Feedback for new AMV

[PantsAMV]

Heyo, so I decided to drop by opinion exchange again now that I finally have about a year of editing experience under my belt compared to when I was asking for feedback on my first amv as a complete noobie.





My thought process for this project was to focus more on stuff like syncing/masking/etc. Also, there's no real plot/point to follow other than to come to the realization that you shouldn't stick your wiener in crazy.

Any feedback is appreciated!

[Dissonance85]

I think you showcase the anime very well. It doesn't make me want to watch it but only because it's obviously not for me. I really like the song though. Your masking was very good, it looked pretty seamless to me.

[DopplerDo]

Wow, I really love this one. The masking is not only flawless as Dissonance above said, but it's all done with an emotional purpose. If you weren't laser-focused on each technical move you made here contributing to the overall feel of the AMV, you could have fooled me. Your casual attitude belies an insane amount of focus, time, and care here. I would totally write a longer opinion if I new anything about the anime and its story, but I don't have any problem with the lack of a plot throughline because the song is just about exploring the depths of crazy and you let it get a little darker and more serious throughout.

I had to subscribe and add this to my "Exceptional AMVs" playlist. You're in the top echelon of AMV makers that I'm aware of right now; congrats on getting there be your second year !

[DopplerDo]

Hey Pantsu,

I thought about it since commenting on this thread yesterday and came to the conclusion that I didn't give you much constructive criticism, so here's what I have to say on a few more closer looks, (but my original compliment still stands )

Sense of narrative
Like you said, throughout the video, there really is no building plot or arc, which I originally said was fine, but I realize that there is really a big missed opportunity here. Plot in general, as constraining as it feels to build, makes the video more emotionally satisfying in general and therefore worth revisiting/re-watching.

The intro, :00 to :10, kind of tries to establish a sense of place, but to someone like myself, who hasn't seen Kekeguri, I only get the general feeling that there is a place with something tense going on, but that's all. In this new world where you have 5 seconds to absorb someone, I would get a little more creative grabbing heart strings right away.

At :16, the soft lyrical match really pulled me in and sold me. I wish this were a little earlier, but it worked for me.

:22 was the first time I really flagged the discrepancy between lyrics and action as a new viewer and I just started enjoying the effects and clips chosen, but whoa boy if the plot was there my head would have exploded with excitement.

0:57-59 drew me in deeply again, because the visual plot came back! It is so much fun to be invested and creeped out at the same time!

Overall, the many images of chips and cards being flipped gets in your way. Switch your focus to character building if you can for even more impact.

Timing
0:05 - The fade-in of the cards seems off-beat here and I'm not sure why
0:09 - The chip drop syncs on the glint of light, but there are many similar implied beats with the chips subtly bouncing a few times. You could either make the glint stand out more here by quickly crushing the white levels or applying a white (subtle) burst of linear light in my opinion.
0:41-47 - I like the variance of timing here, but I do think that hitting the beat hard would have a more dramatic effect.
:53 - Great mask that takes me from a repeated pattern (stacked money) to a paisley patterned card with only half a face showing. That transition rocks and shows good visual judgement!
1:50 - Good manipulation of camera movement speed in that scene. Love it.
1:56-59 - Again drawn in by the character profile
2:46 - It would have been awesome to have had the "Oh" note timed with the opening of that mouth about 4 frames earlier.

Misc questions
In scenes like :38 with the poker chips, are you overlaying a duplicate clip (~30% opacity?) with horizontal Gaussian blur applied (and repeating edge pixels)? Or is that how this anime sometimes looks? It's a really cool look and not too in-your-face .

1:44 - I see what you did there

What program are you using to make AMVs? It kiiiinda seems like Vegas.

Final thought
Lastly, this is a collection of the criticism I have when I look really closely, so don't forget that I think your judgement and skills are top-notch!

[PantsAMV]

Hey Doppler! Thanks for the feedback! I've been pretty busy with this college semester so I just noticed your replies here - I'll make another post once I'm finished with finals and I've had the chance to look over your critique, but know that I greatly appreciate you taking the time to watch and report back with feedback on my AMV. Thank you!

[PantsAMV]

Okayyyy, sorry about the late reply:

Regarding plot/sense of narrative: I understand the points you make about the opportunity of presenting the plot, and my own story-telling is definitely something I want to expand upon further down the line. For this specific AMV, I thought it was pretty difficult given the whole premise and song lyrics; there weren't many plot points to really elaborate on either, other than the excessive expressions and gambling games that were played in the anime itself, in my opinion. Of course, that's what I initially thought, so maybe if I went back to touch it up there could be some semblance of plot I could've focused on.

I reviewed over the points made on timings, and they made sense to me too

As for questions:
0:38 is just what the anime looked like during that particular clip, which is why it stood out to me and I ended up using it
1:44

I used Sony Vegas 13.0 to make this.

Once again, thanks for the feedback, and sorry for the late reply >.<

[DopplerDo]

No worries, Panstu! I appreciate the reply, but this is about you ! Keep kicking ass in the AMV world and I'll keep rooting ya on! There's a ton I can learn from you

[your mum]

I'm sure that this video took very long to make, specially with the type of transition you chose, masking is easy to say but really hard to do ( the cards transition is really good, like it)

the song choice is pretty good, it fits well with the anime itself.

[EpicMango]

Never heard of that anime but I enjoyed watching your amv.

[Le Commandant]

Simple but good rythm and transitions, nice to watch