Can action have any originality?

[godix]

I've never made a secret that I don't like actions videos. In my mind, the entire genre is nothing but beat sync and effects. Even the really well done ones still boil down to just beat sync and effects. With every other genre, I can think of videos that show high originality. In action vids, I can't think of anything. To find a truly original action video I had to go back to the era when effects were first becoming common. There are some where an effect was so groundbreaking it's really original (IE when Decoy first hit the scene). But for the most part even when a new effect pops up, it's used in exactly the same way effects were before. It might look pretty, but it doesn't actually change anything about the video.

So I'm curious, what's the last original action video you guys have seen? What made it original. Bonus points if your reply doesn't go 'The effects were original....' And, perhaps more importantly, is it possible to make an action video that is more than beat sync and effects, or are those two things so tied up in what action is that going beyond them automatically takes you out of the genre?

Also let me clarify something. Action videos crossed over with another genre can be original. Action/drama is pretty common, and I know I've seen action/romance, action comedy, etc as well. Castor Troy for example has done several original things with crossovers both in series and genres. However, the original part of those videos is the other genre. The action parts of those videos are nothing more than what I've been talking about, effects and beat sync. When I'm asking about originality in action, I actually mean the action parts.

[BasharOfTheAges]

I've always been of the opinion that action is inherently defined by the sync it's using. We even use that in the explanation of what the action genre is about for things like VCA categories. Strangely enough, this means concepts like fun/upbeat and Dance are actually categories inspired by action. I've seen an awful lot of drama vids about fighting that claim they're action - they seem to fill up about 2/3 of the action category at contests. They're still not really action as it's been defined.

I guess it's all in how you want to set your scope with the definition of Action. I'd say there are some upbeat/dance videos that are good Action, but if you've defined Upbeat/Dance as something more specific than Action editing, it seems odd to suggest them. Same reasoning states that Romance is nothing more than a certain focus slant on Drama... Now, the more I think about this the more the meta-discussion of genre seems a far more important topic to cover.

I'm actually doing a genre chart for a con panel now instead of eating... fuck this conversation.

[TritioAFB]

If you just keep pasting the clips, then it will fall in what you already said. I have the same opinion about the Action category, seems we need a revolutionary editor

[TritioAFB]

Just Curious: Godix, what can you say about Whisper of the Beast?

[McDirty]

lokitocatracho wrote:

Just Curious: Godix, what can you say about Whisper of the Beast?

Check out his MEP DTSEM, which has a segment that's 100x better than Whisper of the Beast.

[HalOfBorg]

I tried something different - a slow motion action vid. Or at least slowER motion.

OK.... so the reactions were less than stunning. I like it.

[TritioAFB]

Well I tried also that HalOfBorg but I was like........

[TritioAFB]

lokitocatracho wrote:

Just Curious: Godix, what can you say about Whisper of the Beast?

Check out his MEP DTSEM, which has a segment that's 100x better than Whisper of the Beast.

Really? Gotta see it

[McDirty]

godix wrote:

So I'm curious, what's the last original action video you guys have seen? What made it original. Bonus points if your reply doesn't go 'The effects were original....' And, perhaps more importantly, is it possible to make an action video that is more than beat sync and effects, or are those two things so tied up in what action is that going beyond them automatically takes you out of the genre?

Well this video is actually pretty old, so it's definitely not an action vid that i've seen recently that's original:



And yes, VicBond doesn't even classify it as action, he classifies it as drama. But to tell you in honest truth, there are a lot of action sequences in this video. And there are a lot of cuts and edits made that are usually done in a typical action vid. The main point about this vid though is the emotion that's made from both the video and the music. For a vid that uses both action and rock music, this vid does a good job at making Evangelion feel epic and emotional.

My suggestion to watching this vid, is watch this at full screen with the volume turned up. By the end of the vid, it feels pretty powerful.

[Phantasmagoriat]

I guess it's all in how you want to set your scope with the definition of Action

That's the type of thing I always say, but it's so true. So if I had to attempt a working definition, I would say Action tries to cause an adrenaline rush by using content that is rooted in conflict of some sort. Let's assume Originality just means something new. Then in order to make an original action video, you can introduce new conflict.

However the conventional definition of Action is changing, and has been messed up beyond recognition, so I'm not going to go there just yet... I mean a lot of people treat Action synonymously with Fast-Sync... so by that definition, you'd have to come up with some kind of Original Fast Sync... which is just going to mess up the definition of Action even more... I'd call them Rush videos for lack of a better word.

What I'd really like to see is people start using descriptive terms to categorize videos, instead of lumping videos under umbrella terms like Action, and Drama. In many respects, AMVs are in the same boat as the Music scene was before words like Thrash, Prog, Trance, Chill-Out, etc... started to be used. Calling an amv "Action" is like calling some music "Rock."