'AMVs Suck' an audio recording

[KholdStare88]

I do agree with you to a point. AMVs have changed, and now it's more about effects. Look at Skittles, look at Tuna. Now, I totally consider that an anime. For me, an AMV has 1) anime and 2) music and 3) it has a point. Well people, if the point is comedy, then it's still a point. If the point is just pure action, then it's still a point. It looks good to me, so I think it's a good AMV. AMVs mean Anime Music Videos, not Anime Music Videos that has to follow the plot of the anime exactly.

Now of course all of the AMVs I make need to have a story that has something to do with the anime. But of course, I chose to make them because I enjoy those kinds of AMVs. That doesn't mean the all-effects AMVs are bad, but it's just not my style. Face it, I'll never make a video that's close to Skittles, because even if I know how to make it, I don't enjoy doing it. But I don't call them non-AMVs. To sum it up, you have no right to say that they're not AMVs, but you can just say that they're a different genre of AMVs that you don't like. Face it, there are many types of Rock. One person who likes Alternative Rock doesn't have to like Hard Rock. Both of them have the same origin, but they just deviated.

But hey, there are still videos with fancy effects and still tells a story that's not Tuna. Look at Euphoria. Look at Reflections, Fade to Blue, and of course, Galaxy Bounce. Those editors probably brought out more from AE/Magix/Maya or whatever program they use than anyone, and they have the most amazing story. Three of those videos I mentioned won the most recent VCAs, so you cannot say that there aren't many of them anymore.

About anime, I do agree that most of the recent anime probably 20+ would not relate to. I found a few that were great, so I'll list them. Whether you think they relate to you or not is your own opinion, but I would believe that they do. I'm not 25, but I'm 18, and definately not in the 7-13 group that you were describing, so here I go:

-Elfen Lied
-Welcome to the NHK!
-5 Centimeters per Second
-Kimi ga Nozomu Eien

Now maybe most of you might know all of this anime, but that's because we're in an anime-rich community. To the average viewer, they would probably not know half of these titles, but of course everyone knows about Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Naruto, Bleach, Kanon, Lucky Star, etc.... Good ones are still out there, but they're rare. I do suggest you look into these anime, especially the last two, because the main characters are over twenty.

Overall, we have a difference in opinions. You think that anime + music doesn't necessarily mean AMV. However, I still use the technical definition, which calls for what AMV stands for, and it's Anime Music Video. I agree with some of the concepts of what you're saying, but I think it's rude and I'm offended by the way you treat some of these AMVs.

And yes I listened to all of the rant.

[Streicher]

Seriously, a friend of mine puked from being shown several Seishiga MADs after each other. That's how bad they are. No kidding.

What wonders me, you were ranting about heavy usage of effects most of the time. But didn't mention something that is much more annoying in my opinion: Really uncreative editing.

I don't know how many "Romance" AMVs I've seen where the editor chose to beatsync the drumrolls in the song.
Everytime I see that, I want to stop the AMV. It would already be uncreative in a DBZ/Naruto/Whatever-AMV and I really wonder why they do that. Sometimes I think it's because, they are expected to sync that particular song part that way.

With your "there is no good anime nowadays"-part, well I don't know since when you are watching anime or reading japanese comics. I personally went through this phase several times now. As did the industry.
It's even worse in recent times, then back then with the British VHS releases (Akira, Fist of the North Star, Urotsukidoji, Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D, etc.).
Because of digisubbing and so much fansubbers out there, shows get available to you that otherwise would have never left Japanese borders. Because of the inherit suckage of the majority of anime series.
(Oh and I also really miss the Ultraviolence and political incorrectness from the 80s anime and HK-movies.)
Still I found some recent series I really enjoyed watching. I just ignore all that other stuff.

Otherwise I can agree with most of your rant.
The problem of not being able to emotionally connect to a lot of recent AMVs and failing to see any kind of love and affection towards the anime by the editor is there.

When was the last time you saw an AMV and thought "Wow, this AMV really moved me. I must watch or even buy this series."?

[Topstar_Productions]

I disagree with some of your points, I think there are some good Japanese music artists out there who have things to say, (Kouhei Tanaka is my favorite composer, and Mari Iijima is my favourite singer, though she's lived in america for over a decade).


But maybe you have a point about anime and people over 20? Cause really the last anime I enjoyed was FMA, and that was when I was about 20. The only stuff I've really enjoyed since then are things that either continuations of stuff that came before or somehow manage to strike a nostalgic cord in me. There have been exceptions like Death Note (but even that was more the manga then the anime).

I still am intensly interested in Japanese culture but I feel I've outgrown that portion of it.

I still think I can do something with editing, and I have things to say... even if that's based on older shows.

oh and I like Some Mads, some of it's just funny. And I like fake openings.

[Falconone]

Hm, i see and now i knew that i am far away from making good amvs XD

I understand not all, because i am very bad in english, >_< but sometimes i understand and agree with you.

So i must hear all twice and more times and stop and look into a dictionary to look what it can be and translate it...

omg now i see it more greater how bad i am in english XD

[downwithpants]

a lot of what beowulf said can't be translated through a dictionary. if a bilingual member cares to translate/transcribe, it'd be more useful.


but in response to the rant, koop's rant was about dissociation between "amv" and its sources (i think, although many interpreted it to be the pretensiousness of arty amvs), beo's was about effects, not really related to koop's. still many good points were brought out.

[ZephyrStar]

This was a lot of fun to listen to. I wholeheartedly agree with most of it. Favorite part "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly NO FUCKING EFFECTS."

This has been a beef I've had with nearly every Hollywood movie/tv show with effects since like....yeah... (and this kinda translates to AMV's) I'm a strong believer in the formula that story comes first, then character, then music, then everything else. And by everything else, I mean effects. If your goal is to tell a story, effects should be so subtle and used only when neccessary, the icing on the cake.

You did a wonderful job of pointing out what MADS are all about. ADD is the key word here. Gimme some pretty stuff to look at, and it needs to be superhyperfast, give me that adrenaline rush. And it does seem to be the stereotype that MAD creators/effects users are really snobbish about what they do because they use a certain software or such. (as a student, I was always amazed that there were guys who were like 'omg I use maya' but who's work had no creative or artistic merit whatsoever - "I modeled darth vader's head" - think of your own stuff, goddamnit )

But, I still like a lot of the mads I have seen, and I'll get to that.

For me, there are 2 schools of thought.

#1 Story/Character.

You're telling a story. Your tool is the character. Every cut matters, every scene, every camera angle. Draw in the viewer, put them in a position they can identify with the characters, and become part of the story, get them to think and feel emotion. (you also are one of the few other people I've heard use suspension of disbelief and know what it means, awsm)

#2 Visual Experiment.

Go nuts. Think of it as a moving painting. Color, shape, motion (implied and actual), basic artistic principles. Music isn't really even necessary, just heightens the experience. It's just a new medium people are using to experiment with. 3D is the same kinda thing. A good word here is "abstract," and to echo what you're saying, this doesn't make the vid better.

All of this stuff can be and is overused, but that just shows you the diversity of all the people out there and what they like. I learned a long time ago that no matter what I do, there will be people who love it and people who hate it. The best thing to do is just do it, and then maybe you can take the words of people who hate it and turn that into some constructive criticism.

This isn't really a retort, but more along the lines of adding to your existing rant Beo. Good stuff, thank you for sharing

[The Wired Knight]

While I disagree regarding his statements of Anime (I've heard that argument for anime sucking or dying every year for the last decade) I do agree with his opinions on the lean towards effects AMVs.

I feel like I see them more and more nowadays and while they are certainly amazing to watch they lack substance but effects are what catch people's eyes. I wish there were more artistic endeavors towards storytelling or concept now but that doesn't seem to be the case.

As for MADs I also think that they can get monotonous. If you've seen a couple of them you've basically seen 90% of them as it's a lot of peppy japanese pop music with lots of flashy images and transitions with no meaning.

Oh and to those defending Japanese music; don't get me wrong, I love Japanese music a lot, but lyrically Japanese music is downright awful most of the time. I think it's saving grace a lot of the time is that a lot of american fans can't understand what they're saying but if you stop and look at the lyrics to most Japanese songs (ESPECIALLY pop songs) the lyrics are absoultely mundane, trite and lacking any sort of substance whatsoever.

[Castor Troy]

Oh and to those defending Japanese music; don't get me wrong, I love Japanese music a lot, but lyrically Japanese music is downright awful most of the time. I think it's saving grace a lot of the time is that a lot of american fans can't understand what they're saying but if you stop and look at the lyrics to most Japanese songs (ESPECIALLY pop songs) the lyrics are absoultely mundane, trite and lacking any sort of substance whatsoever.

Ignorance is the reason why I like japanese music. It has a nice flow and rhythm using incomprehensible vocals so we don't have to rely on lyric sync.

It's kind of funny to make a DBZ video to a japanese song and it translates as a love song.

[ZephyrStar]

Oh and to those defending Japanese music; don't get me wrong, I love Japanese music a lot, but lyrically Japanese music is downright awful most of the time. I think it's saving grace a lot of the time is that a lot of american fans can't understand what they're saying but if you stop and look at the lyrics to most Japanese songs (ESPECIALLY pop songs) the lyrics are absoultely mundane, trite and lacking any sort of substance whatsoever.

Ignorance is the reason why I like japanese music. It has a nice flow and rhythm using incomprehensible vocals so we don't have to rely on lyric sync.

It's kind of funny to make a DBZ video to a japanese song and it translates as a love song.

x2

I listen to the pillows a lot...I like em because of the feel of the music, not because of lyrics. (new album is out, it's pretty good)

[CrackTheSky]

Oh and to those defending Japanese music; don't get me wrong, I love Japanese music a lot, but lyrically Japanese music is downright awful most of the time. I think it's saving grace a lot of the time is that a lot of american fans can't understand what they're saying but if you stop and look at the lyrics to most Japanese songs (ESPECIALLY pop songs) the lyrics are absoultely mundane, trite and lacking any sort of substance whatsoever.

Ignorance is the reason why I like japanese music. It has a nice flow and rhythm using incomprehensible vocals so we don't have to rely on lyric sync.

It's kind of funny to make a DBZ video to a japanese song and it translates as a love song.

x2

I listen to the pillows a lot...I like em because of the feel of the music, not because of lyrics. (new album is out, it's pretty good)

x3

I love The Pillows.