My AWA PRO videos // Repeater & Shards

[CrackTheSky]

Hi everyone --

I entered two videos into AWA's PRO contest this year, and here they are. Neither won anything (although Repeater was nominated for Best Tech and Most Artistic) but I'm still very happy with what I put together. They're both something of a departure from my normal style -- or, at least, I think so -- and they were both really fun to make.



If you want some context for this video, it might be a good idea to check out Phantasmagoria by Requiett, as this video was pretty directly inspired by that one. There are a lot of other influences that fed into this as well, too many to count. I've been wanting to make something psychedelic and weird like this for a while, and I'm really happy with the result.



This ended up being an intensely personal video about dealing with loss and the feeling of grief. It's maybe kind of abstract but definitely, intentionally there, and it was very cathartic to make.

Thanks for checking these videos out, I hope you enjoy them!

[SynaesthesiaVideos]

I wish we had more AMVs like "Repeater". It takes the viewer on a journey through specific vibes, but has no concrete "story". It's just a ride through your own subconscious while listening to music 8)

Making AMVs (for me at least) can be a way of expressing yourself, but it can also be a vehicle for catharsis. "Shards" felt like an excellent example of the type of edit that can help channel a great inner sadness within and let it escape. I found this video to be extraordinarily beautiful, yet still technically satisfying to watch, especially the sync in the middle part. I look forward to rewatching this again and again, finding new details every time

[lloyd9988]

holy fuck man... Shards is fucking beautiful. (Excuse my language)

[Megamom]

To be honest I liked Repeater more, old school electronic music and anime combined well, my problem with Shards is music, it is the type of music that I put in the background when I work in the office and it has nothing special for me sorry sorry sorry, but, I think it is a very nice and well edited AMV.

[seasons]

The internal sync in Repeater is so good. The first 30 seconds alone just hook you right away--unless you're just not into this kind of music or this kind of AMV, can't help you there I'm afraid--and it never really lapses but I just want to say this gets off to such an engaging start. The visuals are so colorful and vibrant and compelling, the way you sync those drum beats to action shots, that beautiful feeling at 0:19 as the bass almost seems to buoy the jet into the sky, I assume there's violent intent behind all this action but it just feels so joyful and free. I love how you gradually introduce overlays and/or color effects into this and they're always feel triggered by some change in the music, the denser the mix grows the more interwoven and tangled the visuals become. It's hard for me to put into words what the use of repetition and jump cuts actually achieves but I love it and it works within the aesthetic you're pursuing here. I can see how Phantasmagoria inspired this, although this is a totally different experience to watch, more psychedelic and abstract without the aggressive edge that AMV tried to channel (and possibly succeeded in doing, if you can put yourself in that 2004 frame of mind while watching it). I love this more every time I watch it. 3:42 to 4:16 is such a beautiful passage, I've been waiting for an AMV that captures this kind of feeling.

I also LOVE Shards, unexpectedly tight editing for something that's so "dreamy," if that makes any sense. (A statement I'll still stand by even after reading you say "a bit looser than it probably could be from an editing perspective" and not necessarily disagreeing with you on that at all, geez this is hard to explain). The video is slow enough to feel like you're just marinating in these beautiful visuals but surprisingly upbeat and paced in a way that doesn't sacrifice that or detract from the melancholy undertones of it. Too many good individual moments to list. Zero idea what's happening in these scenes but I don't need to know, I hope that fans of this anime will vibe with it in specific ways I cannot and maybe it will be something much more than a mood piece to them, but it works its magic very well as one of those sort of videos for myself.

my problem with Shards is music, it is the type of music that I put in the background when I work in the office and it has nothing special for me sorry sorry sorry, but, I think it is a very nice and well edited AMV.

I absolutely get what you're saying, at its core this is still glossy R&B and elements of it sound like elements of those kind of songs that are played on the radio all the time. But listening to what this song really does and also doesn't do, I think it's a different sort of experience than what its commercial cousins try to provide. There's nothing close to a verse-chorus-verse structure, the beats get super minimal, the instrumental "drop" does not follow the laws of what that's supposed to do, the vocals are super distant and only grow fainter as the song progresses... Just my opinion!

[Megamom]

my problem with Shards is music, it is the type of music that I put in the background when I work in the office and it has nothing special for me sorry sorry sorry, but, I think it is a very nice and well edited AMV.

I absolutely get what you're saying, at its core this is still glossy R&B and elements of it sound like elements of those kind of songs that are played on the radio all the time. But listening to what this song really does and also doesn't do, I think it's a different sort of experience than what its commercial cousins try to provide. There's nothing close to a verse-chorus-verse structure, the beats get super minimal, the instrumental "drop" does not follow the laws of what that's supposed to do, the vocals are super distant and only grow fainter as the song progresses... Just my opinion!

Right, I agree with everything you say, but, I think you misinterpreted me hehehe, this type of music is good (this song as you say is at a higher level) that's why I use it to work, but, as I say, it doesn't have that "something special" for me. In any case, if Ben loves this type of music and had fun editing this, I think it's the most important thing

PD: Someone to do an AMV with this !! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXJWO2FQ16c

[seasons]

PD: Someone to do an AMV with this !! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXJWO2FQ16c

This song was on my to-edit with list but isn't anymore, would love to see someone make something with it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEcuF8dSKLk

[Megamom]

PD: Someone to do an AMV with this !! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXJWO2FQ16c

This song was on my to-edit with list but isn't anymore, would love to see someone make something with it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEcuF8dSKLk

2:30 uuuffff

[vivafruit]

Shards loses me in places but definitely has its moments. Like megamom, I have a hard time maintaining my focus on the song, so I found myself zoning out a lot as I tried to watch. I also think the light leaks that appear throughout drew too much attention to themselves. But on the plus side the scenes you picked for the "drop" are very intense and impressive. Overall it's not my favorite but the kind of thing I was happy to have watched.

Repeater is really awesome and one of my favorites out of Pro. It was really cool to see a psychedelic amv submitted. There are two things that held it back for me. I think the repeated ship shots introduced around 2:38 are too jarring for how much they're used. My eyes also get a little tired watching the intense flashing during the extended outro. But when it comes to these psychedelic amvs something that's a dealbreaker for one person is probably perfectly fine for most people, so who knows.

[SilkAMV]

Sorry, I don't have a lot to say about the videos themselves, but there is something I'd like to say.

Sometimes I realize that I may not feel things as intensely as other people, at least not when listening to music. Music on its own has never really affected me emotionally. Part of the reason I love AMVs is because they are a visual representation of a music's feeling, which is far more effective at making me feel something.

If I was like other people, and was able to connect with music emotionally without the visual aid, I might be able to make videos like these. Said another way, the AMVs I make are a result of me recognizing the synergy between a song and a source. They have never been an expression of emotion that I'm feeling. You truly have that gift, and I admire it greatly.

I thought about that a lot while watching these.