ECS.03: The Scrapyard

[CrackTheSky]

I'm hedging a lot as I post these, but yeah, probably not going to be up everyone's alley. I edited most of both these videos "deaf" in that I didn't listen to the song as I was laying video track down. Only after most of the video was down did I go back and listen to the music and make minor adjustments as needed -- I was pursuing a super loose sync style here in the hopes that I would be able to hit on the mood of these songs without getting bogged down with editing. There's no story here, just a moody look at the cyberpunk dystopia aesthetic found in Battle Angel Alita.

They are both more or less the same video, set to different songs and with some scenes marginally adjusted to account for the little sync I did do (also the "b" version has additional scenes since the song is longer). Why did I do this? It's an experiment I've been wanting to try for a while, to see what different things different songs can bring out in the same scenes. They ended up feeling pretty similar, but I enjoy the way they both came out, though for different reasons.

Don't feel bad if you don't really enjoy these -- I don't imagine most people will, but who knows?

[ProstrateConstantly]

This is a cool as hell experiment! (not gonna lie the whole same-video-different-song shtick was somethin in the back of my mind for a while, but if there's anyone I'd be fine with executing it before me it's gotta be CrackTheSky)

Reading about your process for this video is fascinating, and heavily relatable to my own process on Abrogate Need. I'm mainly interested in AMVs as a non-narrative, tonally conscious medium, so your ECS series is right up my alley! With this type of process, it's so wondrous to see when the atmosphere of a piece of music and anime are gently curated to form an organic whole, and you pull that off in spades here (twice, no less!!). AMVs like this are like slower paced movies. If you're in a quicker headspace and aren't relating to the sensibility on display it can be very frustrating, but if you and the creator hit the same wavelength it's gives you so much more opportunity to live in the piece, and that's peak art engagement.

Sorry this is all just conceptual pontificating, but I feel like to pick out the specifics of the video is almost to do a disservice to what your base approach represents. It was such a rewarding experience watching both of these, and reading your write-up was such an "I am reading someone else writing stuff I have exactly thought before and I feel vindicated" moment. Great stuff!!

[CrackTheSky]

This is a cool as hell experiment! (not gonna lie the whole same-video-different-song shtick was somethin in the back of my mind for a while, but if there's anyone I'd be fine with executing it before me it's gotta be CrackTheSky)

Reading about your process for this video is fascinating, and heavily relatable to my own process on Abrogate Need. I'm mainly interested in AMVs as a non-narrative, tonally conscious medium, so your ECS series is right up my alley! With this type of process, it's so wondrous to see when the atmosphere of a piece of music and anime are gently curated to form an organic whole, and you pull that off in spades here (twice, no less!!). AMVs like this are like slower paced movies. If you're in a quicker headspace and aren't relating to the sensibility on display it can be very frustrating, but if you and the creator hit the same wavelength it's gives you so much more opportunity to live in the piece, and that's peak art engagement.

Sorry this is all just conceptual pontificating, but I feel like to pick out the specifics of the video is almost to do a disservice to what your base approach represents. It was such a rewarding experience watching both of these, and reading your write-up was such an "I am reading someone else writing stuff I have exactly thought before and I feel vindicated" moment. Great stuff!!

Late, but thank you, I always really appreciate when you leave comments like this, it's good to know that there are others out there who approach AMVs in a similar way to me when I make weird stuff like this (I mean, I always knew you and others do, but it's good to have that reinforced every now and again). Glad you liked these!

[seasons]

There are some great moments in both of these, some coming from the exact same scenes, some not, I'm super intrigued by the creative process here--just following a different strategy or impulse than one usually does and how that can yield... something different but still very much yours, in a way.

I especially love the final shot, the alley scene, but obviously just the atmosphere of everything else in between is what this is all about, some scenes moved just a little too quickly for me but I have not seen this anime so yeah I don't really know what you were working here. It's definitely obvious how this anime would fit the whole aesthetic you've been exploring with these.

Just a really good mood bath of a video, both of them, I go back and forth on which one I prefer but they're both great