which do you prefer....

Metro · Post by **Metro** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 10:18 pm

I try to storyboard whenever possible. I find that it helps me to define my vision for the video.

Beowulf · Post by **Beowulf** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 2:19 am

Whenever I get an idea I write it down in a text document along with all my other ideas so I don't lose track.

I'll also jot down little notes like:

Trigun - Oasis: Fucking In The Bushes

have the chicks shirt fly open on the first beat
have fast moving stripe thingies going on the downplayed bass drum kicks
have 3 types of cominant special effects during the video
First 4 riffs: Show 2 sets of characters about to fight
Tamborine: Make them fight

Seporate the video into 3 different dominant effects:
1st part = lots of stripes like "love is flowers"
2nd part = color?
3rd part = split screen like fluxies masters?

All those were notes from a scrapped video of mine. So I guess I plan a little bit.

AbsoluteDestiny · Post by **AbsoluteDestiny** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 2:26 am

I make notes like

"consummate V's"

Brad · Post by **Brad** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 2:47 am

I set up a video camera and point it at myself, hit record, then play the song, and then i like do hand motions and movements to like accent the flow of each scene. But usually im just waving my hands around and saying things like "ok here it'll be like BA-BUMMMM!! and then itll have the guy going WHOA! and then this guy'll hit that guy on the drumbeat and then it'll be like 'duuuuuude' and like 'ohmigod' and like 'what was that?...'........ It'll be cool".

I don't really do that.... but I should.

And make a split screen version of the final AMV product, along side the original Atom flailing around video.

TaranT · Post by **TaranT** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 4:03 am

It's too easy to generalize here. Some people need the structure of careful planning; others do better improvising as they go. Some video projects require planning; others don't.

My personal preference is to improvise. Detailed planning is too much like work and less like fun. I rarely have more than a few scenes in mind when I start. "Discovery" is part of the fun; i.e. when you come across a clip that you didn't think about, but which works so perfectly you can't believe it.

I don't storyboard, but I will sometimes make what I call a beat map. That's just counts of beats and measures, durations of verses and refrains, etc. Kind of like a site survey before you start putting up a building.

As a personal challenge, I went completely ad hoc on my two latest projects, including the Lain video at Anime Boston and another that hasn't been seen yet. I started each one with little more than a sense that the music and anime worked together. But in both cases I switched to another song after a few hours of editing.

This latest project was a good example of "discovery". I switched to a song I'd only heard 3 or 4 times and had no clue what to do with it. After placing about a minute of footage, - not quite at random - I dropped this one clip on the timeline and that was IT (an epiphany, for us English (Latin?) speakers

): I had my storyline right there.

So I'd say improvising works as a creative basis, but it still needs to be controlled with enough discipline to organize what you have and to throw out what doesn't work in what is hopefully an evolving vision.

Ashyukun · Post by **Ashyukun** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 7:38 am

I normally just go off what I imagine the video looking like in my head without really writing anything down. Usually I'll just write down where a particular scene is in a series if I'm worried I won't be able to find it quickly. I rather like the occasional random scene that I'll come across and find works better than what I'd figured on and not being worried about breaking with what I'd planned on.

However, the next major video I'll be doing will take some serious planning and scripting out, since certain scenes and effects will be needed for other (in some cases earlier in the timeline) clips. I'm gonna be pulling my hair out by the time it's done, I'm sure of it....

dwchang · Post by **dwchang** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 2:40 pm

AbsoluteDestiny wrote:I make notes like

"consummate V's"

BURNINATE!

TROGDOR!!!

Pie Row Maniac · Post by **Pie Row Maniac** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 10:46 pm

I tell my clips to go to certain parts on the timeline, but they never do.
Lil' bastards are why I haven't made any AMVs as of late.

My rage to those who took this post seriously.

But in all seriousness, what I do is I go over the anime in my spare time and listen to the song on my CD player whenever I need to walk or go somewhere. I don't have the patience to actually write it all down on paper or put it down on something. I tried it once and the AMV never set off the ground; more like blew up in the hanger.

Klicks · Post by **Klicks** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 11:05 pm

Um, I usually just put clips down, try them out, if they work, great, if not try again. After I get frustrated I quit. Occasionally I'll see the scene I want before hand and make that work. Most of the time its just sifting through footage though.

(NERD Studios) Arturo · Post by **(NERD Studios) Arturo** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 11:38 pm

I edit on the fly from clips I've cut after going through the series. Though I'll occasionally write down a difficult phrase and mull it over in class if it's causing me problems.