips with all the black screen around it kind of captured the sense of big open spaces in the music. I'm 100% certain that I'm not explaining that in a way that anyone will understand but I can't do much better right now.

I've never seen this anime, most AMVs I've seen made for it haven't made me want to change that very much. But this one felt different, included a lot of scenes I'd never seen before, showed off the pretty color palette of this series and made it appealing in a way that most Toyko Ghoul videos don't really try to do (instead, usually sprinting straight towards the most violent and grungy looking scenes and using those clips exclusively).

There's a nice sense of suspense in this and it's clear what's happening in terms of storytelling in a way that's easy to follow but never in a way that feels like forced exposition or overly-literal.

Transitioning into the action scenes kind of felt abrupt or like it could have been handled better, and yet I do appreciate how you keep building tension up to these points and then releasing it in ways that actually leave an impact on the viewer.

The creative motivation behind some of the cropping here was never fully apparent to me, although it does add a sense of visual unpredictability to the video (a small part of me wonders if it's built in as a copyright-detection busting technique, assuming such a thing even works in the first place).

I feel the same about this as I did about your Soul Eater video in how the frantic action editing continues through to the quiet conclusion of the song... although there is something more of a true conclusion to this AMV than there was to that one imho.

Good stuff.

[ultimeaguy]

Seasons-

Thank you so much for your analysis. You are one of few people willing to go this far to share your thoughts freely and honestly.

On the DBZ video, I heard this song for the first time recently and was very inspired to make a video about Goku always putting everything on the line to “let the boy live”. The lyrics are obsessed with the idea of alien life and the futuristic feel of the music help me paint the dbz landscape which features earth, an afterlife, and life outside of earth... the invading Saiyans. These themes serve to levitate Goku’s resolve to protect his son, his friends, and his planet. DBZ also features more beautiful art than what I remembered and I did my best to pay homage to that beauty.

On Tokyo Ghoul... I am so excited that you liked this one! One of my best friend requested this song, he is in the film industry and he challenged me with a very cinematic style song. He wanted me to tell a story that matched the emotions in this song and the never ending suspense that builds past the slow opening. This was a complete joy to make, at times it felt like the video was unraveling itself. The horror of being preyed upon... the physical and psychological horror of body transformation... the world changes perspective over night and suddenly the main character is in a violent and ruthless world that has always existed. By being a ghoul he risks killing his closest friend and getting kidnapped for being a half breed. I wanted to construct layers of fears across a spectrum.

The masks and split screens are purely artistic. Funny thing is this video got taken down by the Tokyo ghoul anime distributor... within hours and is why I had to put it on Vimeo. So it doesn’t work against the algorithm I am still practicing but will try to use them sparingly to highlight special moments. I wanna try to go for a comic book style edit or Instrument/screen style. That probably doesn’t make sense but once I master it, it’ll be way more clear.

I have gotten used to ending AMVs in big ways. You are right, I need to focus on making a quieter end when appropriate.


Thanks again for your feedback. Expect more videos to come soon!

Cheers,
Josh Juggernaut