Anime Detour 2013 - Fashionista, Zack's Rap, and Loathing

[Megane Girl]

Hi! Newbie here. Nice to meetcha.

All in all, I made three AMVs for Anime Detour 2013. Pretty intimidated (in a good way) by all the amazing editors here, so any feedback you're willing to give me would be much appreciated! If you're pressed for time, I would especially like some feedback on the third (below).

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NOTE - This won Best Action in the AMV Contest. I was flabbergasted. ^_^

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NOTE - This was an entry in the WTF Contest. A bit of an inside joke; it helps to be familiar with Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and its musical commentary.

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NOTE - This was also an entry in the WTF Contest. I would especially like some feedback on this one because I'm honestly a bit disappointed and surprised by the lackluster reception it's received so far. As far as editing and technical skill goes, I think it's one of my best to date. But I do understand that the subject matter is ... well, just plain wrong. (But I'm not sorry! ) If people don't like it because they don't find Sephiroth-as-Elphaba and Cloud-as-Galinda as amusing as I do, well - then this will just remain a mostly-inside joke between my friends and me. ^_^ But if there's something else about it that's off-putting, I would very much like to know.

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Feedback, of both the positive and constructively critical kinds, is much appreciated! Thank you.

[Radical_Yue]

Velcome~ Just want to start off by saying that I adore your enthusiasm and such. We need more new people like you haha

Now~

Who Are You Wearing?

Spoiler :

Tiger & Bunny I seriously adore this show
+ This is a very interesting combination, something I never would have really thought of. Now that I think about it, the characters in T&B really do have this air of fabulous about them. So props for an interesting concept and thinking outside the box!
- Now, there are some aspects of this video that sadly, aren't so great. First and foremost, those credits Credits are just as bad as subtitles and are highly frowned upon so you always want to do your best to make sure your footage looks as clean as possible to prevent distraction. This means no credits, subtitles, or logos! (Unless the logos are part of an awesome super-suit, then by all means. =w=) Now speaking of distraction, we move on to the subject of lip flap. Lip flap is basically where a character's mouth is moving but it's not actually lip sync. This is another no-no. While it's excusable in some cases, in a video where you occasionally throw in lip sync the viewers will direct even more attention to the mouths for additional lip sync. The initial lip sync sets up the expectation and the moving mouths during times where lyrics are being sung really draws the viewer to that one part of the screen, expecting more lip sync.
Then there isn't any. The character is just flapping their gums. This is an incredibly distracting issue in normal videos, but when you've set the stage for someone to expect occasional lip sync, it's even worse D: So unless you plan on going all out make sure that they keep their mouths zipped! :X
And finally, the pacing/atmosphere. For this kind of song, to be honest I expected a lot more Fire Emblem and flourish lol You want to give life to this lively song by keeping up a bit of a quicker pace and give the editing a bit of a bouncy feel to it like the strut of a model walking down the runway. Keep the smiles and smirks and stay away from the >:| and pained faces. For a great example of atmosphere and immersing your viewer in the concept, check out



When watching the video, the viewer can't help but feel like they're almost watching a fashion show/concert. The smiles and sex appeal never leave the video. While you had occasional glimpses of this with the Blue Rose sequences you needed more.

Overall, it's an enjoyable video with flaws but it has the potential to be FABULOUS!

Also, just a tip for the encoding - Ditch the quicktime required M4Vs. This is going to deter a lot of people from downloading your videos. Do yourself a favor and look into MP4s. If you work with a Mac but need some encoding assistance we've got a decent amount of friendly Mac editors who can help you out!

I'll try and check out the other two later, maybe after I get off work.

[Megane Girl]

Velcome~ Just want to start off by saying that I adore your enthusiasm and such. We need more new people like you haha

Now~

Who Are You Wearing?

Spoiler :

Tiger & Bunny I seriously adore this show
+ This is a very interesting combination, something I never would have really thought of. Now that I think about it, the characters in T&B really do have this air of fabulous about them. So props for an interesting concept and thinking outside the box!
- Now, there are some aspects of this video that sadly, aren't so great. First and foremost, those credits Credits are just as bad as subtitles and are highly frowned upon so you always want to do your best to make sure your footage looks as clean as possible to prevent distraction. This means no credits, subtitles, or logos! (Unless the logos are part of an awesome super-suit, then by all means. =w=) Now speaking of distraction, we move on to the subject of lip flap. Lip flap is basically where a character's mouth is moving but it's not actually lip sync. This is another no-no. While it's excusable in some cases, in a video where you occasionally throw in lip sync the viewers will direct even more attention to the mouths for additional lip sync. The initial lip sync sets up the expectation and the moving mouths during times where lyrics are being sung really draws the viewer to that one part of the screen, expecting more lip sync.
Then there isn't any. The character is just flapping their gums. This is an incredibly distracting issue in normal videos, but when you've set the stage for someone to expect occasional lip sync, it's even worse D: So unless you plan on going all out make sure that they keep their mouths zipped! :X
And finally, the pacing/atmosphere. For this kind of song, to be honest I expected a lot more Fire Emblem and flourish lol You want to give life to this lively song by keeping up a bit of a quicker pace and give the editing a bit of a bouncy feel to it like the strut of a model walking down the runway. Keep the smiles and smirks and stay away from the >:| and pained faces. For a great example of atmosphere and immersing your viewer in the concept, check out



When watching the video, the viewer can't help but feel like they're almost watching a fashion show/concert. The smiles and sex appeal never leave the video. While you had occasional glimpses of this with the Blue Rose sequences you needed more.

Overall, it's an enjoyable video with flaws but it has the potential to be FABULOUS!

Also, just a tip for the encoding - Ditch the quicktime required M4Vs. This is going to deter a lot of people from downloading your videos. Do yourself a favor and look into MP4s. If you work with a Mac but need some encoding assistance we've got a decent amount of friendly Mac editors who can help you out!

I'll try and check out the other two later, maybe after I get off work.

Thank you for the critique!!! My response:

Spoiler :

I also adore Tiger & Bunny and could not stop envisioning an AMV of it to this song when I heard it.

Re: credits - Yeeeah, I couldn't for the life of me find the clean openings or closings when I was editing. It came down to using the credit-filled shot I wanted or compromising and finding a different shot, and I decided on the former. I tried, though! ^_^;

Re: lip flap - I never thought of it that way. :/ I'll be on the lookout for that kind of thing in the future! Thank you for pointing it out.

Re: atmosphere - Ah, I'm afraid I'm going to have to hold my ground and defend myself a little bit here. ^_^; The song is lively, yes, but it's not at all happy - it's a biting critique of the fashion industry. It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done; all that matters is what you're wearing. In the same way, for Hero TV, it doesn't matter how many civilians you save or bad guys you catch; all that matters is if you got good ratings and made your sponsors happy. Flashy on the outside, but corrupt within.

At least, that's what I had hoped to convey. I haven't gotten much feedback on it so far, so I'm not sure if it's translating that well. :/

(I did watch the M.A.tsuri AMV, though, and even though I feel that adding that much sex appeal to my own AMV wouldn't have been appropriate for the darker feel of the song, I really enjoyed it! ^_^ Thanks for the rec. *takes notes*)

Re: encoding - Ah, I had no idea! Will do.

Again, thank you so much for the feedback!!! Really truly.

-Megane Girl