I first discovered AMV's at a large LAN party. Lots of filesharing going on, and we had several people with projectors constantly running stuff on them. One guy played pretty much exclusively AMV's or anime related stuff the whole week. This was probably around 2001. The second and bigger thing that actually got me started in making videos was animemusicvideos.org, and the IRC chat. I met so many driven individuals and became friends with them, and shared my work as they did with me. We call that "beta testing" a video, and it's a really good way to get constructive criticism on your work, or simply the act of sharing it with people can get you motivated to finish it or to put that extra effort into it.
2) Why do you think you enjoy making them?
It's really neat to see your ideas come to fruition, and if other people enjoy them too it makes me happy. I also use them as a way to keep my skills sharp or to learn or try out new techniques. It's an amazing experience when you go to a big anime convention, such as AWA, and get to see your video and your friends' videos up on a big screen in front of hundreds of people. It's really fun to see what the crowd's response is to the efforts you put into making it. It's just generally good times
3) Do you use any particular Animes frequently in the AMVs you make?
Not per say, sometimes I'll use an anime just because I want to use it, but the decision is usually made by the anime/song pairing. I do have a history of using Lucky Star and anime with green haired girls.
4) What kind of music?
Again, generally determined by the video idea. If a song/anime pairing comes up that really works for me, I'll make the video. If I had to describe what kind of music I normally would make videos to...probably "different." I try to stay away from mainstream stuff because most of it sucks, and I just don't find it interesting.
5) What themes do you like to base your AMVs on?
Again depends on the idea of the particular video. I do love the concept of taking an anime and trying to tell a completely different story with it in an AMV than the story that is taking place in the original anime. That way you can take ownership of characters and use them how you want. Mixing multiple anime or doing crossovers is also really awesome. And, I must stress that I have a personal love for anything original that someone takes the time and effort to create. Hand drawn animation, 3d animation, etc.
6) Are there any “inside jokes” (or even stories) that only AMV makers would understand?
There are sooooo many. Most of them stem from the various groups in our community who know each other irl, and attend cons and just hang out and stuff.
7) Do you use any certain word(s) to describe yourself as a person who creates AMVs?
Not really. Sometimes I have to explain what anime is to people when I tell them I make music videos with it. Pick a word you say? Hmmm, I'll have to go with "awsmcore"
8) Do you write Fanfiction or do any other kind of Fanart?
Not particularly...although I am a very creative individual, so I do my own original work. Once I tried to write a Nadesico doujin but never got beyond a few paragraphs of text.
First Name: Chris
Age: 28
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