Time Lapse and 3 other AMVs I never posted

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vivafruit
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Time Lapse and 3 other AMVs I never posted

Post by vivafruit » Sat Jun 25, 2022 2:39 pm

Here's Time Lapse and 3 other AMVS I never got around to posting. I'd like to be more consistent and start entering everything I make into the org.



I really loved this song when I first heard it. Something about the vocal line reminded me of ebbing and flowing, yin and yang, joy and pain. I originally envisioned a Yin & Yang theme, but struggled to find clips; Yin & Yang is more of a Chinese concept than a Japanese one, and so it doesn't pop up in anime as much as I thought it would. That said, Chinese anime is on the rise so maybe that can be an AMV someday.

Eventually I settled on a Time theme, which is something I've been wanting to do for a while. I wanted to capture the transience of life, and how everything eventually arises and passes away. The first version I released on youtube had a few technical issues that I noticed after watching it a bunch. They bugged me *just barely* enough to fix it, so I've cleaned those up and made a new version. I don't think anyone else will notice anything different.



Aggretsuko has always resonated with me a lot, but it hit extra hard once I started burning out on my job in 2020 and 2021. By the time I made this, I was counting the days before I could quit. There is something totally soul sucking about being trapped in a job you have no enthusiasm for but that you need for money.

I submitted this to AWA Pro, and it was mostly a flop (although it had a few fans). The video is a weird mixture of drama and comedy and suffered from the anonymous format. One comment I got for it was that the person genuinely didn't know if the video was trolling or not. And yeah, the video is sort of deliberately ambiguous on whether it's supposed to be funny. Without any context, it's hard to really know what the creator was thinking. People who had seen and enjoyed Aggretsuko seemed more likely to get the joke, but even then it wasn't a sure bet. And the song selection was polarizing; screamo isn't something everyone can just pick up and enjoy.

Another criticism I caught for this was that the cuts are too static. This was my first time trying a single source AMV. In multisource, you can use longer cuts because your overall clip quality is higher. But in a show as static as Aggretsuko, some of my cuts just lingered too long and dampen the energy of the song. An important lesson.

THAT SAID, I still am fond of it. It's basically a very longform joke that relies on a slow buildup to the screaming part of the song, and once the punchline hits I think it's just hysterical. But of course ymmv.



I made this in 2021 while fighting against COVID depression. I wanted something that would lift me out of it, so I went back to an old favorite, Level Up by Vienna Teng. I found editing to this song extremely challenging, and a part of me wishes it had come out just a little bit better. The flow doesn't quite hit right as is. When I submitted it to Pro, I knew it probably wasn't going to win anything, but I was hoping it would make at least one person cry tears of joy. Mission accomplished. :)

One particular thing I struggled with was matching the lyrics while also matching the flow of the song. The lyrics are important here, so I didn't want to just ignore them. But finding a balance is tricky, especially when you can't expect the viewer to understand the lyrics of the song as they're watching the video. Both this and the Aggretsuko amv suffer from this flaw, and since then, I've moved away from lyrics-heavy songs. It's just much easier to work with stuff that either has simple lyrics or is instrumental.

For all its issues, I still think the climax hits hard if you know the song well enough to follow the lyric sync.



This one was all about finding clever ways to sync to the music. It also had some experimentation with Google Deep Dream style transfers. The main reason I waited so long is around the time I made this video, I learned about photosensitivity, and subsequently became obsessed with all of the triggers in this video. Psychedelic stuff seems very linked with triggering migraines in people that have photosensitivity, and so the guilt from making something that could very easily give someone a headache made me start getting nauseous when I watched it myself, out of a psychosomatic response.

Flashforward a a year later and I'm more happy with it. Overall I think it turned out pretty cool, albeit a bit unpolished. Some of the sync is pretty neat. My biggest issue with it is the jerky camera in the beginning.





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SynaesthesiaVideos
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Re: Time Lapse and 3 other AMVs I never posted

Post by SynaesthesiaVideos » Sun Jun 26, 2022 12:52 am

Time Lapse
I wanted to capture the transience of life, and how everything eventually arises and passes away. The first version I released on youtube had a few technical issues that I noticed after watching it a bunch. They bugged me *just barely* enough to fix it, so I've cleaned those up and made a new version. I don't think anyone else will notice anything different.
I think you brilliantly executed this idea. Every scene easily flows in to the next seamlessly and organically. I really appreciate your restrained use of hard sync, saving it for the most impactful parts (especially 2:13). The middle part where the vocals drop out and it gets more "psychedelic" was a very tasteful choice. And then when it all ends on themes of disintegration was a very satisfying way to end it. Please keep making videos like this, you are very good at it :up:

Work Burnout is Funny
submitted this to AWA Pro, and it was mostly a flop (although it had a few fans). The video is a weird mixture of drama and comedy and suffered from the anonymous format. One comment I got for it was that the person genuinely didn't know if the video was trolling or not. And yeah, the video is sort of deliberately ambiguous on whether it's supposed to be funny. Without any context, it's hard to really know what the creator was thinking. People who had seen and enjoyed Aggretsuko seemed more likely to get the joke, but even then it wasn't a sure bet. And the song selection was polarizing; screamo isn't something everyone can just pick up and enjoy
as a fan of dark humor I can appreciate what you were going for! I'm not a fan of this kind of music, but I don't think the song selection was off.. the music and lyrics seem to fit with the edit :up:
Another criticism I caught for this was that the cuts are too static. This was my first time trying a single source AMV. In multisource, you can use longer cuts because your overall clip quality is higher. But in a show as static as Aggretsuko, some of my cuts just lingered too long and dampen the energy of the song. An important lesson.
I have to agree with your critique. The scene selection and transitions mostly seemed to look right, but there is something about the overall flow that does seem a bit off.. but I will say that the build up to 2:28 was very satisfying :D
Having the right balance of sync/scene selection/flow is very tricky to pull off, but I see it done excellently in your videos more times than not! Editing is hard!!

Level Up
made this in 2021 while fighting against COVID depression. I wanted something that would lift me out of it, so I went back to an old favorite, Level Up by Vienna Teng. I found editing to this song extremely challenging, and a part of me wishes it had come out just a little bit better. The flow doesn't quite hit right as is. When I submitted it to Pro, I knew it probably wasn't going to win anything, but I was hoping it would make at least one person cry tears of joy. Mission accomplished. :)

I personally think the flow is as effective as it needs to be! I know editors will always look at our own videos through different lenses than the audience, but sometimes being too much of a perfectionist can hinder your creative output. And yes, I am one of those people that were brought to tears of joy watching it (ノಥ益ಥ)
One particular thing I struggled with was matching the lyrics while also matching the flow of the song. The lyrics are important here, so I didn't want to just ignore them. But finding a balance is tricky, especially when you can't expect the viewer to understand the lyrics of the song as they're watching the video. Both this and the Aggretsuko amv suffer from this flaw, and since then, I've moved away from lyrics-heavy songs. It's just much easier to work with stuff that either has simple lyrics or is instrumental.
sorry to gush again but I think you did a fantastic job with the lyric sync. I like how you played around with it and didn't make every shot too literal :up:
For all its issues, I still think the climax hits hard if you know the song well enough to follow the lyric sync.
You can probably guess by now that I'm in love with this edit. Every time I watch this vid it fills me with a kind of emotion I can only describe as "restored hope", and every time I am an emotional wreck when the climax hits. Thank you for sharing this to the world, this is one of my all-time favorite AMVs <3

Liquid Ditty
This one was all about finding clever ways to sync to the music. It also had some experimentation with Google Deep Dream style transfers. The main reason I waited so long is around the time I made this video, I learned about photosensitivity, and subsequently became obsessed with all of the triggers in this video. Psychedelic stuff seems very linked with triggering migraines in people that have photosensitivity, and so the guilt from making something that could very easily give someone a headache made me start getting nauseous when I watched it myself, out of a psychosomatic response.
The first time I watched this vid was the day the RICE videos were uploaded in early 2021. I had just watched a bunch of the other videos before getting to yours and decided to take a small break before watching the rest. I remember taking a big toke before starting on the next video "Liquid Ditty". I instantly knew I was gonna like it within the first 15 seconds with the psychtronica music overlayed with various water imagery (you have a great eye for good fluid animation). 2 minutes in I was really jamming to it, really starting to feel that last hit.. then at the transition to the Disney dancing mushrooms scene I got this big chill run down my back, like I was in for a ride. This video could've ended at multiple places and it still would've been a great ride.. but it just keeps going and going.. like every extra 12 seconds of music being edited so elegantly was a blessing. By the time I got the 3:50 mark I was completely hypnotized. I felt like I was part of the journey the video was taking me, and every fiber of my being was here for it. When it finally and abruptly ended I wasn't sad that the journey was over, because the experience of arriving there was all worth it.

yeah. I love this AMV.

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vivafruit
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Re: Time Lapse and 3 other AMVs I never posted

Post by vivafruit » Sun Jun 26, 2022 3:59 pm

Thanks so much Syn! Appreciate all the love. Your Liquid Ditty story is amazing, haha. It sounds like FATE brought you that amv at exactly the right time.
I personally think the flow is as effective as it needs to be! I know editors will always look at our own videos through different lenses than the audience, but sometimes being too much of a perfectionist can hinder your creative output. And yes, I am one of those people that were brought to tears of joy watching it (ノಥ益ಥ)
Very true about perfectionism being a dangerous thing. I definitely think it can kill your passion if you let your internal critique take up too much brain space. Good advice!

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seasons
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Re: Time Lapse and 3 other AMVs I never posted

Post by seasons » Fri Jul 15, 2022 11:11 am

Time Lapse is my favorite of this bunch but my #2 favorite isn't far behind.

Sorry, it's hard for me to react to some of these with fresh opinions as I saw most of these quite some time ago! Or at least it feels that way. What year is it right now, anyway

I don't think I was ever quite totally conscious of the audio mixing you did in the intro section of "Level Up" until now, finally watching with headphones for the first time. Very subtle but I appreciate it! (Now you can proceed with your reply where you say "what audio mixing are you talking about!?") I always liked this AMV but I think I underrated it and sort of took it for granted. It's genuinely beautiful and uplifting and one of your best works.

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Re: Time Lapse and 3 other AMVs I never posted

Post by Megamom » Thu Jul 21, 2022 11:12 am

Reminder to watch later, I really want to watch them with enough time and be able to comment as it should be!!
NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE

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Re: Time Lapse and 3 other AMVs I never posted

Post by Megamom » Mon Jul 25, 2022 12:27 pm

Megamom wrote:
Thu Jul 21, 2022 11:12 am
Reminder to watch later, I really want to watch them with enough time and be able to comment as it should be!!
Done... comments on youtube!! :D
NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE

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vivafruit
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Re: Time Lapse and 3 other AMVs I never posted

Post by vivafruit » Tue Jul 26, 2022 1:20 pm

Megamom wrote:
Mon Jul 25, 2022 12:27 pm
Done... comments on youtube!! :D
Awesome. Thanks so much for taking the time to do this. It's flattering that you felt it was worth looking through all of these and means a lot.

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