Finding Joy for Shinji (Evangelion w/ AJJ's Big Bird, Ben E. King's Stand By Me)

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Toji1996
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Finding Joy for Shinji (Evangelion w/ AJJ's Big Bird, Ben E. King's Stand By Me)

Post by Toji1996 » Thu Sep 09, 2021 12:53 am

Hi everyone,

Recently I posted an AMV with AJJ's song Free Bird set to Evangelion. That AMV was the first in a three part series; here are the remaining two parts in one video.





Enjoy! It's been in the works for a few months now and I'm happy to say it's finally finished. And that I'm probably done with Evangelion AMVs. :lol: Here is the background.

My connection with both songs came from listening to them in their respective order while walking home from work. I noticed that for some reason, they complimented each other very well, and soon I realized that it was because they share the same 50s chord progression (I–vi–IV–V). And I could also appreciate that emotionally, Big Bird expresses more pain followed by something of an uprising within oneself, while Stand By Me expresses love if not longing for connection.

And then one night, after not making AMVs for a while, I thought of having a little fun and just trying to sync up the climax of Big Bird with the scene of Shinji punching Toji, and I was immediately struck by how much it resonated with me. And then I also did the same thing with Stand By Me (comparing Ben E King and John Lennon's versions) and I had the same reaction. So I decided it was time to see what I could do with an AMV.

Big Bird was probably the hardest part. And I thought that since it was preceded by Free Bird, this would have to be a series of three AMVs (and I already could see how Free Bird could connect with Evangelion). So I took on the task of making 3 AMVs simultaneously, putting most of my effort into Big Bird.

For that there were many challenges, as seems to be the case with any AMV (for me at least). I quickly realized how I was trying too hard to make the song connect with the anime in a 1:1 fashion; that is, have the lyrics match with a corresponding theme in Evangelion. That became humorously problematic when the closest equivalent to a dog in the show is Pin Pin - I playfully inserted that into my editor and although I was delighted to see friends laugh at it, I knew it wasn't right for the AMV. And besides having difficulty making 1:1 connections, I realized that 1:1 connections felt too dry and forced (and indeed I was forcing them). So I decided to relax and try to let connections arise more naturally, to let the anime and songs speak a little more for themselves and inform each other.

And for the climax of Big Bird, I knew there had to be some sort of build up. Usually I think that's accomplished by introducing plot elements conducive to suspense. The thing is, the song itself didn't seem to provide room for that, and I didn't exactly intend to make the video into a story. I wanted the video to reflect two things: Shinji's inner struggles but also his capacity to rise above them (even if he failed to do this during most of the anime). To do that I thought it made more sense to just go through Shinji's painful emotions. I wanted to bring out his tendency to take too much responsibility for others, to be led by fear and guilt, and to harbor resentment. I also wanted to bring out his desire for connection and liberation.

Thus the climax represents a nod to those moments where he at least came close to a kind of catharsis or release of emotion. And Stand By Me is even more of a nod to those interpersonal dynamics.

Stand By Me was the part of the AMV where I took the liberty of relaxing and just having a little more casual fun. My intention was to emphasize personal (and romantic) relationships in the anime without going into too much detail (which may be possible but too difficult for me to accomplish). I saw an interesting sort of dynamic between Misato, Shinji, Asuka, and Kaji. Misato and Shinji are almost like mother and son, but there is sometimes a sexual tension between the two; Shinji and Asuka are almost like two bickering brothers and sisters, and of course their emotional facades mask their shared desire for connection; while Misato and Kaji have the most explicitly expressed sexual and romantic connection, Asuka's dynamic with Shinji is complimented by her explicit lust for Kaji (and ironically they are incredibly disconnected).

While those ideas went into the AMV, I didn't take too much time to flesh them out. The song is short, simple, and kind of corny. So I decided to make the first half a little more serious and reflective of these dynamics while injecting some humor into the section after the instrumental break which (fairly quickly) concludes the song. And I also tried to insert just a little reference to the show's underlying plot. I figured that not only would this ease my workload, they might be create welcome relief after Big Bird's intensity.

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seasons
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Re: Finding Joy for Shinji (Evangelion w/ AJJ's Big Bird, Ben E. King's Stand By Me)

Post by seasons » Sun Sep 19, 2021 5:33 pm

Love this AMV. I love the scenes that begin and end the video and give it room to breathe as it transitions from one song to the next. The big epic moments hit hard, the intimate and quiet moments draw the viewer in and let us feel a stronger connection to the characters. The selective use of external audio in some of these clips is some of the most effective use of that technique that I've ever encountered. It enhances the emotional impact at just the right moments, it's rationed out carefully and not overdone whatsoever.

After a third viewing I finally realized that this AMV literally begins right where your previous AMV ended. Both that continuation and just the way you transitioned these two AMVs together into a single uninterrupted experience for this particular upload opens the door to a lot of possibilities in editing that I've never fully considered. Love seeing you back and editing again after a quiet two and a half year hiatus.

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