AWA 2021 PRO Reviews

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AWA 2021 PRO Reviews

Post by SQ » Wed Sep 22, 2021 12:21 pm

Every year, the folks at Anime Weekend Atlanta hold the Video Art Track with an array of video contests. The Peer Reviewed Online awards (Pro for short) has a traditional annual a-m-v.org forum thread to go with the contest.
PRO has started and I see no new thread, so I suppose I'll make it this year.

If you have entered an AWA VAT contest and want to partake in the live discussion, the official discord server is: https://discord.gg/kRARzdtVF6 (purposefully not hyperlinked)
Make sure to check the pinned posts in the PRO channel for relevant discord threads and announcements about voice chats / video streams.

Rules for this thread:
1. Do not guess who edited what here, and do not reveal what you or someone else made
2. Preface your reviews with the context (are they joke, troll, serious, etc. type reviews)
3. Put your reviews inside of a spoiler tag to avoid long page stretch (one spoiler tag for all of the reviews together is sufficient)
4. Try to have a good time.

Anime Weekend Atlanta will be held Halloween weekend this year, and all PRO videos shouldn't be released publicly until they first premiere at AWA. If you see a video that has premiered some place else, please contact

Code: Select all

pilk.amv.vat at gmail.com
Let the reviews begin!
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Re: AWA 2021 PRO Reviews

Post by Rider4Z » Wed Sep 22, 2021 4:02 pm

Spoiler :
Made you look.

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Re: AWA 2021 PRO Reviews

Post by Zarxrax » Thu Sep 23, 2021 6:45 pm

Alright, I guess I'll do this.

A couple of things:
  • These are just short blurbs of the first thing that came to my mind after watching each video
  • I am not familiar with 95% of the sources, so I probably couldn't say anything substantial about your video if I wanted to.
  • This is a lot of videos. I'm tired. Your slow-paced videos just put me to sleep
Spoiler :
01) Not a bad video, though I think it could have benefited from being a bit shorter and more focused. Had some nice moments.

02) I really liked this, but I felt like the song was going at 100 miles per hour, while the video was coasting at a comfortable 65mph. Unique usage of a song like this though.

03) I liked that this video shows a complete story that I was able to follow easily.

04) Didn’t really resonate with me, but I really liked when it kicked into high gear near the end.

05) Pretty nice video and had some cool sync, like when she was punching the floor.

06) This song seems to be a good match for the anime, but I didn’t really feel strongly about it.

07) Why is it interlaced?? Really well done though.

08) I thought it got off to a slow start, but once it got going I was digging it.

09) This is a good video. But… its just volleyball the whole time. I know that’s what the anime is about, but it would be nice if there was some other kind of scenes to provide some variety.

10) Feels like a good video, but a tough watch for me due to the slow song. It’s just not for me.

11) I really like you

12) This was fairly okay. I’m not a fan of the slow songs, so that holds it back for me.

13) This was cool. Has some good animation that flows with the song well. The pacing is perfect.

14) Okay I laughed a little.

15) Nice to see a new Utena video. I liked it after the slow start.

16) What? Okay.

17) Hmmm. Okay?

18) This was pretty good, but it didn’t really connect with me.

19) I think this was a good song choice. Nice video.

20) It was okay. Maybe there was some lyric sync, but I can’t understand the words, so I don’t know.

21) As a trailer, it was good. I thought some of the cuts in the audio could be smoother. And as a trailer, I’m not sure how I felt about a single song playing throughout.

22) I don’t really get it. I thought I was watching an intro to a video, but it turned out to be the whole thing. Also could use some strong noise reduction in the video.

23) Well that was a pleasant surprise. I liked it.

24) This was very well done.

25) Great pixar tribute that captures the fun and feelings of the movies.

26) It’s like we are just watching a single scene from the anime, so I don’t really get the point of it. And I feel like the lip sync could have been done better.

27) I felt like this is some artsy thing that I’m just too dumb to understand. It reminded me of that game where you control a lonely block.

28) This just wasn’t for me. The song was too slow for my taste, and I couldn’t really follow what was supposed to be happening in the video. Not that it was a bad video or anything, just not for me.

29) This was fairly entertaining.

30) Anime I like, fun song, homage to Believe. I like it.

31) This was fine.

32) This seems like some kind of inside joke, and I am not part of the inner circle.

33) This was cute and fun!

34) This was fine.

36) That turned out pretty creepy.

37) This is really good. I like the lyric sync.

38) This was good, but not really for me.

39) This was fun and perfect!

40) Lum!

41) This was a fine little comedy video.

42) It was cool… but then it was suddenly over.

43) I was just confused by this. There was so little correlation between the footage and the song that it seemed like someone just took an existing video and changed the song on it.

44) This was pretty good. It lasted longer than I would have liked though.

45) Pretty nice video!

46) Yay for upbeat videos!

47) Eh, it was pretty good.

48) This is a lot of fun, but the middle section really drags on.

49) I mean it was good, but then it ended suddenly like you decided to just stop editing halfway through.

50) It was fine. I feel like a lot of the clips, especially towards the beginning, don’t really have much going on. Some stronger motion within the clips or a faster pace might have been nice.

52) Kind of trippy, but didn’t seem to have much depth. That’s fine, but I couldn’t really get into it.

53) Good and lots of action. The timing felt kind of weird sometimes, but maybe that’s just me.

54) I see a trash can. Fitting.

55) The timing on this is just kind of weird and doesn’t match the song like I would want it to at all. The actual content seems like a good fit for the song though.

56) This was cool, pretty good stuff.

57) The first section of the video felt kind of off to me. Maybe the parts with the people in the real world didn’t seem to fit well with the music as much as the other parts. I liked it though.

58) Good lyric syncing, but what a boring song.

59) That was fine.

60) Is this the only Demon Slayer video? It was okay.

61) This seemed like a parody, so I looked it up. Okay, I get it now. Seems overly long though, and I don’t understand a lot of the references. I did catch the AMV Hell reference, of course. Actually this kind of gives me vibes of the Right Now AMV.

62) This is a nice trailer.

63) This was really good, nice editing.

64) Its a good video, but too slow for my taste until near the end, then it got really cool.

65) Another one that starts off slow but ends up really nice.

66) Hey I recognize this song… This video is good, but I think I prefer the other one.

67) This was cool, I liked it.

68) The concept itself seemed amusing, but there is almost no editing.

69) Lots of rotoscoping, but this song seems so underwhelming to pair with it, lol.

70) Pretty good. The cuts to live action feel out of place because they are so infrequent. I would either leave them out altogether or go all-in on the concept and use the live action almost evenly with the CGI.

71) Ok, that was a thing.

72) Wow! This rocks!

73) It was pretty good.

74) One of the better live-action videos so far.

75) I don’t really understand the song choice, but its a cool video.

77) This is a fine video.

78) Haha, good use of that song!

79) Yeah that’s pretty good. Nice ending.

80) I liked that pretty good.

81) Maybe someone’s first video? It’s way too slow doesn’t fit the pace of the song at all. Feels like nothing is synced up to the music. Clips go way too long without edits.

82) I think it was only funny to you. But the song doesn’t suck, so I can watch it.

83) This is a very unusual video. I mean you took 2 completed videos straight out of the movie and made them into a combined video. And you did it well. I’ve just never seen anything like that.

The most memorable ones for me were definitely 33 and 39. I'm not saying they were the best, but I'm pretty sure I'll still remember them a year from now.

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Re: AWA 2021 PRO Reviews

Post by PantsAMV » Fri Sep 24, 2021 12:27 am


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Re: AWA 2021 PRO Reviews

Post by troubleclef » Fri Sep 24, 2021 11:29 am

Here are my general thoughts and impressions from the videos - as with any critique, take what resonates and leave the rest behind. Just cause a video didn't resonate with me doesn't mean it's not a good video. Everything is subjective and while I try my best to back up my opinions, at the end of the day they are opinions.

Feel free to reach out for more opinions after Pro - but I cannot promise I'll have the bandwidth to do full betas.

Favorites get a cupcake. This is entirely based on personal casual enjoyment over my competition judging self.
Spoiler :
001 - berserk - judas priest - the sentinel I'm not a fan of starting the video with a definition - Sentinel being the title of the video gets your point across fine. If you're married to it, I think a different font choice might suit better. This feels very default comic booky. Clinking of the boots in the beginning but nowhere else is odd - was that a choice or native to the song? Not gonna give play by play notes, but in general scene selection is fine, but the cuts feel unmotivated and things don't sync the way I'd like them to in a fun rock song like this.

002 - jujutsu kaisen - twista - crisis Flow of the video doesn't match the flow of the song. Using a speed rap song and not keeping up with the flow of the lyrics creates a big dissonance in what's being seen and heard. Even if you sync the beat under the rapping, it just doesn't connect as that's not what people are really listening to underneath the lyrics. There's some good moments where you hit the beat, but just don't hold interest. Lip sync kinda drags the momentum straight into the ground as you're just sitting on this shot of one person talking fast instead of showing us cool footage. Otherwise there are some good instincts shown here in some of the shot choice and sync.

003 - ghost story - arcade fire - my body is a cage Really enjoyed this one. Could've benefited with a song cut and saving the jumping towards the middle end of the video instead of using the buildup twice. Otherwise well done, just a bit of a pacing issue. Otherwise, the narrative is very well done and the tension building in the end is great.

004 - death stranding - yair albeg wein or kribos - mephistos lullaby This one doesn't resonate with me - but technically it is fine. Synced very well and I'm sure is effective with those who it does work for.

005 - she-ra - chord overstreet - hold on Sync and scene selection is great. No notes - loved it.

:cupcake: 006 - aggretsuko - i prevail - hurricane Hits the high points very well - was a great time. Great comedic timing. My issue is that categorizing is difficult with a video like this where the style of the source doesn't quite match the song, even if the content does. Not a big detractor though, very enjoyable and delightful.

007 - tanya the evil - grandson - wwiii Flow is generally good. I wish that the lyrics that were emphasized got reflected in the scenes chosen (This happens more in the second verse, but there's definitely missed opportunities in verse one). Some camera motion might help this hit a little harder.

:cupcake: 008 - night world - jessie j - flashlight Amazing sentimental - one of my favorites in the contest.

009 - haikyuu - the score - born for this Mistimed push zooms, but mostly good sync, just some weird momentum issues and mistimed cuts. Think technique could be honed more, but the editor has good instincts.

010 - evangelion - billie eilish - no time to die There's a lot of unmotivated cuts and some parts do hit more than others. Combo is solid but it doesn't really hit.

011 - various - carly rae jepsen - i really like you Very cute - the sudden addition of mysteria friends into a video that seems mostly composed of contemporary romances is a bit jarring. Lots of crossfades where they weren't necessary - seemed like almost every cut. Also flashes to white were too quick and bright, I recommend lowering the opacity and having them fade out over a longer time to help make these less harsh.

012 - arakawa under the bridge - barenaked ladies One that didn't resonate with me - it felt like a quirky "eyes and hands" video, but otherwise it's technically competent and well put together.

013 - wolfwalkers - florence and the machine - howl After the halfway mark, it didn't feel like the lyrics were connecting to the footage and I was largely watching the scenes in sequential order, then at the end it brought things back together. I would like to see more synergy between source and song than just the "howl", the song has a lot of subtext that could be very fun to play with.

014 - rezero - commercial - bathroom renovation Straightforward comedy, not many notes to make. I'd like it if there was maybe more playing on the Gura joke, but it's whatever.

015 - revolutionary girl utena - billie eilish - goldwing Very well matched and cut - I think the sudden turn could be foreshadowed a little better, but overall well done.

016 - tokyo revengers - chloe - have mercy thicc

017- various - various - various I bet that a title would've made this funnier, not your fault but I'm sure that the joke is only half there without it.

018 - various - vienna teng - level up I like the concept, but I think more work to meld the sources would go far. Also text doesn't do it for me. More flow and transition work would do good here.

019 - kingdom hearts - ajr - turning out Cute cutting to the vocal performance in the beginning. I think this could've used another song cut though I know there's a lot of characters you're trying to showcase. The lyric sync is really cute. I think on the second hit of "I grew up on Disney" you should save the Mickey until the line actually hits instead of on "I grew up on TV". I think some camera movement could help the flow hit a bit better, but overall, well put together.

020 - chobits - louie zong - hello world This is cute- technical notes are that this is pillarboxed. I don't know if this is going to win anything, but it's sweet and a nice little treat.

021 - kellys heroes - mike curb congregation - burning bridges I really have no patience for these kinds of clip shows set over a song. No hate if it's your thing, but I do not enjoy them or find them comparable to the kinds of videos that make up the rest of this competition.

022 - chrono trigger - tsuyoshi sekito yasunori mitsuda - chrono and marle a delightful little tribute. Not sure where I'd place it, but it charmed me. It's really short and sweet and doesn't overstay its welcome. Great job

023 - full metal alchemist - beetlejuice (broadway) - dead mom Same issue as the Aggretsuko video - can't tell if this is supposed to be a comedy or not. Transitions are nice though and I really enjoyed it. Like others, didn't expect this one to be as solid as it is.

:cupcake: 024 - the prince of egypt - within temptation - angels A welcome surprise - very well edited and thrilling to see this done well.

025 - various (pixar) - sheppard - the best is yet to come it's a sentimental pixar video - not sure it does anything special, but hits the notes one by one with each movie. I'd like to see more variety in the cutting between sources, to keep it from feeling like going down a checklist of movies.

:cupcake: 026 - vampire princess miyu - david bowie - within you I dig this pairing but it really is just one scene. I wish there was more variety in scene choice to demonstrate the thoughts of the character. Missed opportunities to cut on the drums, which are really important as the production is so sparse. I do enjoy watching this one, it's a nice little morsel of a video.

027 - custom - redacted - transience I'm sure this is very meaningful and after skipping around I get the point of the piece, but I can't really make myself watch it front to back as it's intended to be seen. You did a great job with the frames and the concept - but five minutes is a big ask. Some of the editors in the calls had some great suggestions to make it a little more engaging. I think ObsidianZero, Tigrin, and PoppyPetrichor had some great points and comments that are more insightful and helpful than my own!

028 - mawaru penguindrum - city girl - ellipsis I dig the aesthetic and the vibes. It's a bit slow burny on picking up the subtext and such, but I really enjoyed this one.

029 - evangelion - scottie sire - sad song I personally don't dig the lips, I get that they're technically well done but like, uncomfy. Text work is good and it hits the sour note at the end nicely.

030 - battle athletes - quad city djs - space jam Slow pitch over home base - well executed time capsule.

031 - (dot)hack - blackmores night - the circle Took me a few watches to connect and vibe with it cause I wasn't familiar with the source - but the transitions between aspect ratios are good, none of the footage looks distractingly aged, and I kinda get the vibe of the series from it. Very well done!

032 - filmed - inxs - need you tonight I don't get it, but you do you bud.

033 - so im a spider - spiderman (tv) - theme (1967) Very cute, nicely done with the coloring. Only watched once cause spooders so that's not your fault!

034 - 91 days - dan roll - actor with a loaded gun This is a slow burn that took a few tries to get through. I think some Ken Burns across the board could help make it feel more engaging. I see it's in some sections but not really others? Also I think that maybe cutting one verse could make people stick around for that tone shift a bit better cause it really doesn't hit until two minutes in. Otherwise a fairly solid drama, I think it could just use some pacing work.

036 - lighthouse - copilot strategic music sound - drunken whaler I liked the mood and tension in this one, I feel it lagged in the middle and I think the ending shot is gratuitous and unnecessary, like it's only there cause that's maybe the last shot of the film itself. I think it should've ended at the stairs. A little song cut and removing the end would make this much stronger.

037 - soul eater - dan bull - dive into the madness Slick and fun! Great lyric sync at bits, could use a bit of tightening around the cuts and some sync, but I'm still happy if this is the final product.

:cupcake: 038 - violet evergarden - dessa - annabelle A great drama video. I enjoy the narrative and use of colors and lighting.

:cupcake: 039 - nichijou - drowning pool - bodies Absolutely delightful. Brings joy to my cold little heart.

:cupcake: 040 - urusei yatsura - dua lipa - levitating Loved this one - the vibes were perfect and sync was great. Very well done.

041 - japan sinks - space ghost - water song You understood the assignment, not many notes to give on this one. Not my thing but I can see where the comedy is.

042 - serial experiments lain - laura les - haunted I liked this one a lot but I don't know how it'd play to wider audiences. Abrasive in just the right way for me though.

043 - legend of korra - indeimaus - blinding lights Confused as to audio choice and video doesn't make an effort to match the pace. Admittedly skipped over it after the first verse started.

044 - legend of zelda - lady gaga - sine from above Really cute pairing I liked the duet aspect and the sync is cute. I think it could've cut off about 30 seconds earlier and not gone into the dubsteppy bits at the end. Didn't really add anything after the emotional resolution. I think some color correction work to make things more vibrant would be good too.

045 - luca - anberlin - young life Cute sentimental video! The timing of the cuts are really cute. Some of the overlay cute is also cute - I don't know if that's native or not. I think some more focus on the timeline could make the black and white shots make a little more narrative sense, cause they're taking place at the same time that the rest of the colored shots are. I think some careful rearranging of shots could help with creating a more solid narrative. Otherwise, adorable.

046 - various - teen titans (ost) - upbeat inspirational song about life what the fuck is an upbeat category, I've never heard of that. Stop lying.

047 - various (marvel) - nf - wake up I like the pairing but not the execution - I think the scenes need to be rearranged to better build tension and drama. A lot of potential, but some moments were shown way too early for proper impact in my opinion. I'd recommend playing with some panning for flow and see if you can sync stuff in the scene.

048 - keep your hands off eizouken - run with the kittens - weight of the world Sync, on point. Girls, on point.

049 - extraction - imagine dragons - natural I've seen the audio work done with this exact song a few too many times. Tigrin made the mention that the added sounds are a bit too loud. The effect is intensely satisfying, I just want to see it applied to different songs! Also it just cuts off at the end without a satisfying conclusion to the narrative. Even action vids need closure.

050 - dragon maid - sixpence none the richer - there she goes Loved the lyric sync on "running through my brain". A cute little video. Only hits the uncomfortable notes a couple times, and it's easy to with this pairing, but manages to avoid it for the most part.

052 - macross plus - machinedrum - rise n fall Really enjoy the sync and vibes of this video. With the rainbow coloring, I'd maybe up the contrast a little to make the blacks pop a little more and maybe play with layering the footage to get that effect. Seems like the focus on syncing the beats took a backseat to the flowy bits in the middle - which I do miss a little. I think some play with the light lines could help make those pop. The repeated guy putting his airplane in the 2 minute section really felt like it was there to fill time which I didn't appreciate. So, while vibesy for casual watching, I would suggest that a competition cut of this video could really use a song cut.

053 - high school of the dead - bear ghost - necromancin dancin I think this loses some of the energy in the second verse. Sync could've been tighter overall and I think the bridge held on some of the first scenes a bit too long - that first shot of the city especially. Ending shot was cute. I think maybe cutting the song and using the footage you free up to ramp the pace and fun of the rest of the song up could make this hit a bit stronger.

054 - kiniro mosaic - generated voice etuc era uoy

055 - your name - vanessa carlton - thousand miles The flashes in the beginning are too much, I'd recommend only using that technique for really impactful moments.

:cupcake: 056 - fuse memoirs of the hunter girl - of monsters and men - human A great drama and very well edited. Loved some of the transitions and am definitely intrigued to watch the source.

057 - soul - celine dion - im alive I think the pairing is really cute, but I wonder if I just watched the movie from front to back. Doesn't synergize the source to the lyrics as much. While I like the joke of him escaping near danger on the line "I'm alive", the subsequent fall into the sewer had almost no impact. I think with some work this could be really charming.

058 - evangelion - kina grannis - what a wonderful world A nice change of pace for evangelion videos - I've heard that it's a more positive series than most people make it out to be. A soft tender video that is very pleasant to watch - though I think gets a bit muddled in the second half. The second verse's opening lines could use some more of those calming shots rather than the apocalyptic ones. I think the ending could be reworked a bit to help - I don't know if we need the Rei dissolving shot to get the hit of the hand shot.

059 - she-ra - hidden citizens - heroes fall I think adding more pans could make this feel more cinematic and cool. Also the cuts are a little mistimed at points. I think that some shots linger too long, but are generally well selected. With some tighter sync and some technical polish, this could really shine. Love the mood and drama of it.

060 - demon slayer - vicetone - walk thru fire Cute Nezuko focus - I wish it synced a little better and had more flow.

061 - various - soul asylum - runaway train My eyes kinda slide off of this every time. It'd be nice if there was like, more effort to make this look like a little more than a slideshow. Someone said this was a parody of a commercial from the 1990s which is fine. I'm sure it matches perfectly.

062 - code geass - joker - trailer audio I think some of the scene choice could be rearranged - the shots in the beginning of his mother's like, murder(?) are a bit too much to start off with. I think with some more work - maybe play with text work (I mean, imagine integrating the Geass into that "Obey" title). Overall - the pairing is good and with some work could be great.

063 - various - borns - past lives I like the concept a lot but I think that working to blend the sources better (looks like there was some color correction in the Wind Rises, but not Your Name?). A little too many crossfades in my opinion, but otherwise with some work I think this is a charming little video. I think you can tighten the narrative up a little bit to really make it clearer. I think a song cut and getting to the characters taking action on their memories quicker would be good. Tech work on the papers is good.

:cupcake: 064 - madoka magica - tommee profitt - cant help falling in love The panning is a little strange to me, it's only on every other scene in the beginning and isn't a constant. The tension ramping is great, I really only have complaints about the tech work in the beginning, but otherwise love this one. The sync and transition work is well done. There are ten seconds of black on the end that I would cut though.

065 - fate series - marianas trench - killing kind Really enjoy the tension build and sync in this one. The build makes the action at :cupcake: the end super satisfying and the ending is cheesy but just the right amount.

066 - honkai impact - ajr - turning out I think the hair moves too much at the beginning, but I don't know how much control you have over that. This is cute, but I think in the verses you could've cut on the voice more - there's some shots where the singer begins a new phrase and the shot lingers until the next piano key. As you're only focusing on one character's point of view, instead of an ensemble like other editors have done, I think this could do with a song cut to keep the pacing tight and not feel like we're retreading the same point made in the first verse.

067 - kingdom hearts - nf - the search I think this is really fun and punchy. The lyric sync is really fun and the flow keeps the pace up. Very well done.

068 - dragon maid - ron wasserman jeremy sweet - rock the dragon I like the pairing - but the execution needs work. Is this just one fight played out? I'd like to see more synergy between Dragon Ball and Dragon Maid, to really sell the concept and make it funny beyond just "Ohhhhh they both have dragon in the name and look they fight". Lots of potential!

069 - various - ken ashcorp - bunny song Charming - there are definitely some issues with the resolution of some sources versus the others, but generally fun and a good time. I think the shot of the dad from FMA lingered too long like, yeah we get the joke, make a new joke please.

070 - star wars - hidden citizens - moonlight sonata The mix of live action and CG source did not do it for me, it was pretty jarring whenever it happened. I think it otherwise does the job pretty well, but I didn't connect with it.

071 - fate series - star trek lower deck good soup

072 - g gundam - sunset neon - tonight Peak fun action editing, just a rollicking good time.

073 - your name - aurora - runaway I was kinda excited for this song cause it sounds so pretty. I don't know what's going on with the edges of the frame like, blurring in and out? This video generally feels like it's using the prettiest shots of the movie and lingers too long. When the song lifts up into the first chorus, I was really hoping for a change in scene and pacing. Some of the shots felt far too zoomed in when they were panning around. It ends a little suddenly, I think the zoom in to the eye as an ending would work, but it cuts to black rather than fading. I think with some more work on the narrative, this could be a solid video.

074 - nightcrawler - imagine dragons - cutthroat Some of these transitions are super slick - alongside the clean cuts and internal sync. Real solid all around.

075 - evangelion - glass animals - space ghost coast to coast Slick cuts and transitions - I wish the glitches were more integrated into the footage and that it hit the chilling tension of the bridge a little earlier. It really felt like the video could've ended at 1:52, I'm not sure if the last minute added anything to the video. Enjoyable and vibesy, but I think some tweaks could make it more satisfying.

077 - fruits basket - shawn mendes - wonder The point of view is a little muddled and I'm unsure as to the vibe the Akito sections are supposed to hit. I think that maybe cutting the song and keeping the focus tighter would be beneficial. Or maybe a little more work to keep the narrative consistent.

078 - various - green day - longview I really like the concept, I think maybe cutting the song would really benefit it as the jokes don't support a full 3 minute video, but I think closer to 2 or 2 and a half minutes would be best. The oreimo joke was fantastic.

079 - black butler - andrew lloyd webber - the beauty underneath Pairing is impeccable, I wish the footage was better quality and this would be top tier. I don't even know if there is higher quality footage of black butler, but it's a shame this video is so low resolution.

080 - fate series - my first story - fukagyaku replace Pretty hype and enjoyable - I have a hard time connecting to foreign language songs but y'know, the hook brings you back.

081 - various - prodigy - firestarter I think a little more consideration should be put towards selecting your source beyond a vague theme of "fire", which is what I really got. Unfortunately I'm not able to seriously consider a video for any award when there is no work put towards matching the aspect ratios of sources, which is only the first step to making a cohesive multisource video.

:cupcake: 082 - madoka magica - happy hour - black in very color I love the speed at which jokes start to come at you .The text and assets added on top of the video are choice. My personal favorite is Homura, thumbs up, just like "OK"

083 - Aladdin - various - friend like me The fun bit is the technicals that don't kick off until the middle to end. Concept isn't super exciting and plays out about what you'd expect to if you explained it to someone.

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Re: AWA 2021 PRO Reviews

Post by MinetChan » Fri Sep 24, 2021 4:17 pm

Here are my kaomoji reviews!

Like last year, I wanted to use kaomojis (Japanese emoticons) to depict each of the videos and my impressions of them. Some of these kaomojis depict my feelings watching the videos and others simply reflect the video and it's concept/mood. If any of you would like further clarification on what your kaomoji means, feel free to message me!

Thank you all for your hard work. I always get such inspiration watching everyone's edits! <3

Spoiler :

For those of you having a hard time reading the spreadsheet, here they are written out!

Spoiler :
1. (ಠ o ಠ)¤=[]:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::>

2. (ノ` ロ ´)ノ ✴==≡눈٩(`皿´҂)ง

3. ~~(へ ˃̣̣̥᷄⌓˂̣̣̥᷅ )へ

4. =͟͟͞͞ =͟͟͞͞ =͟͟͞͞ =͟͟͞͞ =͟͟͞͞ =͟͟͞͞ ヘ( ´Д`)ノ

5. (っ˘з(˘⌣˘ ) ♡

6. ┌∩┐(^▼ェ▼メ^)┌∩┐

7. ( >Д<)︻┻┳══━一

8. ( ´ ▽ ` )==◉☆゚.* (°◡°)

9. (ノ ̄ー ̄)ノ ● ⊥ \(^ω^\)

10. ( O . O )

11. (⋆◗̑◡◗̑)⸝ ♡⸜(◖̑◡◖̑⋆)

12. ( ⁰͈꒨⁰͈) ‧˚₊*̥(─‿‿─)‧˚₊*̥

13. ₍ᐢ•ﻌ•ᐢ₎ ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

14. ∗˚(* ˃̤൬˂̤ *)˚∗

15. و( ᐛ )٩

16. _(:3 」∠)_

17. 炎炎炎炎炎 (ʘ▽ʘ) 炎炎炎炎炎

18. (*°▽°*)

19. 。゚( ゚இ‸இ゚+)゚。

20. (˵ᵕ̴᷄ ᗜ ᵕ̴᷅˵)

21. ┏( ゚ω゚)ゝ

22. ♪♫♬♬♫♪

23. ⎧ᴿᴵᴾ⎫ (ó ̯ ò, )(ó ̯ ò, )

24. ♡。‧˚₊*̥ ヽ(*´ᗜ`*)ノ‧˚₊*̥ 。♡

25. (((o(*°▽°*)o)))

26. (㇏(•̀ᵥᵥ•́)ノ)

27. (っ˘̩╭╮˘̩)っ ◯☐△[]

28. ✧・゚: *✧・゚:* (ᵒ̤̑ ₀̑ ᵒ̤̑) ✧・゚: *✧・゚:*

29. ;´༎ຶ ਊ ༎ຶ`;

30. (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧

31. w(°o°)w

32. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

33. /╲/\( •̀ ω •́ )/\╱\

34. (ಡ‸ಡ)=ε/̵͇̿̿/'̿̿ ̿ ̿̿ ̿ ̿

35. ( ◉◞౪◟◉)

36. ((≪●≫))Д((≪●≫))

37. !!((((((っ;゚∀゚)っ

38. 。・゚(゚⊃ω⊂゚)゚・。 。:゚(。ノω\。)゚・。

39. (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻┻

40. .・.・:☆’.・.・:★.・.・:~(˘▽˘>ԅ( ˘⌣˘)~☆’.・.・:★’.・.・:

41. ‿︵‿︵‿︵‿ヽ(°□° )ノ︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

42. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

43. ( ⚆ _ ⚆ )

44. ▲ ԅ(♡﹃♡ԅ)

45. 。*:☆(・ω・人・ω・)。:゜☆。

46. ƈ ͡ (ुŏ̥̥̥̥ ‸ ŏ̥̥̥̥) ु

47. (((o(*゚▽゚*)o)))

48. ☆ミヾ(∇≦((ヾ(≧∇≦)〃))≧∇)ノ彡☆

49. ᕦ(▀̿ ̿ -▀̿ ̿ )つ/̵͇̿̿/’̿’̿ ̿ ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿̿

50. (⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄<⁄ ⁄)

51. ( ◉◞౪◟◉)

52. ლ(ຈ‿ຈლ)

53. [¬º-°]¬ [¬º-°]¬ [¬º-°]¬ (⊃д⊂)

54. ▓▒░(°◡°)░▒▓

55. 乁( ◔ ౪◔)ㄏ

56. ૮( ꒦ິ࿄꒦ີ)ა

57. ଘ(੭*ˊᵕˋ)੭* ̀ˋ.。:☆。

58. (ᵕ̣̣̣̣̣̣﹏ᵕ̣̣̣̣̣̣)

59. ᕙ(⊙‸⊙)ᕗ

60. ( ̄^ ̄メ)

61. (༎ຶ ෴ ༎ຶ)

62. 〣( ºΔº )〣

63. (๑ˊ͈ ॢꇴ ˋ͈)〜♡॰ॱ ₍՞◌′ᵕ‵ू◌₎♡

64. ( ˃̣̣̥ω˂̣̣̥ )

65. ∑ヾ( ̄0 ̄;ノ

66. (,,•́ω ก̀,,)

67. (≧▽≦ノノ゙☆

68. ( ͡°( ͡° ͜ʖ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° ) ͜ʖ ͡°) ͡°)

69. ( /¯ °3° )/¯ ૮⍝◜•˕̮•◝⍝ა

70. (ง ͠ ᵒ̌ Дᵒ̌)つ¤===== =====¤ԅ༼ຈ益ຈ༽╯

71. (ᗒᗩᗕ)>♥ԅ(‾⌣‾ԅ)

72. (๑✦ˑ_✦)

73. └( ̄▽ ̄;)┐≡З≡З≡З

74. (」゚ロ゚)」

75. ⊙.☉

76. ( ◉◞౪◟◉)

77. ( ಥ◡ಥ )

78. \(✧Д✧)/

79. ヽ(´Д`ヽミノ´Д`)ノ

80. \\\\٩(˃̶͈̀௰˂̶͈́)و ////

81. (´・ω・`)?

82. ૮(¬‿‿¬)ა

83. (ノ゚∀゚)ノ⌒・*:.。. .。.:*・゜゚・*☆
Image

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Re: AWA 2021 PRO Reviews

Post by UnluckyArtist » Sun Sep 26, 2021 11:02 pm

This year the theme of my reviews are "Meme Emojis Reacting While Eating Breakfast" with a nutritious meal of la croix and cereal.
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CrackTheSky
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Re: AWA 2021 PRO Reviews

Post by CrackTheSky » Wed Sep 29, 2021 3:22 pm

Just gotta say -- I've entered 10 of the last 14 Pro contests and this was, by far, the best one. The level of quality this year was outstanding, and I typically go into these contests feeling jaded and knowing I'm likely going to dislike or feel indifferent about the vast majority of the videos. Not so much this year. I enjoyed more videos than I ever have in a past Pro contest, and while there are still quite a few that rubbed me the wrong way or that I just couldn't get into, I had a great time watching through all these.

If I didn't like your video, please don't take it personally -- my comments below are about the AMVs, not the editors behind them. And I'm always willing to provide more specific feedback via DM either here or on Discord.
Spoiler :
001 - Berserk - Judas Priest - The Sentinel - Neither the anime nor the song appeal to me in the least, but from an editing perspective this was just fine. Several missed sync opportunities here and there, but the combination worked really well in general.

002 - Jujutsu Kaisen - Twista - Crisis - Surprised at how much I liked this -- really well-done! There were a few too many scenes with too little motion that went on for too long, but there were more than enough really awesome moments of internal sync that offset those. Great video.

003 - Ghost Story - Arcade Fire - My Body Is A Cage - One of those videos where I can't point to anything material that I didn't like about the editing, but neither the song nor the video source appealed to me, and without something special added in by the editor I felt pretty detached while watching it. Not really your fault, editor, it's a fine video, just not something that was really memorable for me.

004 - Death Stranding - Yair Albeg Wein Or Kribos - Mephistos Lullaby - Hate this kind of music with a fiery passion, but I can't pretend this didn't interest me in the game (which I otherwise had never really been that interested in). Editing was well-done and the video tells a gripping story. Nothing too surprising overall from an editing perspective but, I mostly dug it.

005 - She-Ra - Chord Overstreet - Hold On - Not a bad video, but felt a bit too generic to me. There were a couple points too with some on-the-nose lyric sync that was a bit goofy and broke the tension when they shouldn't have. As a whole the video didn't really resonate with me but the editing was fine, I guess.

006 - Aggretsuko - I Prevail - Hurricane - I feel like if I knew nothing about the anime, I'd enjoy this more, but the show is just too comedic to take something like this seriously. There were a few moments too where the momentum ground to a halt with scenes that were way too static for the music. Sorry, didn't really enjoy this at all.

007 - Tanya The Evil - Grandson - WWIII - Editing here was super inconsistent, especially in the first half of the video -- too many momentum-killing scenes plopped in the middle of the action. Also, what's with the interlacing?

008 - Night World - Jessie J - Flashlight - I found this video kind of boring -- a big part of this may be attributable to the song, which is just super generic and flat. Editing-wise though it's not bad -- the cuts are synced well, you tell a decent story, and for the right person it probably carries all the emotional weight you're hoping it does, but I just didn't connect with it.

009 - Haikyuu - The Score - Born For This - This is exactly like every other action Haikyuu!! video out there -- it doesn't differentiate itself at all or give me any reason to care about all these dudes smacking volleyballs. The editing is good enough but it didn't resonate with me at all.

010 - Evangelion - Billie Eilish - No Time To Die - Pretty good! I like drama Evangelion videos and this leaned into all the apocalyptic stuff I love about Eva to begin with. Don't really have anything specific to criticize here.

011 - Various - Carly Rae Jepsen - I Really Like You - There was no variety in scene selection in this video -- three and a half minutes of angsty-looking girls, a lot of the shots basically stills with slight zooms or very little internal motion. I also thought there was too heavy a reliance on quick crossfades that didn't really gel with the song. Nothing about this really worked for me, sorry Mr. or Ms. Editor.

012 - Arakawa Under The Bridge - Barenaked Ladies - Light Up My Room - This video took a different approach from most Arakawa Under the Bridge AMVs I've seen and I loved it. Really strong scene selection and restrained editing that managed to still convey a really sentimental and beautiful story. Really, really loved this.

013 - Wolfwalkers - Florence And The Machine - Howl - Good stuff! The editing here was consistent from beginning to end and told a great, clear story. I have no real complaints, nice job!

014 - Re:Zero - Commercial - Bathroom Renovation - Made me giggle!

015 - Revolutionary Girl Utena - Billie Eilish - Goldwing - Was not into this in the beginning (too many blur fades!), but the editing developed in some really cool ways and I ended up really liking it. I could point to specific things here and there that I wish had been done differently, but I won't bother -- overall this was really well-done.

016 - Tokyo Revengers - Chloe - Have Mercy - I laughed, but I'm not voting for this.

017 - Various - Various - Various - See #16 above, except I didn't laugh.

018 - Various - Vienna Teng - Level Up - I think there's something here, but I also feel like this is just a bunch of scenes that have implicit emotion in them, taken out of context and thus robbing them of their impact. You can only show so many dramatic scenes that don't have anything to do with one another before the effect wears thin...I don't know, this just doesn't hit me like I think the editor wanted it to.

019 - Kingdom Hearts - AJR - Turning Out - It's fine. This made zero impression on me one way or the other, don't have much to say about it.

020 - Chobits - Louie Zong - Hello World - Really dug the mood of this one -- super chill and calming and happy. There was some neat editing here too. Absolutely nothing to really criticize, this one surprised me in the best way.

021 - Kellys Heroes - Mike Curb Congregation - Burning Bridges - I mean I guess it's edited fine, but I don't get any enjoyment out of seeing fan-made trailers, at least not those that don't go above and beyond in some way, and this just seems to be a pretty standard remix of a bunch of random scenes from the movie. Not interesting, not my thing.

022 - Chrono Trigger - Tsuyoshi Sekito Yasunori Mitsuda - Chrono And Marle - Can't tell if this is a low-effort video, or if there's a good idea here that's just not being executed well.

023 - Full Metal Alchemist - Beetlejuice (Broadway) - Dead Mom - Good editing, but nothing outstanding. I dunno, this is one of those videos that I don't have anything to say about one way or the other.

024 - The Prince Of Egypt - Within Temptation - Angels - Actually a lot better than I expected. Great editing and storytelling, nothing to complain about besides my own personal tastes not lining up (i.e. I didn't care much for the song); nice work!

025 - Various (Pixar) - Sheppard - The Best Is Yet To Come - About what I'd expect from a Pixar tribute video. Not bad! I'm not generally a fan of these but this was about as good as they come, I suppose.

026 - Vampire Princess Miyu - David Bowie - Within You - This was a short video but it was boring. There needed to be way more dynamic scene selection for this to work. Static scenes being used for this much lip sync is never a good idea.

027 - Custom - Redacted - Transience - I appreciate that this is probably a very personal video that could be interpreted in a number of ways -- it could also be a low-effort thing thrown together specifically for this contest (or it could be both!). All I know is that 4+ minutes is a LONG time to have the same eight scenes repeated over and over with next to no variation. Not really enjoyable, whatever else it might be.

028 - Mawaru Penguindrum - City Girl - Ellipsis - Oh man, the mood in this video is outstanding. I'm all for moody videos though, so this is exactly my thing. A few scenes felt maybe a little too static, but not much else to complain about -- this one got under my skin.

029 - Evangelion - Scottie Sire - Sad Song - Made me smile. A little too much reliance on text but still decently funny!

030 - Battle Athletes - Quad City Djs - Space Jam - Oh dang, I loved this. Super fun, great lip sync, great editing, and frankly -- I can't believe it hasn't already been done. Excellent work!

031 - (Dot)Hack - Blackmores Night - The Circle - Scene selection was…really boring. There was too little movement for a song that was generally pretty upbeat and busy-sounding, and the mixing of different generations of .hack looked really goofy to me -- they didn't gel at all.

032 - Filmed - INXS - Need You Tonight - Not gonna dignify this with any real feedback.

033 - So Im A Spider - Spiderman (TV) - Theme (1967) - It's a cute video, but didn't do anything for me.

034 - 91 Days - Dan Roll - Actor With A Loaded Gun - The second half of this video was fantastic -- the editing was on point, the story picked up steam, everything kind of fell into place in a really satisfying way. But the first half was messy -- lip flap all over the place and uneven pacing made that entire portion feel like it was thrown together at the last minute. Put some more time into this part of the video before officially releasing it and you'll be golden.

036 - Lighthouse - Copilot Strategic Music Sound - Drunken Whaler - Didn't really like this. I have nothing specific to complain about but nothing about the source combination struck me as particularly interesting or engaging. Editing was…fine, I guess? It mostly just bored me, sorry editor. Also, I swear the aspect ratio is off here -- I know the movie was shot in 4:3 but this still looks like it's squished from the sides. The shot of the spiral staircase at 3:25, for example, is not perfectly circular. Maybe this is just how the movie is supposed to look, I don't know, but it distracted me the entire time.

037 - Soul Eater - Dan Bull - Dive Into The Madness - Phenomenal -- the pacing in this video is second-to-none, and I love all the internal sync. The video has such a cool mood and the editing just buoys the absurdity of these scenes and the sharp lyric sync. Literally no complaints, this is top-tier.

038 - Violet Evergarden - Dessa - Annabelle - Haven't seen this take on Violet Evergarden before, and it was done very well. Restrained editing and tasteful, simple effects worked really well to sell the mood and tie your scene selection together. Good job!

039 - Nichijou - Drowning Pool - Bodies - Man, this is seriously just comedy gold. Short enough that it doesn't get old with enough variation in how you handled the funnier parts of the song (i.e. the weird sound effects) that it felt like it just kept giving and giving. Not a dull moment, great work!

040 - Urusei Yatsura - Dua Lipa - Levitating - Oh man, this was excellent. The song/anime pairing was perfect and the choruses were edited so satisfyingly. And while I would peg this as one of my favorite videos I've seen so far (I'm watching them in order), if the editor is reading this, please consider spending a little more time on the verses -- they were fine, but are definitely in need of some more sync and motion in general. There are so many interesting beats and sounds in the song, especially during the verses, that just go completely unacknowledged in the editing and I really feel you can push this to the stars if you put some more attention there. PM me after the contest if you want more detailed feedback!

041 - Japan Sinks - Space Ghost - Water Song - Just solid comedy here, what more can I say.

042 - Serial Experiments Lain - Laura Les - Haunted - Get your sub-30 second betas outta here. (Real talk: you have something here where if you developed it into an actual, full video, it could potentially be really cool, but until then these little techy sketches just really rub against the grain for me.)

043 - Legend Of Korra - Indeimaus - Blinding Lights - See my comments on #32.

044 - Legend Of Zelda - Lady Gaga - Sine From Above - Breathtaking -- might be one of my favorite videos of the year, inside this contest or otherwise. There are so many cool moments of internal sync throughout, and you nailed the storytelling and overall scene selection and all those other editing things that we like to point at and nitpick and reference to explain why a video is good or bad. I can't point to a single thing that I wish was done differently, just perfect.

045 - Luca - Anberlin - Young Life - The song choice is good for the movie, but the editing just wasn't there. The video felt unevenly-paced and the transitions and black-and-white sections didn't follow any discernible pattern within the context of the video's structure -- it all seemed random. I really wanted to like this but it just fell flat for me.

046 - Various - Teen Titans (OST) - Upbeat Inspirational Song About Life - Ehhhhhhh I'm not big on these in-jokey self-referential comedy videos. I think the idea is handled well enough in terms of the editing, and it's short and sweet, but it would feel weird voting for this simply because no one who's not privy to the PRO drama from a couple years ago would get it.

047 - Various (Marvel) - NF - Wake Up - I'm prone to really dislike Marvel-based videos, but this was maybe the best I've seen. I appreciated the focus on a single character and the care that went into telling a sensical story so that even people like me who are (at best) tangientially familiar with anything Marvel could appreciate and understand it. I don't have much to really complain about, this was emotionally hard-hitting, good stuff.

048 - Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken - Run With The Kittens - Weight Of The World - Impeccable scene selection, mind-blowing internal sync, top-notch pacing from beginning to end…this video had it all and more. Another highlight from this contest, this video is par excellence.

049 - Extraction - Imagine Dragons - Natural - I was ready to say I hate it when editors put audio from the source into their video without good reason, but then I noticed that you intentionally synced the gunshots to the music and, frankly, I've never seen something like that before in this hobby and it was really cool. I also appreciate that you probably realized this would not have worked for an entire song, so while I normally don't like song cuts I think it was the right call here. An unexpectedly neat little experiment that caught me pleasantly off-guard.

050 - Dragon Maid - Sixpence None The Richer - There She Goes - I love the sentiment of this video; it's absolutely, heart-meltingly adorable. That said, I really would love to have seen more editing, just in general -- a lot of the scene selection was fairly static and I felt there could have been more cuts and motion all around. Still, it had some really great moments and I definitely enjoyed this.

052 - Macross Plus - Machinedrum - Rise N Fall - Love the way this developed into a psychedelic LSD trip by the end. The first half of the video (before the repeated scenes started happening) felt a little…uneven? I don't know, they didn't seem to tie in as well to the latter half of the video, but overall, a really neat, weird experiment that I quite enjoyed.

053 - High School Of The Dead - Bear Ghost - Necromancin Dancin - I love how kinetic this video is -- pretty much non-stop motion and so much really fun internal sync. Great pairing, wonderful execution, and infectious energy. Can't really ask for much more from a video like this!

054 - Kiniro Mosaic - Generated Voice - - !weiver ym si sihT

055 - Your Name - Vanessa Carlton - Thousand Miles - Everyone is going to point out how this exact anime/song combination was done in a Pro contest a few years ago, and I will too because that video is probably my favorite Your Name AMV I've seen…and unfortunately that does factor in to how I feel about this one. Even so, though, this video needed everything turned down about 5 notches -- wayyyy too many cuts, too many color-changing cross-dissolves, too many flashes, both white and black. There was just too much editing going on here, nothing was allowed to develop or form into anything concrete in my mind, so it all felt like a rapid mish-mash of random scenes. Sorry, it didn't work for me no matter how I slice it.

056 - Fuse Memoirs Of The Hunter Girl - Of Monsters And Men - Human - This is paced soooo well. Everything keeps moving and the way you tied scenes together was captivating. If I have any critiques, it would be that I felt there were too many blur fades, and also a few too many quick zoom-outs used to hit beats in the song, especially near the end. But regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed this.

057 - Soul - Celine Dion - Im Alive - Very well-done. One or two questionable moments of lyric sync ("You set my heart on fire" is way too on-the-nose) but otherwise a really fine, sentimental video that I enjoyed.

058 - Evangelion - Kina Grannis - What A Wonderful World - I was really hoping this video wouldn't devolve into ironic dark violence and apocalyptic imagery, and I'm really disappointed those scenes were in there. They did not fit at all. It would have worked better if you had slowly introduced them and then by the end the video was all dark and gory and depressing (at the expense of turning into something pretty cliche and obvious), but instead they were just randomly inserted in between otherwise very calming scenes and they totally disrupted the mood. I'm begging you editor, if you're reading this, please consider replacing those scenes with other innocuous, calm, gentle ones like you see in the rest of the video. You'd have something fairly unique on your hands for an Eva video and it would work so much better. For some reason everyone wants to turn this song into something dark and foreboding that it was never meant to be, and matching the intended tone of the song would actually be different from what everyone expects, weirdly enough.

059 - She-Ra - Hidden Citizens - Heroes Fall - I can't stand this style of music, which was not doing this video any favors -- sorry editor. But besides that, the editing just felt really undercooked -- major beats in the song were not given the attention I thought they deserved, and this video ended up feeling way less epic and impactful than I think was intended.

060 - Demon Slayer - Vicetone - Walk Thru Fire - This video was baffling. Clearly you know how to edit, as there were some really great moments of internal sync and moments where you had an excellent sense of pacing and scene selection. Unfortunately there were plenty of other moments where you missed hitting on significant shifts in the song's energy and the video felt super uneven as a result. Also, video quality issues everywhere -- all the non-Mugen Train scenes were comparatively blurry and looked like they were downloaded off of YouTube or something. And there were also a few moments where you forgot to disable resampling and there was some ghosting in the footage. I appreciate what you were going for and I think I could like this if everything was more consistent.

061 - Various - Soul Asylum - Runaway Train - Anime/AMV in-jokes in AMV form are only successful if you actually, y'know, edit a video. Flashing still after still after still for over 4 minutes is simply grating and the joke loses its luster about 15 seconds in. Single-joke videos that are actually edited well are usually only funny for the first minute or so; this was entirely too long and felt very low-effort.

062 - Code Geass - Joker - Trailer Audio - I don't care for trailers at all, this was about as generic a one as I could imagine. The editing was fine, but these types of videos never stick with me and I never return to them.

063 - Various - Borns - Past Lives - I think I got the story you were going for here, but the radically different animation styles of the sources you chose were really grinding against each other in a very distracting way. That said, the editing was pretty fantastic, and I appreciated the way you extended the prominent themes of Your Name into a much wider, farther-reaching narrative. I liked this, overall. Definitely has room to grow on me a lot over time.

064 - Madoka Magica - Tommee Profitt - Cant Help Falling In Love - This came across to me as a pretty run-of-the-mill, dark Homura/Madoka ship and didn't really bring anything new or interesting to the table for me. A note on the editing: the Ken Burns-style zooms were not done particularly well -- you have it so that the motion clearly starts and stops within each scene where the zooms are used, and it should look continuous, i.e. the zoom should not slow down and stop before the scene ends, the motion should continue at the same speed up until the last frame of the scene. The zooms as they are look like they were tacked on and give the scenes where they're used a very artificial quality which distracts from the drama you're trying to build.

065 - Fate Series - Marianas Trench - Killing Kind - The editing in this video is fire and I have nothing to complain about, so I'm struggling to figure out why I found this so…boring? I suspect this has nothing to do with anything you as an editor did or didn't do and is instead just based on my general distaste for symphonic pop rock and the Fate series as sources. It's a good video, but I am not the target audience.

066 - Honkai Impact - AJR - Turning Out - The editing here is pretty solid, but I don't understand the song choice at all. I mean, I guess I get it from a musical perspective -- you synced the mood of the song quite successfully, but the lyrics seemed to have nothing whatsoever to do with what was happening onscreen, even at an abstract level. Perhaps familiarity with the source is needed, but from where I was sitting there seemed to be a massive gulf between the lyrics and the visuals, and it really prevented me from enjoying this.

067 - Kingdom Hearts - NF - The Search - Really wanted to like this more. Like, I really did, because this video has some great moments that last one or two seconds each, but they're unfortunately punctuating what is mostly really uneven pacing and visual flow that never lasts long enough for me to get into. As a whole the video never got into a steady rhythm and I felt like I was being jerked around most of the time -- but there was so much potential here, I think the song and video source could work so much better.

068 - Dragon Maid - Ron Wasserman Jeremy Sweet - Rock The Dragon - This entire video seemed like it was de-synced by several frames. Anything that happened to line up felt like an accident. Even so, there needed to be a LOT more sync throughout for this to be convincing or worthwhile. Scenes ran on for way too long to keep up the energy.

069 - Various - Ken Ashcorp - Bunny Song - I appreciate this video a lot -- especially the time and care that would have gone in to making it. It is definitely not my style of video but it reminds me a lot of fun, pander-y videos released in like the mid-2000s (this is a compliment). Great commitment to the color palettes and to a consistent "joke" (for lack of a better term) that made this enjoyable to watch from beginning to end -- and it didn't overstay its welcome. A very nice little video that I'm glad was entered here!

070 - Star Wars - Hidden Citizens - Moonlight Sonata - A video where neither the video source nor the music resonated with me in any way, and the editing was average enough not to warrant much comment. Sorry, I just don't have anything to say about this.

071 - Fate Series - Star Trek Lower Deck - - Sigh.

072 - G Gundam - Sunset Neon - Tonight - Oh MAN this was a fun video! The energy was through the ceiling and you kept it up the entire time, the sync was absolutely off the wall and I just loved pretty much every second of this. No critiques, this video is ridiculous '80s cheese personified in the best way.

073 - Your Name - Aurora - Runaway - This feels like a beta and I don't feel like this kind of contest (or any contest, really) is the place for stuff like this, personally. It seems to be incomplete, not fleshed out at all -- it just kind of starts and ends with no buildup or resolution. Beyond that, the blurs were way too heavy -- if you look at the top and bottom of the screen as you do your blurs you'll see the black edges bleeding into the scene and this is distracting. I'm probably being a little extra harsh on this because I am so sick of Your Name videos and even if this was a complete video continued in this same style, it would feel like all the others. Sorry editor, this is not for me.

074 - Nightcrawler - Imagine Dragons - Cutthroat - There were quite a few excellent sync moments here, and actually the editing was super solid all the way through. Great storytelling as well. Not the type of video I'm prone to like or watch again but I can definitely acknowledge quality when I see it.

075 - Evangelion - Glass Animals - Space Ghost Coast To Coast - This was just a really cool video. Effects work was on point -- not overdone but just the right amount to achieve some dope sync and to keep the video moving. Although not anything super unique in terms of its overall approach (there are enough Shinji character profiles out there to keep me occupied for months) I thoroughly enjoyed the editing in this, it hit the spot and kept the video alive for me where it otherwise might have bored me to tears.

077 - Fruits Basket - Shawn Mendes - Wonder - Editing needed to be kicked up several notches -- the crossfade-heavy approach didn't flow with the music at all. There was next to no visual rhythm here, the video seemed to move independently of the song. Also, I noticed what appeared to be some ghosting in several scenes -- this happens when you change the speed of a clip but don't disable resampling in your editing program (or at least this is what it's called in Vegas). Sorry, this video just didn't do it for me.

078 - Various - Green Day - Longview - I get what you were going for here but it wasn't engaging at all -- the editing was really just not here, with too many static or slow-moving scenes that totally ruined any momentum that might have been building. From a technical perspective it was fine -- the motion tracking and everything was done pretty well -- but as an AMV it didn't interest me and couldn't keep my attention.

079 - Black Butler - Andrew Lloyd Webber - The Beauty Underneath - Has some great moments from an editing perspective, but for the most part this just felt very mediocre to me. It didn't leave much of an impression one way or the other -- I'm sorry, I just don't find myself with anything substantial to say.

080 - Fate Series - My First Story - Fukagyaku Replace - I liked this more than I didn't, but there were some sections that could have used a little more visual energy -- 1:44-1:54 for example. Overall though, pretty smooth editing, and I think you nailed the mood of the song pretty hard. Good work.

081 - Various - Prodigy - Firestarter - I'm going to assume this video was submitted in good faith and is NOT a troll video, so, editor, whoever you are -- there is no sync in here, lip flap everywhere, and while you have an obvious theme in your scene selection you need to actually edit these scenes together in an interesting way. Cuts were completely random, there was literally no attention paid to the music whatsoever, and this can barely be called an AMV.

082 - Madoka Magica - Happy Hour - Black In Very Color - Not really sure what to make of this video. I think it's supposed to be comedy but…all the jokes were really cringey and they didn't resolve into an overarching theme or anything. The tone of the song also didn't complement the comedic vibe I think you were going for and overall I didn't feel like this video worked on any level.

083 - Aladdin - Various - Friend Like Me - I'm conflicted about this one -- on the one hand it's probably the most technically accomplished video in the whole contest, but on the other a lot of the work was done for you: so many of these scenes seem like they fit so well because they were already synced to the song that way to begin with. That's not to undermine the work that went into merging the live action Aladdin with the cartoon version -- the rotoscoping, motion tracking, audio editing, and (I'm sure) minute editing that probably had to be done to sync things up when editing one video source to the other's audio source are impressive. But there's nothing really original here, and that lessens how memorable it is to me, unfortunately.

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neko kitkat
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2006 12:03 am
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Re: AWA 2021 PRO Reviews

Post by neko kitkat » Thu Sep 30, 2021 1:33 am

Ok time for my reviews! Sorry for any typos. I tried to clean them up but if you see anything let me know and I'll fix it so you can understand my word vomit XD. Also since its Clamps 30th anniversary You all get Clamp art this year! Also most of the pics have sorta of a connection to your amvs themes and ideas. Let me know if you want to know what they are! Also sorry I had to go back and replace more than half the pics cause they weren't showing up so some of my first picks I couldn't use T^T
Spoiler :
001 - berserk - judas priest - the sentinel-
I struggle so much with action so I am always in awe of action amvs that can pull off a interesting story and keep me invested. You did a great job here and I kinda wish you kept utilizing the audio from the series like you did at the beginning with the footsteps. I think you could have used a few pans here and there bit its not really a necessity and just really like you're overall flow and composition of scenes here. Also really Like that ending shot! Great job!
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002 - jujutsu kaisen - twista - crisis
Really love the flow of this amv. Again I am always just in awe of legitimate action amvs. I think you have great timing and fluidity wit the scenes into slower parts. The only thing I didn't care for was the music which is more of a personally preference rather than anything against your editing here. I wish I could understand the lyrics and I swear I heard him pikachu XD. But music aside, the sync and flow was too good to not be invested in this amv. You know a amv is GOOD if you dislike the music but the editing and visuals alone make you want to re-watch it. Great job!
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003 - ghost story - arcade fire - my body is a cage
Live action is so hard to work with and you did a phenomenal job here. I was extremely worried when this amv started that it would be horror but was more than relieved to see I just got emotional over ghost sheets rather than terrified. You have a emotional and intriguing piece of media here and I think you captured it so well. I was so captivated by the simplicity of this bit at same time by how well you reused certain scenes to tell a very emotionally drive narrative. I think the only complaint is that the video felt a bit long even though I know it wasn't. But that is by no means a bad thing I personally love long amv. But they aren't for everyone. Wonderful work though!
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004 - death stranding - yair albeg wein or kribos - mephistos lullaby
I'm officially scared. So glad I watched this during the day. That beginning legitimately scared the heck out of me! I think you defiantly hooked the viewer with visuals, scene selection and timing. I think it slowed a bit after 1:08-1:15 it might have been the clip used felt it went on a little too long. But thats more of a minor nitpick than anything. I couldn't really see any other real issues with the amv itself. Again thanks for scaring I might have nightmares tonight but great job!
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005 - she-ra - chord overstreet - hold on
This review actually took several re-writes. By no means was this a bad thing. I just couldn't put into words exactly how this amv made me feel. You captured the turmoil, love, and hope Adora and Catra go throughout their journey to find each other and themselves. Their love was shown so well here and honestly there isn't much I can take way in any sort of criticism. Its basically near perfect. I feel it is missing a bit of something but for the life of me I cannot fathom what it is (this is no demerit on your amv itself I just dunno WHY this amv makes me feel this way and it shows your editing prowess to invoke some emotion in me I am trying but failing to grasp). This really is a masterpiece you conjured up here. So seriously congrats on that!
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006 - aggretsuko - i prevail - hurricane
This here was so wonderfully unexpected! I love the dramatic and more serious angle you took with Retsuko. I really loved the clash of visuals to the tone of the song but its SO worked. Like its peanut butter and oreos, or pineapple on pizza (lol I know not some peoples thing) but this was just a perfect odd mesh that I just Fell in love with. The timing was perfect and the scene selection was just great.
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007 - tanya the evil - grandson - wwii
I find Rap very hard to work with. I think you did a good job keeping up with the beat and lyrics and having the chorus have more of a flow with the animation and tone. The only real criticism I would have is some of the footage looks a bit interlaced? like there are lines appearing in the hair and in particularly with the confetti raining down scenes. But that might just be me, It's sort of nit pick than anything especially when it comes to footage as I myself don't really have the best quality of footage to work with myself. I also think the song choice worked with the scenes you chose. Good work!
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008 - night world - jessie j - flashlight
I love love love the visuals here! I have seen this series so happy that someone knows this series! I think the song suited the series well and the visuals too!. Pacing was a bit jumbled but overall worked with the narrative you seemed to go for. Overall I really enjoyed this amv!
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009 - haikyuu - the score - born for this
This amv just fascinates me. I struggle with keeping up with fast pace songs and lyrics and you just left me floored. Not only keeping up with the lyrical speed with the rap but the flow was both quick but readable. I found myself really captivated but the editing and overall flow of the video itself. I haven't seen hiakyuu but your amv makes me want to check it out. Getting a viewer interested in a series is such a great accomplishment I feel cause you editing convey enough interesting ideas/feelings and story that it makes one intrigued and curious to actually invest themself into what the series may off. So you really composed a great amv here.
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010 - evangelion - billie eilish - no time to die
I love how you started and ended with the sea. I loved the melancholy and dramatic build up in the visuals and the music you portrayed. It was very well paced and i was emotionally invested. I dunno the story going on in the new evenglions stuff but I really think you hit it out of the part in captivating a haunting but beautifully sad piece of art. Good job.
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011 - various - carly rae jepsen - i really like you
This was too cute and sweet! I think you did a perfect match for all the series to show how the girls all love each other. I don't have any criticisms aside maybe a few pans here and there but that's just me not picking. It was really really good and I'm a sucker for a good romance amv and You did a great job here!
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012 - arakawa under the bridge - barenaked ladies - light up my room
I really enjoy how chill and kinda calming this amv is. It just so relaxing and pleasant. It makes me smile. Its so simple but effective and I enjoyed every second of this. I dunno the series but it just seems fun and silly but also just a nice break away from drama. Thank you for this. I really liked it a lot! Good work!
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013 - wolfwalkers - florence and the machine - howl
I sadly only watched about 1 minute of this cause I still have yet to see this movie and want to so very badly. But just based on that minute a lone, Holy MOLY is this gonna be epic and beautiful. This song I can feel is PERFECT for the movie. I really wanted to see more and I almost kept watching. But like Dang! That was so so so good!
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014 - rezero - commercial - bathroom renovation
LOL omg XD that was too fun. I love how it was very simple but effective lip syncing and timing with facial expressions. Job well done!
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015 - revolutionary girl utena - billie eilish - goldwing
WOW. That was mesmerizing. I haven't listened to many Billie Elish songs really but you really knocked it out of the park here.
I love the flow and the subtle beat changes in the animation with the scenes. It was very well constructed and thought out. It was very captivating and you did Utena justice with this amv. Great job!
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016 - tokyo revengers - chloe - have mercy
XD
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017- various - various - various
That was on fire!
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018 - various - vienna teng - level up
I really liked the idea behind this! I think some parts where a bit slow with the lyrics but wasn't bad by any means. the only real criticism I have is more of a balance of footage used. Some series seem to have more scenes than there so I think having equal parts or try to balance it out. Unless this is a mep which would make sense. I liked the darkness turning into color but would have been effective to keep it dim till that moment cause it was bright before then as well. I really enjoyed this and I love the message of over coming trials be it physical or emotional. Good job!
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019 - kingdom hearts - ajr - turning out
I want to see this SO BAD. But can't cause of spoilers. But man I am excited to watch this. I know you used My edited version of the song and That's perfectly fine. makes me even more excited honestly! Please send me a edited version without the kh3 stuff so I can watch this after con! I can't wait X3
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020 - chobits - louie zong - hello world
I absolutely loved this. I love how the robot song is PERFECT for Chobits and your timing and pacing is just so well done. It so relaxing and just visually soothing in a odd way. I really liked this amv. It was so unique and pleasant to watch and as a clamp fan I am very very happy.
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021 - kellys heroes - mike curb congregation - burning bridge
That was a fun trailer XD. I liked your cuts and scene selection. I haven't seen the movie myself but I really liked the build up and the fact you didn't seem to give away too much of the story. It left a lot up in the air and now I am curious about the film. Only criticism is that is felt it was like 10 seconds too long but its more of a minor thing than anything. Good work!
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022 - chrono trigger - tsuyoshi sekito yasunori mitsuda - chrono and marle
I love music box music!
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023 - full metal alchemist - beetlejuice (broadway) - dead mom
I haven't heard of this musical but omg this song suits fma so much! I think you matched scenes really well to the lyrics and timing was on point. This was a very solid edit. My only criticism is that I feel you could have used more Trisha scenes. But thats really minor and doesn't really affect the full amv. You did a fantastic job here and Ahh bonus points for making it a musical amv XD
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024 - the prince of egypt - within temptation - angels
I just re-watched this movie recently!. OMG this is such a perfect match! I AM LOVING THIS. The editing was simple but very effective and you let the animation hit those key beats and It was just so so so GOOD. One of my favorites this year definitely. Phenomenal work here!
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025 - various (pixar) - sheppard - the best is yet to come
This was so sweet! It was a very beautiful tribute to Pixar. I think you captured a lot of the warmth Pixar gives its viewers with each film. It was a very simple but wonderful amv. Only critique I feel some movies didn't get as much spot light as others but its really really minor since some movies are sequels and prequels so that might play a part in it. I But overall I really enjoyed this gorgeous love letter to Pixar! Great job!
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026 - vampire princess miyu - david bowie - within you
I feel like this might be a troll amv XD regardless the lip sync was perfect and I wasn't expecting the girl to be the vampire XD so that was a twist!
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027 - custom - redacted - transience
I love that everything here was drawn. THE POOR CIRCLE! THEY MADE FRIENDS THEN GOT LONELY AGAIN! T^T really liked how it kinda ended though where it started. But good job on this. Not much to critique about this as it's a unique and drawn out animatic. It was very simple but very effective. Wasn't sure at first what was happening but after I realized it was a animation I grew genuinely curious and it didn't disappoint. Good job!
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028 - mawaru penguindrum - city girl - ellipsis
This anime still confuses me XD. Anyways I really like the unique take you have with editing here. I actually was really mesmerized by the flow you built up. Only real criticism I would have is maybe a few pans and a different overlay than the one you used. It was a bit jarring when it transitioned to the overlay. I believe it might be because the overlay didn't look a part of the animation and more like something that was filmed in real life so it pulled me out of the immersive-ness the amv had going for it. Message me later I have a ton of overlays you can try and use later if you like! Aside from those two things you have a solid piece of art here and I can't wait to see more from you!
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029 - evangelion - scottie sire - sad song
LOL not sure if this legit comedy or a troll XD I really liked this and think it would hit the mark for comedy. But those lips! Omg those lips really were like a touch uncanny valley for me and really just kinda left me uncomfortable throughout the amv. Excellent timing though!
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030 - battle athletes - quad city djs - space jam
That was Just perfection XD Like I don't even Know the series but sports in space XD Omg the scene and timing were spot on. The text oddly reminded me of the one used in the Pokemon Rap XD I dunno why but it did. It just made me so happy and I actually danced a bit while watching. This was to fun! Thanks for this amv! Great job!
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031 - (dot)hack - blackmores night - the circle
I LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS AMV AND I HAVE NEVER PLAYED A .HACK GAME! I really loved how you showed the progression of the games over time and the love you put into this tribute to the series. I only ever really saw the anime .Hack Sign and the Twilight Bracelet one. So my knowledge maybe limited. But I really love the music (blackmores night fan XD) and how it just fits perfectly with the visuals. This amv just radiated love and passion behind every edit. You can tell you put so much thought and care into this amv. For that you deserve nothing short of praise.
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032 - filmed - inxs - need you tonight
I kinda want to go to Home Depo and dance now XD
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033 - so im a spider - spiderman (tv) - theme (1967)
This was so cute and fun! I love the box edits and just really enjoyed this. Really made me happy and plastered a HUGE smile on my face while watching it. Great job!
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034 - 91 days - dan roll - actor with a loaded gun
That took a turn I didn't expect O_O I really like transition from happy wedding tot just death. It was a nice build up though. I thinks some of the beginning scenes would have used more pans or scenes overall of happy times but I am unsure how much footage is in this series to allow for that. So I won't really count that as a deal breaker for this amv. I like the ambiguous ending as well. Great job and again thanks for the unexpected twist!
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035 - evangelion - code monkeys (tv) - daves love song
lol um... what?! well edited though.
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036 - lighthouse - copilot strategic music sound - drunken whaler
I dunno who made this but congrats on making me have nightmares for several nights. I got chills while watching this and You made me now break out into a sweat when I hear this song. Nothing much to say except you executed this so well that I am legit terrified of this amv.
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037 - soul eater - dan bull - dive into the madness
This was a absolute delight! The music scenes and everything just ft so well. It was so enjoyable to watch and really fits the spirit of Halloween but also soul eater as well. It was fun and dramatic! Great work and Now I want more amvs to soul eater in a similar vain XD
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038 - violet evergarden - dessa - annabelle
I really really loved what you did here. The editing was soo smooth and I enjoyed the romantic aspect you went for on this. It was extremely well executed and had great timing and flow. Really loved the part where you showed par through Violets eyes at 1:48. nothing much else to say but wonderful job!
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039 - nichijou - drowning pool - bodies
LOL this was so well edited and so much fun to sit through. Thanks for the fun kids boppy version and of this and it was just too silly not enjoy! Thanks! and good work!
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040 - urusei yatsura - dua lipa - levitating
I don't even know this series but this has to be a personal favorite of mine for the year. I dunno I just loved how simple but effective this was and just made me so happy and i had a smile the whole way through. It just fit so well and I just couldn't find any real criticisms to point out. It just flawless and i can tel you put so much thought and love in this! thanks!
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041 - japan sinks - space ghost - water song
Well that was a lot of water and gore and death XD good editing though!
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042 - serial experiments lain - laura les - haunted
I really liked the use of overlays and effects here. Not sure about the song and anime choice since I have never seen the anime but i really enjoyed the visuals and editing great job!
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043 - legend of korra - indeimaus - blinding lights
I think this is supposed to be a troll amv. But if not I think It could have worked if you timed the beats more and had more actual action and bending during the instrumental parts. Overall not a bad try.
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044 - legend of zelda - lady gaga - sine from above
I wasn't sure of this amv at first but as it kept going it really grew on me. think the lyrics suited it really well and the timing and pacing was very well done and balanced between link and zelda with the male and female vocals. You did a fantastic job matching both! I like how it transitions to the other characters as well. Only thing I found odd was the last bit of the audio change but I am unsure if you intentionally edited that in or if it was part of the original song. Keep up the great work!
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045 - luca - anberlin - young life
This was a very sweet and cute amv to Luca. I thought the music fitted it perfectly and it was just wholesome and fun. Everything was well edited and I liked how you included the credits. Also the beat to the animation was just superb! Keep up the great work!
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046 - various - teen titans (ost) - upbeat inspirational song about life
LOl I really enjoyed the upbeat song part. I like the transition from the categories to the upbeat chorus. It just fit so well and made me wish there was full version now. I was jamming along cause it was so fun! and then it just ends >_< lol thats my only gripe I wanted more! Great editing though and timing was great!
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047 - various (marvel) - nf - wake up
This makes me realize I haven't seen much of the marvel movies past a certain point aside from Black panther XD. Cause I don't really know these characters at all XD. I sadly don't understand everything going on or the emotional weight some of these scenes are meant to convey but from a editing perspective you knocked this out of the park. This was really well done. The timing was great and the flow and sync was very good especially for live action. Good job!
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048 - keep your hands off eizouken - run with the kittens - weight of the world
LOL this was so fun XD and chaotic but it seemed to work so well XD I love how their body movements matches the guitar riffs XD. It has such a chaotic energy I really enjoy. I dunno much about this series but this seems to match it well!. But yeah this was fun! Good work!
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049 - extraction - imagine dragons - natural
I really think you did a great job with the live action matching the lyrics. I like the use of the audio but left rather short. I think though that it would have just become a bit redundant though if you did so. Overall really nice editing and that audio cut at the end was good too!
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050 - dragon maid - sixpence none the richer - there she goes
This was ridiculously sweet and cute! The only thing I wish it had a few pans but overall was just so adorable it wasn't that big of a deal. This si just wholesome and fun XD Good job!
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051 - various - weezer - thank god for girls
Fan service isn't really my thing. But I clearly tell you had fun editing this. The timing was great! the only thing I didn't care for was the text. But that's more of a personal preference than a honest criticism. The more dramatic parts worked too XD Not much else to say other than you did a good job here!
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052 - macross plus - machinedrum - rise n fall
OOOh this was fun! I love seeing older series getting some love! I like the techno but smooth vibe you gave here with action but also with just making it feel very retro in sense. The only think I didn't care for was the rainbow-ish overlay in some parts. Also some scenes were a bit too dark to see. I liked what you tried to do here and you made something unique and different! Good job!
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053 - high school of the dead - bear ghost - necromancin dancin
This was such a fun action amv! I liked how the song in itself was fun and your video played into the comedic aspect of it but not losing any of the actions flow. I find action so hard to do and you did a splendid job here! I am always a sucker for a good action amv XD
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054 - kiniro mosaic - generated voice
!Hsart etuc sit tub
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055 - your name - vanessa carlton - thousand miles
I can't help but feel this amv is homage to another amv edited in a similar style done to centimeters Per second. It was really well done and just reminded me of that amv, not in bad way mind you. It just felt like someone attempting to make grandma's home made cookies, while not perfect it was made with love and still tasted and looked good. Only thing I can say maybe reduce some of the brightness of the flashes as they e a little touch on the eyes. other than that is a perfectly fine amv and I can't wait to see more from you.
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056 - fuse memoirs of the hunter girl - of monsters and men - human
This is one if my absolute favorites this year. I'm a sucker for monsters and men and DANG. I am just floored. I loved EVERY moment from start to finish. Nothing to critique here other than I just sat watching this on repeat for awhile cause I loved it so much XD
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057 - soul - celine dion - im alive
I haven't seen soul so I don't know all the stuff going on. But can't help but feel this movie was made with this song in mind. It just matches up too perfectly. It was wonderful watching this and I just loved how everything was paced. I truly enjoyed this so much and now I can't wait to watch this again after watching the movie. Truly well done!
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058 - evangelion - kina grannis - what a wonderful world
I kept expecting this to get really really dark for some reason. To subvert the happy-ish and melancholy of the song but no you kept it straight the full way through till the head explosion at least XD. But I really liked how oddly pleasant and somber this amv was to the series. It was a nice change in pace and was very unexpected and left me pleasantly surprised but the end. Good job!
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059 - she-ra - hidden citizens - heroes fall
She-ra is such harder source to work with from my experience. I think you did a great job matching the lyrics and hitting the emotional beats with the drama and action. I loved how this was catering to more of the shows darker themes and you did a great job show casing that. It was every epic feeling and I really enjoyed this! Good job!
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060 - demon slayer - vicetone - walk thru fire
I really love the focus on Tanjiro and Nezuko here. I like the narrative shift between the two and I think the song was perfect match for them. You did a great job! only criticism I would have to say that there can be a bit more lyrical sync but thats more of a preference of mine rather than a demerit of the amv itself. I think you captured the sibling relationship so well with the music and you should be proud!
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061 - various - soul asylum - runaway train
lOL RIP to the things we lost along the way to now! But its the memories we cherish and walk away with.
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062 - code geass - joker - trailer audio
Trailers can be very tricky I feel. You did a great job here though! The scenes and audio with the sounds effects worked so so so well! I think you did a splendid job! Not much to criticize just overall a great solid amv trailer! Great work!
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063 - various - borns - past lives
At first I thought this was gonna be a anime mix amv but then I was blown away by the realization it was not really the case here. I loved how you incorporated the past lives aspect and made a very unique video with romance. Especially for Your Name which I feel can be overused at times. So it was very refreshing to se something very different with the source. You did a great job and timing and lyrical sync was spot on. Good job!
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064 - madoka magica - tommee profitt - cant help falling in love
I love the dramatic build up and the overall tension displayed in this amv. I believe you captured the turmoil of Homura's love and her grief of everything that has happened to her and Madoka throughout the series. I like the timing with the lyrics and the flow you built up. I wish the pans continued to the end of the clip but honestly doesn't really take away from the video as whole. I really loved the last minute or so where really went ham with the drama and pacing. It was phenomenal. wonderful work!
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065 - fate series - marianas trench - killing kind
This was just jaw dropping. That sync and timing was just amazing! I honestly have no criticisms really aside from help understanding the plot XD. Overall I am just stunned by this and the sync and technical behind it. I love marinas Trench and you did them justice with this just WOW.
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066 - honkai impact - ajr - turning out
I haven't played this game, I think this is game correct me if I am wrong, but I really like the over story and flow here. I love this song and I believe you did a great job with this! There are some areas I felt was a bit harsh in the cutting but I think it was more of a case of the footage itself rather than your editing. I really really enjoyed this and I am now very curious about the game! Good job!
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067 - kingdom hearts - nf - the search
Sadly can't watch this cause Spoilers. But from what I heard Its just amazing so I believe I when Its gonna be SO good when I do get the chance to watch it. Meanwhile I'll just imagine what it could be. After contest please send me a version without KH3 stuff! I would love to see it!
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068 - dragon maid - ron wasserman jeremy sweet - rock the dragon
LOL OMG XD ROCK THE DRAGON. This was too silly and perfect XD thanks for that!
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069 - various - ken ashcorp - bunny song
I dunno what i was expecting but this wasn't it. The timing was great and Good work on all those mask. My gosh that must have taken forever. This was fun and so different XD Good job!
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070 - star wars - hidden citizens - moonlight sonata
I haven't been keeping up with Star Wars. But I really liked the mix of Darth Maul and Obi Wans's past and future from the animated series to the live action. It was a great combo and made me wonder what happened in the cartoon. Some parts were a bit jarring with the cartoon to live action but overall wasn't a huge make or break for me. I actually really enjoyed it and I hope to see more attempts like this in the future. Great work!
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071 - fate series - star trek lower deck
YOU GOT TO HOLD A HEART!!! XD
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072 - g gundam - sunset neon - tonight
I love the retro feel to this song and the anime seems like a fun fit XD. I love this Gundam series! While I think you captured the tone and mood I feel the action could be stronger. The ending was great and flowed well. But overall I think you did a good job!
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073 - your name - aurora - runaway
I really love the overall mood you gave here. its both pleasant and somber. I haven't seen this movie yet XD But I have seen a ton of amvs to this movie and I dunno I really liked the way you paced this out. Not sure if you'll edit more to this or not. But I just really liked how atmospheric it was but also just relaxing and taking in the visuals to the lyrics. You let the movie and scenes breathe and allowed them to flow into each part smoothly. Good job!
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074 - nightcrawler - imagine dragons - cutthroat
Live action, at least for me, is very difficult to work with so I believe you did a good job here. I haven't seen this movie but I am intrigued. I liked the scenes you chose with the lyrics and the overall flow of the amv. It was very suspenseful and creepy in a way. Not much else to say but Great job!
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075 - evangelion - glass animals - space ghost coast to coast
I like the use of the glitch effect on this amv. It really worked. I also love the beginning with the cuts!. I haven't seen new Evengelion but I like how you incorporated the old series with it as well. It wasn't very jarring either which was great! I don't really know this song but from what I could understand I think you made it mostly work and I was fascinated with the amv throughout the entire time. I dunno why But I feel like this is a unique example of atmospheric piece. Unsettling atmosphere, but atmosphere none the less. Great work!
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077 - fruits basket - shawn mendes - wonder
AHH I love this YUKI tribute! I like how you did all forms of love that Yuki has experienced in his life and the longing to be accepted and be loved by others. You did a great job with scene placement and matching the lyrics. Only thing I can criticize is a few areas I feel like lip flap can be cleaned uped. But overall really minor details in the amv as whole. Really really loved this! thank you!
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078 - various - green day - longview
LOL really like what you're going for here! I liked the build up and the pay off you have for the gatcha components in mobile games. Sadly I couldn't relate much to this amv cause I have a brick of a phone and it can only play like 2 games XD. But I can see thins really hitting home with those that feel this pain. Great job on masking and I loved the unique and fun story you created with this! Wonderful work!
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079 - black butler - andrew lloyd webber - the beauty underneath
I just really loved this amv! I love the rock opera music and the scenes Just I dunno made me oddly happy. Reminded me a lot of amvs I watched to Nightwish and Within Temptation back in like 2006-2010 era of amvs. I REALLY love it! editing was a bit clunky in a few areas but honestly they are easy to over look in the amv as whole. I found myself re watching this like 6-7 times before writing this review. I think the music and scenes matched perfectly and I really enjoyed the transitions. Again thanks for this amv it really just made my day XD
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080 - fate series - my first story - fukagyaku replace
Wow just wow. I dunno I am always down for a good action and drama amv and man I cannot reiterate enough how much I wish I could even match this skill of editing when it comes to action. I think you did a phenomenal job here. Great scene matching and pacing. Even though I don't know much of the lyrics I think just pacing wise on its own you did a good job. I haven't seen these fate movies, I really should. But I think you nailed the action here. Great job!
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081 - various - prodigy - firestarter
I wasn't a huge fan of the music but I think you attempted something a bit different than I expected. I think using more scenes since you tended to reuse a lot of calcefer. I think trying to match the beat or have the scenes have more cuts in them would have helped a lot with the flow. I feel this might be a newer editor and I think you had a valiant attempt. I think it might be best to start working on reducing on scene length and matching the music a bit more. Otherwise I find this a unique and different amv and I can't wait to see you grow and evolve more as a editor!
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082 - madoka magica - happy hour - black in very color
LOL pretty sure this a troll video but a very well edited one at that XD. CUTE KITTY X3
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083 - Aladdin - various - friend like me
That was pleasantly surprising. I honestly at first thought it was troll video but as it went on I realized it wasn't. I really loved how you masked and intertwined the live action with the animation and took me a second to realize you used a version of of both Genie's singing. I really loved the box layout you did a few times. Not sure why but I just really enjoyed those scenes XD. Its a simple idea that you executed really well. You actually make kinda want to see the live action Aladdin movie now XD. Great job and thanks for the pleasant surprise!
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MadMegatax
Joined: Mon Feb 21, 2011 9:59 am
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Re: AWA 2021 PRO Reviews

Post by MadMegatax » Thu Sep 30, 2021 10:03 pm

Hey everyone, here are my reviews. This year, I'm posting them in the form of gacha! Specifically, Genshin Impact 10 pulls. They were generated using some wish simulators I found online (please don't ever try this with anything resembling a real account). For those interested in gacha suffering, I pulled over 5000 times for this, but only once got a double 5 star on a 10 pull. That's all the context you're gonna get. Enjoy!

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