Awa Pro video discussion

Brakus · Post by **Brakus** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 8:03 pm

Vlad G Pohnert wrote:It's so ironic that Pro has a lot more in common with the Acadamy Awards then anyone think.. It's even getting just as political...

I starting to think people have lost thier way and the reason for making AMVs has been lost in all the digital editing...

It's frightening that the participants in Pro this year like shiny, special effects in videos as much as the public at large, judging by certain videos got nominated for awards this year.

Seeing all these videos with special effects now, coming from people other than the usual suspects, makes me wince a little bit. The bar has definitely been raised, and everybody seems to start jumping on that bandwagon now that such effects are becoming more affordable and accessible to more editors.

Comeon people, it jus a fun hobby and a reason to share the stuff we enjoy making and something we all have in common... I always thought the fun of Pro is to see if we can guess who made what over which video is more superior...

It's more fun if you get nominated for anything, which is something I can't claim for 3 years running now. It almost seems like if you're not nominated for anything in Pro, your video sucks. Now I know that's not true, but given that this is peer judging contest, it certainly comes off that way. It's as if we're saying, "Who cares about your crappy video, it didn't get nominated. I wonder who made this one and that one and the other one, they got nominated for so many things"....

I like participating in Pro, from creating & submitting the entry to the nomination process to the post-voting discussion to the award ceremony at the con. And although I didn't make the final cut this year, most of that blame I place that on myself because of the anime I used and the same old scenes everyone else chooses from that anime for the video. Please don't misunderstand me. I like doing this every year.

It's just that it's more fun if enough of your peers nominated your video for a category to make the list. Being within that Inner Circle certainly validates your credibility as an excellent, capable editor.

SailorDeath · Post by **SailorDeath** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 8:42 pm

JCD wrote:Zomg pro was crap once again.

This video makes no sense: It was just incredibly much fun, so random, but so dynamic. I loved it.

I'm sure everyone already knows that video was mine, The quality was crap in a few places with the effects, but in my defense it was the first amv, well first ANYTHING that I did using after effects. Never used AE before I made that video. Hopefully it won't be the last. Now that I know how to use it a little better I can make a better impact with my comedy entries.

Illia Sadri · Post by **Illia Sadri** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:22 pm

Brakus, not every video can win. Actually I know of at least one of what everyone would consider a really good editor who didn't make it into the finalists at all.

I would like to think my video made it into the finals in comedy because it was an amusing concept, not because it had effects. In fact I mostly avoided being too outrageously flashy so I could instead pick scenes to do the whole joke. If effects are the only reason someone may have liked mine at all, then I failed as an editor. But no matter what happens, I enjoyed making the vid. I can't submit it very many places anyway due to the whole content issue. It's not a vid made to win, it was a vid made to be very cheap and I will admit I took a cue from what i felt was the golden age of comedy vids a few years back. Pro for me is not about winning or losing.

I am sure SailorDeath is in the same boat as well. He made his vid to be weird and silly and upbeat and happy. His effects added to the silly cheese factor. It could have been done simpler and still been a really fun video. It was his playaround vid with AE and the title was the most appropriate. The video made no sense. The song was odd, the effects were bizarre and the content was about as random as Excel Saga. And it fits in the categories that it ended up in.

Some videos do seem to almost entirely rely on the effects. However not that many videos really were entirely based on the effects. BTB, Developers, Firewall and the Samurai Champloo vid were the only ones that really were all about the effects. And on the other hand, Ashyukun's video is very simple and made it to the finals. A lot of us are saying ngsilver's vid, which had some simple and some more complex portion that his video was fun with his issue being the source footage. None of the romance videos were overly complicated. The Texhnolyze video in drama.... Undiscovered Countries hardly had the most tech heavy effects. even Metropolis used the effects in the best way of any in the contest because while that video relies on effects, it made the concept work.

Effects do not make a good video but nor do they ruin one. It can be used well or poorly and that is what should be looked at.

SailorDeath · Post by **SailorDeath** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:34 pm

Illia Sadri wrote: I am sure SailorDeath is in the same boat as well. He made his vid to be weird and silly and upbeat and happy. His effects added to the silly cheese factor. It could have done things simpler and still been a really fun video. It was his playaround vid with AE and the title was the msot appropriate. The video made no sense. The song was odd, the effects were bizarre and the content was about as random as Excel Saga. And it fits in the categories that it ended up in.

I made that video for 2 reasons, 1 so I could enter AWA and 2 so I could familiarize myself with AE. The video was fun to make and I hope people had fun watching it. I mentioned to Illia that the video doesn't really belong to comedy as it wasn't really ment to be funny as a whole. Sure I worked a few jokes into it (boobie anyone?) but as a whole the vid is an upbeat video.

If the video didn't get nominated I wouldn't have really cared. Sure its nice, but I get more enjoyment out of making it and getting crowd reactions. Something I hope to see first hand next year if I can.

As for the effects thing, we all complain about them. We even mention how effects != good video. And considering that this contest is voted by us creators and not some random Joes, then we only have ourselves to look at. However, if effects are used intuitively they can help you edge out the competition. A good example would be Doki's "Stop Watching Anime" video. That vid used a lot of effects, but I wasn't wowed by the effects alone. What I liked was how he used them to create the scenes.

Org Profile · Post by **Vlad G Pohnert** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:59 pm

Actually I like the video as you included Doctor Who

Vlad

jbone · Post by **jbone** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 10:10 pm

Brakus wrote:It almost seems like if you're not nominated for anything in Pro, your video sucks.

Nonsense.

Many of the best videos were never even entered into pro.

Brakus wrote:Being within that Inner Circle certainly validates your credibility as an excellent, capable editor.

Honestly, we in the Inner Circle™ have thought long and hard about you... but we just can't let our race restrictions slide. Not even for you.

SailorDeath · Post by **SailorDeath** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 10:19 pm

Vlad G Pohnert wrote:Actually I like the video as you included Doctor Who

Vlad

3 elements fromt he show. I had the Tardis, the Cat-Doctor-Nun lady from episode 1 of season 2 of the new series and the backgroud is from the opening credits of the Tardis passing through the time vortex.

Org Profile · Post by **Vlad G Pohnert** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 11:00 pm

SailorDeath wrote:
Vlad G Pohnert wrote:Actually I like the video as you included Doctor Who

Vlad
3 elements fromt he show. I had the Tardis, the Cat-Doctor-Nun lady from episode 1 of season 2 of the new series and the backgroud is from the opening credits of the Tardis passing through the time vortex.

Yes, I did notice that... Well, considering I an a longer Doctor Who fan than anime, it was neat to see...

Vlad

ngsilver · Post by **ngsilver** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 12:03 am

Illia Sadri wrote:A lot of us are saying ngsilver's vid, which had some simple and some more complex portion that his video was fun with his issue being the source footage.

I had a complex part in that video? I thought I cut all of those inklings of planning and complexity out of that video and just placed random clips in random places ^^

Illia Sadri · Post by **Illia Sadri** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 2:58 am

Technically you had some segments that required effort, stylewise yours was straightforward. Slight difference that I had not made. But you I think served as the mix between simple and effects cuts,

And if I make no sense tonight forgive me, it's the vodka.
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edit btw looking at vid again mine susks. seriously/ chap ass idea... i hope #20 wins. Julius made funny vid