ZOMG, I wrote a paper on AMVs

[SSJVegita0609]

It's by no means groundbreaking, and I daresay may be a little boring, but it got an A in my Studies in Digital Media course. Just thought I'd share it with you all, namely so you can laugh at Phade actually being cited in an academic paper.

Insert generic don't steal this disclaimer, yadda yadda yadda:

Jeff Hudecek
2/20/07
Anime Music Videos: Uncommercialized Artistic Culture
With the Help of Web 2.0

In a Wired News article about 2005’s Web 2.0 Conference in San Francisco, Ryan Singel quotes SocialText CEO Ross Mayfield’s statement that “Web 1.0 was commerce. Web 2.0 is people” (Singel). This sentiment regarding the modern progression of the internet and networking capabilities is shared by Yale professor Yochai Benkler, who writes, “The network allows all citizens to change their relationship to the public sphere. They no longer need be consumers and passive spectators. They can become creators and primary subjects” (Benkler). In spite of this optimistic, liberating, and proactive view of modern networking technologies, there remain skeptics. Also quoted in Singel’s article is InterActiveCorp CEO Barry Diller, who states, “There are very few people in very few closets in very few rooms that are really talented and can't get out” (Singel). Here Diller is implying that major commercial media production companies have little to worry about in terms of competition from grassroots participation and production on the net. He is also more flatly implying that the majority of “talented” people are already working within the industry. What Diller doesn’t count on, or rather acknowledge, is the possibility for creative production existing outside of the commercial realm, and how that potential is unleashed by the internet and contemporary networking.

Anime Music Videos, or AMVs, are created by deconstructing footage from Japanese anime and combining it with music to create a new audio/video experience. This phenomenon has existed for some time in small networks based around specific anime conventions such as Anime Weekend Atlanta, Baltimore’s Otakon, and Chicago’s Anime Central. However, the hobby underwent a virtual explosion in the early 2000s when Kris McCormic (a.k.a. “Phade”) launched the second version of his animemusicvideos.org. His self-stated goal was “…to create a place where people who enjoy and create anime music videos can get together, share ideas, learn from one another, and ultimately have everyone creating and enjoying better videos” (McCormic). Less than a decade later, the statistics on animemusicvideos.org, or “The org” as its members have come to refer to it, show over 600,000 registered users, over 38,000 of which have created at least one video, and a database of over 108,000 AMVs, over 64,000 of which are hosted locally on donation supported servers (source 4).

These numbers are not simply indicative of a new fad; they are the signs of an entirely new networked culture based around this hobby. Recent academic discussion of social networking via Web 2.0 has prompted the question of whether or not online networks can exist outside of commercialism and commodity. AMVs provide proof that new networking technologies can bring people together outside of a commercial realm, and that Web 2.0’s user-based production and social networking does not have to revolve around commerce or commodity.

So now the proper questions must be asked: Why? How? For starters, it must be established that the technology of Web 2.0 was an essential and necessary component of the establishment of this community. Secondly, the financial aspect (or lack there of) of the hobby must be examined. Finally, the outcome of the two ideas must be explored, and the implications of uncommericialized creativity addressed.

For the sake of ease with regards to the technological discussion involving the AMV community, I will be focusing solely on the org, despite the fact that there are dozens of other communal sites regarding AMVs (including an AMV Wiki) that have contributed to the network. The org is by far the largest and most widely associated with the hobby, and therefore will be the primary subject of this section of the essay.

So how does the org work? As a member for over 4.5 years, I can share some inside perspective. If we are indeed to believe Mayfield’s assertion that Web 2.0 is “people” (Singel), then it all begins with one of the hallmarks of Web 2.0: user registration. A user will sign up for the org and be given a profile. They then obtain a set of distinct capabilities regarding the creation of a personal page for their videos. In an aesthetic sense, the org’s profile system is much more like a Facebook than a Myspace. All layouts for profiles look identical with the exception of a single custom image a user can post at the top. Aside from that, it is the data within the profile that is dynamic, not the profile’s look. As for this data, users can write profile information, choose a list of their favorite AMVs from the site’s database (up to a top 100, the top 10 of which are always displayed), choose a list of their favorite anime (also from the site’s database), and, of course, post their own videos. Additionally, all org users are given access to the org’s php bulletin board (forum), which encourages them to participate in the community.

For the past few years, the org has been utilizing a set of servers supported entirely by voluntary user donations. With these servers, users are given access to free space to host their own videos. When a user has completed a video, they must first add the video entry to their profile, defining its sources (both anime and song) and giving it a custom description and title. Once this process is completed, a user will then upload the video via randomly generated ftp info (which invalidates after the upload to prevent abuse) and undergo a short validation process. The org has a set of specific parameters regarding locally hosted videos that a video must meet, including lack of excessive violence or pornography and a size constraint of 100 megabytes (source 4). If a video violates these conditions, it can (and typically will) be removed. A user may still post videos that violate some of these parameters if they are capable of using outside hosting, typically their own, and so long as the video meets the basic parameter of using Japanese anime (source 5). Once a local video is uploaded, anyone with an org account over two weeks old (to prevent abuse) is free to download a permanent copy of that video to their hard drive.

When a user downloads a video, they are then given the ability to leave the video a star rating ranging from 1-5 stars, an anonymous quick comment regarding the video, and a piece of in depth feedback referred to as an “Opinion.” Opinions consist of a series of 1-10 ratings on aspects of the video including originality, audio/visual quality, synchronization, and more. The user is then given the ability to write comments in sections entitled “Good,” “Bad,” and “General.” Unlike quick comments, opinions are not anonymous. These opinion scores and star ratings are saved within the site’s database, and allow users to get a perception of the quality of the work they’re downloading. The implications of this will be addressed later in this essay.

Finally, the org contains a very important section of guides. These guides, all of which were produced by various members of the community, include detailed information on the creative process of AMVs. They teach users to harvest DVD footage, use software, compress, and more. Additionally, the site’s forum contains sections for software and hardware help in which users share knowledge to solve problems.

None of what’s been mentioned so far would be capable without the org’s use of PHP, a web coding language that allows for the use of dynamic, database driven content on a large scale and is one of many fundamental building blocks of Web 2.0. A clear understanding of both the org and its technology, however, is not enough to convey why this technology was essential for the creation of this online culture. In order to understand that, we must examine the implications of the structure identified in the previous paragraphs and how they relate to social networking and development of the hobby itself.

With regards to developing the hobby, the org has provided AMV enthusiasts with an environment where they can seek out information regarding the AMV process, discuss their favorite works, and partake in a constant exchange of information on the subject. One of the staples of the internet is its wide accessibility. As such, the org allows anyone with an internet connection a means of viewing and sharing all things AMV. No longer are they limited to physical conventions and small personal sites, but rather find themselves in a unique environment with limitless potential for expansion and development. This relates directly to glocalization, or the expansion of networks to allow for greater interest based access (Wellman). AMVs were, in a sense, thrown out of little boxes and into a glocalized network by the org’s use of networking technology.

Furthermore, though the org functions as a catalogue, it also has very clear social intent. This is apparent in the presence of a forum, profile customization, and in Kris McCormic’s statement of the website’s intent mentioned earlier, specifically the words “…a place where people who enjoy and create anime music videos can get together…” (McCormic). On other social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace, users define themselves in many ways. One of the primary mechanisms by which they do so, as argued by Danah Boyd, is through the use of linked “Friends”. Boyd states that “Through these imagined egocentric communities, participants are able to express who they are and locate themselves culturally. In turn, this provides individuals with a contextual frame through which they can properly socialize with other participants” (Boyd). Here, she is implying that by displaying links to other profiles on their personal pages, users create a more defined image of themselves via this Web 2.0 technology. This mode of self-definition plays a major role in the commodified nature of such social networking sites, in that corporate entities can easily create a strong presence and perpetuate themselves through “Friending”.

Org profiles allow users to define themselves in a similar manner. However, the key difference lies in the fact that org users define themselves through linking their favorite videos, not their “Friends”. Furthermore, users are defined on other social networking sites by the information they post about themselves, whereas org users are defined through that and, more importantly, their work. Generally, an AMV enthusiast will try to find videos through the org’s “Super Search” function. This function allows users to fill out an extensive set of criteria including genre, source footage, song, etc. in order to look up videos that may be of interest. Upon receiving results, searchers will be given links directly to video pages, not profile pages. When we couple this with the idea of an invisible audience, a group that social networking site users pander to on a subconscious level when choosing their “Friends” (Boyd), we understand that org users expect their invisible audience to be looking at their videos more so than their profiles.

In this sense, the org distinguishes itself from typical social networking sites while still remaining undeniably social. This distinction is important because it alleviates the org and the AMV community as a whole from the ambiguity regarding commodity and commercialism found in other social networking sites. Online interaction in the AMV world is about the videos, not about whether or not someone has friended Abercrombie and Fitch or Napoleon Dynamite. AMV audience members find users through their work, and since this work is noncommercial, there is no potential for corporate influence. AMV creators make no money for their work; therefore they are not driven to seek out audience members for any reason other than to simply share their creations.

A counterargument regarding this lack of commodity must be addressed, however: the concept of fame. While it may be true that AMV creators do not make money for their work, the opinions and star ratings mentioned earlier are utilized on the org to create organized lists which rank videos based on these scores. As such, some creators may lose artistic sincerity in pursuit of simply achieving higher rankings, this possibility is undeniable. What makes this concept different from what motivates insincerity in commercial creativity, however, is the fact that AMVs are a hobby, not a professional practice. As such, if an AMV fails to become popular, there is no consequence to that AMV creator, whereas when a creative commercial endeavor fails, money is lost. On account of this, AMV creators will never be as dependant on fame as commercial creators are on money. Furthermore, opinions also serve to allow creators to exchange in depth pieces of constructive criticism, ultimately having just as much potential to contribute to the development of the craft as a whole.

At this point, it is important to ask the question of why AMV creators don’t make money for their work; why is the AMV world noncommercial? In order to do so we must separate commercial from noncommercial. This distinction is simple, and is perhaps best summarized in the words of Stanford Law Professor and Creative Commons founder Lawrence Lessig, “By ‘commercial culture’ I mean that part of our culture that is produced and sold or produced to be sold. By ‘noncommercial culture’ I mean all the rest” (Lessig 7). AMVs creators do not produce their work to be sold for a simple reason: they can’t, or rather would not want to take the legal risk of trying.

In November of 2005, the org received its first official legal complaint in the form of an official “cease and desist” order from Wind-Up Records, a label representing artists such as Creed, Seether, and Evanescence. In a forum post, McCormic stated “At the end of the day yesterday, I received a legitimate and confirmed “cease and desist” request from a major record label concerning AMVs on this web site. It basically said that the copyright holders of a group of musical artists would like the Org to stop distributing videos using their music. After speaking today with the attorney representing the group, we were able to come to the agreement that the links to the videos using their music should be removed from the site and then all would be good” (source 9). This is an example of the underlying fear of every AMV creator, legal action, being executed in perhaps the most gentile manner.

In a piece that Lessig, a longtime advocate of AMVs, wrote for the Financial Times, he states, “No lawsuits were filed in the first legal threat against this exploding community of creators. But this promises not to be the last time lawyers speak to AMV creators” (Lessig, FT). This further highlights the legal pressure that keeps money out of AMVs. One of the principle reasons the org has been otherwise invisible to corporate lawyers is simple, it makes no money off the use of copyrighted content. As such, it is widely theorized within the AMV community that many major labels and anime distributors view AMVs in a positive light, as free advertisements and marketing magnets. However, if profits were to enter the picture, it would undeniably lead to the legal downfall of the community at the hands of corporate interests.

But assuming that fear of legal action is the only thing that keeps AMVs outside of the realm of commodity is an oversimplification at best. Despite the fact that the vast majority of AMV creators know that there is no money, indeed, not even the potential for money in the production of AMVs, at least 38,000 people still make them, and nearly half a million watch them (source 4). These massive numbers show that money is no factor in the motivation of these people. There is something pure about creation outside of the realm of commercial industry that must be appealing, whether it be the freedom to make something one truly loves, or the simple pleasure of practicing a hobby one doesn’t do simply to pay the mortgage.

We return now to the words of Benkler, who states regarding modern networks, “We are seeing the emergence to much greater significance of nonmarket, individual, and cooperative peer-production efforts to produce universal intake of observations and opinions about the state of the world and what might and ought to be done about it” (Benkler). Contextually, Benkler is referring to the blogosphere, and the contemporary ease of information exchange that is unregulated by major media groups or repressive governments. This information is produced for the people, by the people. This idea, however, is not limited to information. The three words that Benkler specifically chooses to describe this productive use of modern technology are “nonmarket”, “individual”, and “cooperative”. These three words apply directly to AMVs, a non commercial means of media production and a culture developed through social networking. This community creates, develops, discusses, and celebrates its own craft without the constraints of a forced financial infrastructure. In this sense, it is liberated.

In the future, AMVs will ideally continue to evade legal action as they have in the past. Lessig wrote in a blog response to Wind-Up’s legal action that “These are creators, too. Their creativity harms no one. It is the heart of a whole new genre of creativity — not just with anime, but will all sorts of culture. If, that is, it is allowed” (Lessig blog). Having participated in the culture of AMVs for a large portion of my teen years, I can say with the utmost confidence that he is right. AMVs as a noncommercial creative culture have and will continue to utilize the internet as a method of exponential expansionism and a basis of operation, providing this new form of culture, this new form of social network, this new form of creativity with a home.

Sources
1. Singel, Ryan. “Are You Ready for Web 2.0?” Wired News. 2005. http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,69114-0.html

2. Benkler, Yochai. “Political Freedom Part 2: Emergence of a Networked Public Sphere” The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom. Yale University Press. 2006.

3. McCormic, Kris. http://www.animemusicvideos.org/home/about.php

4. http://www.animemusicvideos.org (note: you must log in for statistical data)

5. http://www.animemusicvideos.org/help/

6. Wellman, Barry. “Little Boxes, Glocalization, and Networked Individualism” University of Toronto. http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman/p ... tlebox.PDF

7. Boyd, Danah. “Friends, Friendsters, and Top 8: Writing Community into being on social network sites.” First Monday. volume 11, number 12, December 2006. http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue ... index.html

8. Lessig, Lawrence. Free Culture. New York: Penguin Press. 2004.

9. http://www.animemusicvideos.org/phpBB/v ... hp?t=60255

10. Lessig, Lawrence. “Creatives Face a Closed Net.” Financial Times. 2005. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/d55dfe52-77d2-1 ... e2340.html

11. Lessig, Lawrence. “The Read-Write Internet.” Lessig Blog. 2006. http://www.lessig.org/blog/archives/003295.shtml

[SSJVegita0609]

Oh yeah, we were asked to make an open ended supplemental video with our papers too, here's what I did:

http://www.jeffandcompany.com/vm403/dmsxvid.avi

It's in Xvid and like 35 megs or so... AND ZOMG I EDIT IN IT TOO!

[Lyrs]

Question:

Why-
the "org" and not the "Org"

?

[SSJVegita0609]

Question:

Why-
the "org" and not the "Org"

?

Bigger question:

Why not?

(ps. No reason for discrepancy)

[DaCoolGohan]

on that vid mang learn how to encode plz

[SSJVegita0609]

on that vid mang learn how to encode plz

No. My knowledge of encoding is 2 years out of date, and I don't care to update it.

[x_rex30]

Cool beans!

I read the whole thing, it's a very interesting read! It is very well written!

The video was cool. 3.4/5 stars

[DaCoolGohan]

on that vid mang learn how to encode plz

No. My knowledge of encoding is 2 years out of date, and I don't care to update it.

Yeah it was out of date then too.

[SSJVegita0609]

on that vid mang learn how to encode plz

No. My knowledge of encoding is 2 years out of date, and I don't care to update it.

Yeah it was out of date then too.

I'm an editor, not a technician.

Such hostility DCG.

[DaCoolGohan]

I calls 'em like I see 'em.