what is considered an original idea?

Pwolf · Post by **Pwolf** » Wed Dec 24, 2003 3:19 am

just wondering... cuase i keep getting ops that say mitternacht is "unoriginal". not saying it isn't. everyone has their own oppinions. my personal oppinion, what can be a more original idea then using vampires and a song that reflects the time of day they roam? there are of course many "vampire" videos. but you can't expect to watch a video that has vampires in it and not call it a "vampire" video. so that whole aspect doesn't make a lot of sence to me. so what are some of your oppinions on what is considered an "original" idea when it comes to AMVs. i don't want some big arguement or anytthing, just post what you think, and leave it at that. read what others say but don't comment. don't want to sift through 5 pages of people arguing (past threads when people's oppinons come into subject tend to cuase trouble) unfortionatly i will not be able to read any replies until the 27th.

My oppinon. at first i try to find a concept. if i havn't seen a video or very little videos with the same type of conept, then the video is original. Example would be, Euphoria (only vid i can think of right now... it's kinda late -_-). i can see a concept in this video. i think it's very original. on top of that, the editing adds to the concept. using the effects as footage itself and not just eye candy (that's how i see it..)

an unoriginal video would be a video like many of the dbz videos. a lot of them are just rock songs and footage with little to no editing. very hard to find any concept. and well since there are so many, any DBZ video from now on, will probably be unoriginal to me (not saying there wont be one tho... ). On the subject of "vampire" videos. i've seen many videos but only a few of them actually seem to have a concept behind them. otherwise, it's just nothing but edits.

ok gimme some good oppinoons on this subject so i have something to read when i get back.

Pwolf

Arigatomina · Post by **Arigatomina** » Wed Dec 24, 2003 4:15 am

My first reaction when I watch a vid determines originality - when I watch it do I think "I've seen this before" or do I think "I like the spin on that" or "never seen *that* before". Those are the differences between starting rates of 7, 8, and 9.

For reviews, the only place where my opinion on originality matters aside from my own videos, I take that gutt reaction and add in the steps. Have I seen the scenes - not the anime, the scenes - have I seen them combined like this to tell this story or a very similar story? If the scenes are all ones I've seen in another vid for the same story (beginning concept) a point is knocked off. Then, if they *do* use typical scenes, do they add anything or twist that common concept in a way that I haven't seen done, or in a *good* way (for those ideas for which I've never seen it actually get pulled off well - the 'overused but never acheived' concepts). If so, add back the point because making something new with old material is harder than using a rare anime.

The music is the same, if I've heard the song with the same (or similar enough) storyline, knock off a point. Then, does the editing reflect the song in a way that I haven't seen before? Does the story have any use of the lyrics that is different from the other vids I've seen for that song? Do they use the music in their own way, or is it the same as the last one? This is a very important point with me since I tend to like songs and watch multiple vids for those songs that I like. Finding two with the exact same interpretation of the lyrics kills the originality points. There is no 'correct' interpretation for a set of lyrics, for a certain song, so how they use it matters much more to me than what anime they chose to match it with.

But then, once the anime and song are dealt with, I move onto the story/concept and the editing - ignoring the anime and just looking at the story and the editing. Is it a typical romance vid with lots of scenes of the same two people hugging? Is it a typical action vid with lots of scenes of similar action clips (punching, punching, punching, and one tiny short little kick then more punching - I mean similar looking clips, even if they aren't reusing clips). Even for an anime I've never seen, if the concept falls into a genre, then I grade the originality accordingly. If it's a random action vid, it's going to need some very good editing to get above an 8. This does not include action vids with storylines, just the random ones. If it's a 'take the sweet clips and throw them together' romance vid that ignores the lyrics and makes no attempt at telling a story of the romance, then it is a collage of clips and gets a 7 - the only thing that would bring it up would be if the editing and effects were entirely unique (never seen before) in which case it *might* get an 8.

I score very harshly for plotless stories when it comes to originality because aside from editing and anime/song combination, it is the concept that determines originality = my definition - "have I seen it before". And I have seen a lot of plotless vids without even an attempt at the easiest form of story - simple lyric sync. For a pwp (plot-what-plot) vid that doesn't have lyric sync and no story, then you can be sure I've seen it before. It would need a lot of pretty effects to keep the originality up because the concept was either non-existent, or revolved entirely around the editing.

For the story vids with lyric sync and varied clips, ones that tell a story, it's back to the 'have I seen this story told before, and how similar is this vid to that one, which was made first?' I've found a *lot* of vids that used the exact song and anime and *story* as other vids, so in that case premiere date makes a difference on 'originality.' I'd never score someone down just because another person had the same idea at some later point in time.

And I forgot to mention the 'anime' factor - what vids are there for the anime used? I have seen a lot of VHD vids, and I've seen some unusual combinations with unique editing that were quite original despite how many vids for the footage I've watched. But none got a 10 in originality. Why? Because I have never seen a comedy VHD vid, I've never seen a successful parody VHD vid, the entire 'humor' spin on the footage has not been used in the vids I've watched, so I reserve that score for what would be something I can honestly say "I've never seen before." I've watched lots of Inuyasha vids, but I don't mark down just because the anime has been used - I look at what story they're making out of the footage. More than half the IY vids I've watched were romance vids, the same romances over and over and over, the same clips (since the favorite ones tend to get used - naturally). So a romantic IY vid that uses the same old romance, the same old clips will need some unique effects to save it, because the story and footage has been done before. The same goes for action vids - if they use the same fights, the same clips, with no variation or spin on the stories already inherent in the anime, then the originality is low. Why? Because I've seen that. I saw it in the original anime, and I've seen it in every single Inuyasha action vid I've watched.

To sum up - for me, originality means "I've never seen that." 9 means, "I've only seen something a little similar." 8 means "I've seen it, but you did a few new things." 7 means "I've never heard that song so that was new." 6 means "you did use one new clip, not bad". 5 means "if the editing were good I might have given you more credit, but I've seen a lot of vids with this story that used the same lack of editing." 4 means "get rid of the subtitles, try some lyric sync or some sort of story, and try to vary the editing a little so it adds something to keep this from being just like the other vids using these clips."

3, 2, and 1 are cruel and I don't like to say what those mean - I haven't given those to more than one person (my longest op, by reaction - to explain the scores) and to me it was as close to plaigerism as you can get when you remake a vid using subtiled footage and very little cuts, but try to pass it off as anything but a failed attempt to redo someone else's vid. The difference between 3, 2, and 1 depend on how badly he did everything aside from the clip choices (since those were just duplicates of the original vid - they necessitated the 3, can only go down from there.) But yeah, that almsot never happens - at least not in the vids I get.

Rorschach · Post by **Rorschach** » Wed Dec 24, 2003 4:58 am

I use a somewhat simpler method when rating originality. I just ask a few questions:

1. Has the song been used before? (Points off if it has. Fewer points off, however, if the other AMV maker did a lousy job.)

2. Has the anime been used a whole lot? (If it has, it usually costs you a point.)

3. Is the combination itself something unusual that I don't see too often in AMVs? (Points on if it is, serious points off if not.)

4. Was the whole underlying theme something not exploited constantly in other AMVs based on the anime? (Points off if not, maybe a point or two on if it is.)

5. Finally, does the footage fit the song? (Any fool can throw random stuff together, and many have. Your action sync rating will affect your originality rating if I review you.)

These are rules of thumb, but they serve me well when reviewing. To get higher originality ratings when I post videos of my own, I usually try to find a song people haven't used and set it to an anime not many people have used before. The trick is finding something popular enough that most people have heard it, but not so popular that anyone has used it. Thus, I tend to dig up music from the 1980s and the 1960s, which most of us have heard but few contemporary AMV makers are inclined to use.

Rozard · Post by **Rozard** » Wed Dec 24, 2003 10:31 am

Judging originality based on the song and anime used is foolhearty. I could make a Linkinball Z video that is like no other if I wanted. Focus on the characters sleeping, or something

There can always be original ideas, even in the unlikeliest of places.

Voices_Of_Ryan · Post by **Voices_Of_Ryan** » Wed Dec 24, 2003 10:56 am

It's a number of things,

Of course the anime/song decide a big part of the score but,

It's also the idea behind the anime/song.

Fungie½ · Post by **Fungie½** » Wed Dec 24, 2003 12:13 pm

To me, an original idea is something that may take a while to think of. For example, I've heard many say "Ack, a DBZ video, there goes it's originality points." But what if it was a DBZ yaoi? There's definately some high originality there. I think originality all depends on the angle you take, not the song or the anime.

Voices_Of_Ryan · Post by **Voices_Of_Ryan** » Wed Dec 24, 2003 1:43 pm

http://www.animemusicvideos.org/phpBB/v ... hp?t=27317

THAT is pure origniality in it's best form.

mexicanjunior · Post by **mexicanjunior** » Wed Dec 24, 2003 1:57 pm

Rozard wrote:Judging originality based on the song and anime used is foolhearty.

I do this, something really has to stand out or be unique for me not to use the site search stats as reference for originality scoring.

dwchang · Post by **dwchang** » Wed Dec 24, 2003 2:39 pm

mexicanjunior wrote:
Rozard wrote:Judging originality based on the song and anime used is foolhearty.
I do this

YOU FOOL!

j/k

(well according to Rozard's post)

silver_moon · Post by **silver_moon** » Wed Dec 24, 2003 3:31 pm

I don't usually do the whole "has the song been used before?" thing. If the video stands out to me, I score high in originality. If it stands out, usually that means there's something special or different about it.