Someone tell me...

[Otohiko]

I have one and only one thing to say about this:

e-penis

in yo mixed drink

[SarahtheBoring]

Maybe for some people, your fun comes from pushing the envelope - it would be a pain in the ass to pour a bunch of work into a project only to find that someone scooped you on that idea two months ago.

I think nobody is required to push the envelope, but only if you aren't afraid to suck occasionally. If you're dedicated to never ever making a bad video, then yeah, riding the edge of Whatever's Hot With the Kids Right Now is just part of the deal, and that includes some occasional annoyance if you slip behind the bleeding edge. Giving up, though, strikes me as a little extreme. If you have it in you to be really good, you can still catch the next wave. GANBATTE AMV FIGHTERS!

(I make videos for fun and am noncompetitive, but that's because I suck so hard that I can't even see the bar, let alone reach it. It's a low-stress area down here in suckville.)

[Beowulf]

[copied from HypeO]

People complaining that the bar is too high are missing a very large point of artistic development.

Whenever you reach a peak, you DON'T instantly try to top it. You try something completely different. Its artistic suicide to try to outdo yourself over and over and over again. I'm never going to make another video that tells the story of the antichrist, nor am I going to make a manic and frenetic eva vid with radiohead.

Once you've refined a line of thought to its naturally conclusion, LEAVE IT ALONE. Theres only so many ways you can flash a scene with a snare drum, try something new.

The bar has been set very high for technical effect work, but no ones even TRIED to do what I did almost 2 fucking years ago to my knowledge. Why not explore storytelling types of videos? Why not explore abstract editing/video art? Why not incorporate live action into your anime? Why not use your own drawings in your amvs? Why not get political?

Theres TONS of things people haven't even tried doing, let alone perfected, in AMVs. Its a good place to start instead of fretting about how you cant make your shitty cuts look any better with after effects than they already do.

/professional opinion

[Prodigi]

If you can't go over the bar, then try going under or around, because fuck, as long as you're having fun, who cares how you get past it?

I have videos where i've tried to get to, or above, the bar, just as I have videos that i've made with no real attempt to be at that level, and made purely for fun. Those are the videos I like the most.

Pushing the bar, or trying to get past it is boring. All you're doing is making the same old popular crap, and trying to make it slightly better. It gets much more fun and interesting when you forget about it all together, because then you can take what you're doing off in all different directions, and that's when people start coming up with new concepts.

Fuck the bar.

[Castor Troy]

A few years ago, Joe Croasdaile (Maboroshi Studios) was saying that with his Perfect Blue/Perfect Drug video, the bar had been placed out of reach for other editors.

So there you have it, folks!

Oh snap.

It ended before most of us even began!

[MaboroshiStudio]

A few years ago, Joe Croasdaile (Maboroshi Studios) was saying that with his Perfect Blue/Perfect Drug video, the bar had been placed out of reach for other editors.

So there you have it, folks!

Hsien put down the booze... I swear I regret how I acted in the old days and everyone knows that. For this post I am posting the Buddy Lee vs Hsien Lee TRIPLE-X photos! j/k

I also never said that way... you make it like I told everyone why bother making videos. If I remember correctly I was spoutin off saying "I set new bar for effects" and that was almost 5 years ago. But then again I can laugh at the way I was back then. I swear we should have AMV vet roasts at AWA.

[Gepetto]

This again? I see this community as divided into two groups: the group of people that matter and the group of people that worry more about their e-penis than actually enjoying themselves.

The real question here is "why should we care?". If people are worried about "the bar", they can shove it deep into their arses, since they're already so anal-retentive. Godix was surprisingly nice this time around, but here's a quote from him that translates exactly what I think about the bar, the pub and the whiskey house.

Oh for fucks sake, what about this hobby makes people a bunch of elitist fucktards? Christ, it's like you guys aren't happy unless you have someone to look down on. "Oh that person used Naruto, they're beneath me." "Look at the piece of crap this guy made with WMM." "Linkin Park is so overused." "I can't get my dick hard looking at 4chan like usual so I gotta get off by being better than someone else". Get over your fucking self. You aren't all that great, you aren't the final lord of taste, and right now I guarantee you someone out there is saying 'Oh, they couldn't even make their own drawings/music' so obviously you ain't impressing anyone. If you MUST feel superior go back to looking up furry porn 'to make fun of them' while secretly hoping no one notices your two inches of manhood is rock hard because of the lady in the squirrel costume. Jesus fucking Christ second coming aborted with a coathanger, just ignore the fucking things if you don't like them. [...] This is a hobby. The entire point of a hobby is to enjoy yourself. [...] Pull up your pants and quit trying to mount that high horse will ya?

There's for setting the bar. Not that I'm against trying to improve, or that I despise any kind of feedback (I really wish I had more ops, even if they're straight-1 like AMV4000 likes to give me) but the reason why most people here want to improve is just stupid. It's like wanting to win an award for being the first person to milk a cow dry in under 30 seconds. How has it made your life better in any way?

I make my videos for relaxation. Most of them are crap and I upload them anyways. Whenever I decide to get off my lazy ass to learn something, it's because I had an idea and I didn't know how to make it work. I spend more time on the forums answering other people's questions than trying to learn anything myself because it makes me feel good and that's the bottom line here. I could name about 30 videos here that are poorly synced, crappily encoded and have the DivX logo AND subtitles on them and I like watching them all the same. So there.

Two cents given. Moving towards refrigerator.


P.S. if you think I put that link there to pimp myself, you obviously haven't watched the video; and it's in your best interest to refrain from doing so.

[Orwell]

It's like wanting to win an award for being the first person to milk a cow dry in under 30 seconds. How has it made your life better in any way?

You now have something to drink. You can also barter with it for another item which you need, or else are able to continue trading through opportune moments as in the economic model of supply and demand. The pace at which you can fully milk the cow means it may be profitable to just sell it for cash, save, and obtain a second cow, allowing you to double your milk production, and all in just a minute, or under. Also with this speed comes a reduced need for manpower; all you need is you. Now you have even more resources with which you can use to either obtain personal gain, or work towards creating a monopoly by purchasing the cows from your competitors. With the wealth accumulated you could branch out into entirely new markets, or R&D to improve efficiency even more in any sector. Clearly, skills are marketable, and should not be taken lightly in any form.

Also, in obtaining a second cow, you are eligible for politics.

I asked my mother, I pestered my father
With the question - how do I walk away from my woe
Then Cherubim pushed me down in the corner
Told me - without your woe you'll never be your own here

[Gepetto]

stuff

That's all very nice, but I was referring to the award and not the unnatural milking skills.

[Otohiko]

THOUGHT 1

a) AMVing is a hobby

-the degree to which AMVing is a hobby is measured by entertainment value of making and/or watching AMVs

=AMVing is always hobby. You can't opt out of it, unless you're Brakus.

b) AMVing is an art

-the degree to which AMVing is an art is determined by the degree to which the editor and audience are willing to see it as such

=AMVing is not an art, outside of the groups that are willing to perceive it as such. You can opt out of the art department and still be into AMVing under article a).

c) AMVing is sport

-The degree to which AMVing is a sport is determined by contests and competitions where its evaluated as such

=AMVing is not a sport, outside of the groups and events where it is viewed as such. You can opt out of the sports department and still be into AMVing under article a).

***

THOUGHT 2

I recently watched a documentary about Russian gymnasts.

These were girls who from about the age of 4 spent a better part of their time awake training. Most lacked a social life outside the gym; all of them related the physical pain and exertion it took to continue working. Many of them suffered terrible injuries and became disabled; almost all were unfit for sport past age 20 due to the extreme physical stress they endured - and thanks to having little contact with life outside their [parents'/trainers'] chosen sport, suffered from serious depression and had difficulty taking up any other occupation.

What for? Just for the sake of having perhaps 1 in 1000 chance of spending 30 seconds on an Olympic pedestal.

I couldn't laugh - of course I felt sorry for them - but I had a sarcastic smile in the corner of my mouth.

Call me a nihilist - but I was born without a competitive bone in my body. Be it e-penis or 30 seconds of glory - I'd rather spend a glory-less time doing something I enjoy, or something that will actually have an effect - like help other people or improve the world (in the social sense) in some obvious and concrete way.

Conclusion: Raising bars is a waste of people.