Things I miss: originalilty (a special sort of it)

[Bauzi]

Yesterday I thought about various video stuff again and I was watching Casino Royal on tele. I got the feeling that I miss some kind of amvs lately and that I'm not so much pleased with the actual focus in amvs.

I miss some sort of originality or creativity! The thing that keeps you watching a video because you're interested in it. Let's take for example Casino Royal's intro:
http://tinyurl.com/4od723
Damn. There is originality and creativity that I'm talking about. Look at it! You're just interested into it because you never saw something like this before. It keeps you watching and you will pay almost no attention to sync. Is it synced? Of course it is! To the mood and flow of the song and that makes it great.

This video is a sequence of original ideas set together on the timeline and adjusted to fix the regions of the song. Every idea is well executed and fits to the theme and design in amvs I don't get something like this most of the time. Amvs try to get my interest with cuts and fx (I don't want to generalize, but you know what I mean) and that can get very tired.

However you can't blame them. There are thousands of amv-editors that use the same source over and over again like all those Shinkai-amvs. How could you make original visuals out of it when some viewers already know the whole anime by just watching amvs? Yeah well fx are a solutions to create interesting visuals, but that's pretty much it. The hobby is not like the industry. In the industry you create (most of the time) your own video material which gives the video something fresh and unique (hopefully) that keeps you interested in watching it. ... and to be honest: It's hard to create something really really great like the Casino Royal opening all alone. You would have to be designer, fx-specialist etc. In amvs your most of the time all on your own you don't have a team of specialists for a video.

When I think about visual interesting videos some come fast into my mind:




I just had to write my thoughts down. Any input, any discussion, any amv suggestions?

[Kionon]

I'm not interested in originality for its own sake.

I edit, mostly, because I have something to say about the source and I am going to say it.

This is probably why my videos are not popular. I'm okay with that.

[JaddziaDax]

I had a smartass/bitter response about originality, but I think I'll just post some videos I think are original in design instead.

I like well designed amvs though, original or not.








I hate Honey and Clover - yet I love this amv




I do think that the previous two have stood the test of time, granted they are both based off of the original music videos, but as far as transposing the concept I think both are extremely well done and original as far as amvs go.

[Otohiko]

Eh, I don't know - like Kio, I'm not interested in originality for its own sake - but even more so, I don't think technical innovation is the be all, end all. I can name more simple videos that I thought were truly original than technically complicated ones. I think it's great that some people like pushing forward technical ambitions, but they're not all there is to pushing AMVs forward. While the examples listed are unquestionably great videos, I think a lot of people equate originality with their visual look rather than some of the ideas behind them. As a result we do get a lot of videos that mimic the look of these innovators, with some odd sort of twists, without really thinking through concepts.

I think it's possible to be very original because or despite doing something unusual visually. I think people should just think through their own visual preferences and decide what's appropriate to their video - and instead, just think concept before visuals.

Also, by the way, I can tell those videos are something that kind of inspires your own visual style. Which is again why they would probably the first thing to come to your mind as regards to originality, but I wouldn't think nearly the same thing if you just said "originality" to me.

[Vivaldi]

I don't think it's originality that's the problem, but rather something else you touched on. We've all fallen in a rut of sync, when it's a really, really arbitrary way of deciding if a video is good.


On the org, synchronization is god, but as you mentioned the things that make a video great is it's flow and mood. This is probably a product of the org being a community of primarily amature editors, but we're starting to run our of things to do with sync alone. when you get right down to it, enjoyment's all about tension and release, synchronization's the most abused way to get that, but not the only.

Not that I'm saying to abandon synchronization, as you noted even the bond opening had elements of sync in it. But it was to achieve the overall purposes of the concept and the video; I don't think most amvers know why they use so much sync, they just do.


I also think you can replace "originality" with "strong concept" and get an even more true result from the OP. It could have been done a million times before, but if the concept is strong and clear, it'll still hold your attention.

[godix]

AMVs are an immature hobby, they've only really been around for 15 to 20 years now. I'm sure you could find older examples if you wanted, but I'm talking where it really started hitting and becoming accessable. AMVs will probably expand and morph a lot over the coming decade or two, and I mean that creatively more than technically. Consider that just within the last few years noise/unusual audio AMVs have become more common ( among other FC stuff, , ), mixes of original content and anime are becoming popular (, ), and experiments with colors ( among others, mostly seems to be a Russian thing right now). All of those are styles that pretty much didn't exist at all in the early 2000's.

I think the AMV community is like the film industry right after it got sound. We hit a point where the tech isn't holding us back anymore. Now we're experimenting with different things and seeing what works creatively. Some lament the passing of the old ways, but AMVs equivalent of Citizen Kane is in our future.

Alternatively, since this is a hobby largely dominated by teenagers, we'll just keep recycling the same old juvenile themes of idealized romance and power fantasy violence we always have.

[Megamom]

"Originali" Bauzi I understand what you mean!

There are several reasons for this, but foremost is the fact that in the short history of the AMVs are done almost everything, almost everything!!!!!

And the new editors are seduced by the special effects (I include myself, although I always try to make the effects of an art form) and how easy it is to edit now, this makes AMVs now be "monotonous" I remember some AMVs of "Sierra Lorna" and I feel the original, now in modern times is very little!

Current Originals!

[Bauzi]

That's why I say: special kind of originality, because it can be seen in a lot of ways.


Yeah I agree. This is one real original from 2009.


Thanks for all the suggestions! I will definatly watch them all :3


This amv had a quite blasting impact on me due to it's visuals to me. Mainly because I didn't knew the anime at all:


@Megamom:
"Almost everything"

I believe a visual concept is as good as long as you really stick to it. Even the simplest or oddest things can be good when you see the overall outcome. It doesn't have to be high end stuff. Simple stuff like too much contrast can create a great effect:

Sometimes I really think: This might look like shit right now, but how would it look like in full motion in a video?

[Megamom]

I believe a visual concept is as good as long as you really stick to it. Even the simplest or oddest things can be good when you see the overall outcome. It doesn't have to be high end stuff. Simple stuff like too much contrast can create a great effect:

True

[Mastamind]

Originality isn't the right word. Thing is, before you had stuff like AE most videos were simple cut and you didn't have much going for you unless it had some kind of story or concept- which is what many amvs are lacking lately. Now some say "omg im gonna make these cool effects and see what comes out". But effects aren't necessarily a bad thing. Examples from this year:


And no it doesn't necessarily take a team to make that. Koop's only human as far as I know.