Thoughts on substance in AMVs

General discussion of Anime Music Videos
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madbunny
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Post by madbunny » Tue Jun 06, 2006 10:02 pm

Even though I understood the story you were attempting to convey, I wonder if it would have been possible to make it even more clear with some shuffled choices of clips.
Interesting. That's the sort of thing that I might find myself writing. Generally I tend to do reviews focusing on things like story, coherency, internal consistency and whatnot. It never once occured to me that the editors might be making a video intentionally incoherent. If a video can accomplish it's goal AND contain a story, or at least a progression of some sort doesn't that potentially make it better?

For that matter, you've stated a few times that while you clearly might not have had the intention of creating a story, it's commonly misconstrued to have one. I don't think it's possible to watch a video and not make associations based on what you know about those characters. Things like Parody and Romance essentially DEMAND that the viewer do so. While I've seen a few videos that dont' have any internal consistency (in terms of footage, not neccesarily effects of style) that were great, but those have been few and far between.

So after all of these pages, what video triggered this?

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Otohiko
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Post by Otohiko » Tue Jun 06, 2006 10:02 pm

I'm losing faith in the fact that people can take anything I post around here seriously, but...

This is my favorite painting, "The Black Square" by Kasimir Malevich. It's both full of substance, context-rich, and very satisfying to look at for me. No, I am not kidding.

Image

You ponder that one for a while and then talk to me about substance. :roll:
The Birds are using humanity in order to throw something terrifying at this green pig. And then what happens to us all later, that’s simply not important to them…

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Arigatomina
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Post by Arigatomina » Tue Jun 06, 2006 10:12 pm

Koopiskeva wrote:My thoughts are based on showing people that there is more than one way to see a video..
I think most people on the forum already agree with you on this. At least, based on this thread, they agree. There were only, what, two dissenters at most? Even if you count the lurkers, there aren't that many people around the forum to be influenced by a single thread on this subject. I'd bet your videos get a lot more original hits than this thread, so a change to the description would spread the message quicker.

I'm not dissenting, btw. When I review, I read vid descriptions. I'm one of those people making assumptions based on how I saw the video. I do default to looking for stories in drama videos (because I connect "drama" with soap operas, theater, movies, novels). But I have no problem watching a video and consciously trying *not* to make sense of it - if the creator tips me off on how he wants his video viewed. It's easier with openly random vids.
I'm no trying to be an advocate for "storyless emotion-based collage vids".. I'm merely discussing the other possible views in which a video can be seen or presented.
My point was mainly that there isn't a category for that type of video to distinguish it from the story vids. I've done vids that would fall into this unnamed category. It's WEIRD saying your video is a random drama vid, or a random romance vid. Especially if there's nothing random about the scene choices. But the complete lack of story leaves reviewers complaining about the randomness, so clearly they don't excuse the lack of a story with those vids the way they do with random action or random dance vids.
And I do not know where you are getting your figures.. but do you have any qualitative proof that "most videos are story-based"? That may be how YOU see them.. but that does not mean its true. |:
Yeah, most of the amvs I've downloaded were story-based. That's the sort of amv I like, so it's the type I look for. My "most vids are story-based" assumption comes from the videos I've watched, the videos I've reviewed, and the reviews I've received in the last three years. I've reviewed a lot of videos. I've reviewed more intentionally random videos than I have story-based vids, so I've read the reviews other people leave complaining about the lack of a story. Some of the vids I've reviewed had hundreds of ops, so I think it's fine for me to generalize based on what the majority of those people are saying - no story = random = lacking / but it's still nice to watch.

You want numbers. Gegh. Okay, take half the reviews I've written - I know more than half were for intentionally random videos because the creators of those vids tend to ask for free ops more than the story-based creators (don't know why, they just do, at least in my threads). Of those...250+ videos (if we're taking half the ops I've done)...they probably have anywhere from 5 to 30+ reviews each. I like to read the other reviews when I review a video. I can't remember *any* random video I reviewed that didn't have at least one person commenting on the sad lack of a story. [Disregarding the videos that had no reviews aside from my own.]

Then there are the videos I don't review, but that have at least two ops made public. Same consistent commentary about story=good/no-story=flaw. I have no idea how many vids I've skimmed to read the public ops, but it's surely more than the number of vids I've reviewed, so 500+.

Then I have my own reviews. I don't have anywhere near as many as you do, but I used to reply to mine, especially when it was someone complaining about the lack of a story in one of my intentionally random (not really random to me, but storyless) videos. I've seen a lot of people who default to the nostory=bad. And from my story vids I know even more people intentionally seek out story-based videos because they like them. When I check their profiles they have a lot of story-based vids listed. Clearly they're finding plenty of such vids to fulfill their urges.

Then I have my random searches through the hordes of popular anime vids listed here. You know all those Inuyasha/Kagome vids? There's maybe 10 here that aren't story-based. 10 out of...what's the stat now? It was in the thousands the last time I looked. That doesn't even touch on all the Naruto and Bleach wannabe-romance vids that try to make a story and fail due to excess action scenes. Or the seemingly random action DBZ vids that also intended to tell a story and failed just as stunningly. Since they're attempted story-based vids, they still count.

Yeah...it would take me a few weeks to count up all the evidence I've seen. I don't feel it necessary. I'm convinced most reviewers expect stories. And most editors deliver stories. They might not be good stories or successful ones, but they're all over this place. And the reviewers, at least the ones I've read, are affected by them.
I don't expect anybody to know anybody's else's intention... which is why I beleve that an opinion should be stated as an opinion.. not as a fact... Based on their own perception, people should know that the framework for their perception is limited and shouldn't try to impose their views on others as fact.
I won't argue this anymore. I can't see us reaching a common ground here. I think you're being picky and expecting too much. Even those of us who take writing ops seriously aren't going to tiptoe through hours of philosophy to cover all the possible interpretations of a video to avoid accidentally assuming the wrong thing and ruffling the wrong feathers. Won't happen. Shouldn't happen. No one would bother reviewing if it were like trying to decipher poetry without reading the poet's biography. It's feedback. Some of the people are under 14. We're lucky if they type in complete sentences.
If that's how you combat those type of reactions then more power to you..
Ah, it's more of a way to dissuade downloads than to change reactions. I figure if people like and look for stories in vids, they won't like my storyless vids, so they're better off not watching them. I tell them what it is so they know whether or not they're interested in downloading. ^_^;

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Knowname
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Post by Knowname » Tue Jun 06, 2006 10:16 pm

Koopiskeva wrote:
Knowname wrote: if you finished reading that I stated that's not how I do the op itself, it's just how I go into it, if you think about it the end is the same. If your trying to say my ops are unfair than maybe you should look at a few, they're usually pretty average or lower than average as far as numbers show, and that's even for creators I like. My average is lower than 8 in every category.
I'm not saying that your ops are unfair.. but you did state that downloading a video using a certina anime made by a certain amv editor = ++ for story... which just doesn't make sense |:
ok, what I meant there was for ME it is a ++. for ME, not for your VIDEO, not for whatever video I'm downloading. But anyway, not what this thread is about ;p
Koopiskeva wrote:Eh? This is merely a discussion on thoughts.. not an actual complaint.. if I had a complaint then I would've said so (except for stating that I disagree with those narrow-minded individuals whom insist that stories are the only form of progression).. I'm merely reflecting on opinions and views that people have on the subject of stories and substance...
so... though you wanted to find out what story does in an amv, you are taking no stand?? What a true Libertarian... well ok, there's nothing I can say to convince you so I guess not.

For me, story still matters above all else. I've always been able to coexist haveing, even likeing some 'non-story' amvs for the emotions they portray, but, regardless I will always look for story first.

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Kalium
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Post by Kalium » Tue Jun 06, 2006 10:18 pm

Mm. Perhaps a "Theme" category is in order, to alert the viewer that the video is more thematic in nature than storytelling.

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Flint the Dwarf
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Post by Flint the Dwarf » Tue Jun 06, 2006 10:26 pm

This thread got ridiculous.
Kusoyaro: We don't need a leader. We need to SHUT UP. Make what you want to make, don't make you what you don't want to make. If neither of those applies to you, then you need to SHUT UP MORE.

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Koopiskeva
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Post by Koopiskeva » Tue Jun 06, 2006 10:29 pm

Arigatomina wrote:stuff about random things.
I wasn't talking about things in videos being random... I'm saying that though they may seem random to the viewer that is simply looking for a story... it's more likely the cause of them watching the video looking for that certain story to latch on rather than stepping back and watching the video in a more open-minded view.. to take into account more than just a story.. that different types of expression can be presented without it be just random imagery. |:
Arigatomina wrote: I won't argue this anymore. I can't see us reaching a common ground here. I think you're being picky and expecting too much. Even those of us who take writing ops seriously aren't going to tiptoe through hours of philosophy to cover all the possible interpretations of a video to avoid accidentally assuming the wrong thing and ruffling the wrong feathers. Won't happen. Shouldn't happen. No one would bother reviewing if it were like trying to decipher poetry without reading the poet's biography. It's feedback. Some of the people are under 14. We're lucky if they type in complete sentences.
There's nothing with discussing it :P
Hi.

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Koopiskeva
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Post by Koopiskeva » Tue Jun 06, 2006 10:33 pm

Knowname wrote: so... though you wanted to find out what story does in an amv, you are taking no stand?? What a true Libertarian... well ok, there's nothing I can say to convince you so I guess not.

For me, story still matters above all else. I've always been able to coexist haveing, even likeing some 'non-story' amvs for the emotions they portray, but, regardless I will always look for story first.
I do have a stand.. that stand being that I take more things to account rather than just the story.. and that each elemnt of a video combined has higher importance than its individual parts.. a story is just another element that is not necessary for the video to progress |:
Hi.

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Knowname
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Post by Knowname » Tue Jun 06, 2006 10:34 pm

Flint the Dwarf wrote:This thread got ridiculous.
yes, I have learned it is no fun argueing with a wall.

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Koopiskeva
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Post by Koopiskeva » Tue Jun 06, 2006 10:36 pm

madbunny wrote: So after all of these pages, what video triggered this?
No particular video.. It's not like I've released any in quite some time... just a general thought about how amvs are viewed.. |:
Hi.

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