Good AMVs Bad AMVs, Is there such a thing?

[Kerydwenn]

I guess you'll see that everywhere, to be honest. I see that on art sites as well, for instance - draw a [insert popular anime/char combo of the moment], and lots of people will be drawn to it and say it's great simply because it features their favorite char or whatever. It really just depends on preferences, and, I'd say, on a certain degree of... not sure, "maturity/experience" perhaps? Some will give top marks for these same reasons - because it's an anime they like, a song they like... Some will also give top marks because, well, they don't always know better, and haven't always really had the opportunity to compare with really good AMVs. Some will go past this and acknowledge both the merits and flaws, even if it's using footage from an anime they love. It all depends.

Anyway, the way I see it, aren't we here to make the vids we like first? It's not like we can sell them, become known in the professional world with them (as, well, it's not terribly legal, after all, using anime we didn't create and songs we didn't compose), and so on. If people don't like them, tough. If they like them, power to them. Even if the AMV next door using footage from the same anime has gotten better marks, as long as we like what we do, it's already some kind of reward... I think

[-M_X_R-]

I feel the same here, but like many have already said and posted I'm having a blast just making what I make(and yeah sometimes and could care lees what people think, but in order to get better at editing I have to keep an opened mind), some people have already put two of my vids on there top fav's, ..that truly makes my day(each and everyday), esecially seeing as I have been around since 2001, and only have 5 ops, 3 of those where from the op exchange form, not that thats bad, but like kajin_phoenixlord said, I had to try my best to milk(or aka pimp) my amv(sig) and get it out there so people could recognize it and get feedback from who liked or disliked it... anyhow, be satisfied(ashiteruSweetSurrender) with your 40 ops and keep on doing what you love best.. and don't let your probs(about amvs) get to ya.. your overall percentile tells me you doing something defintetly right.. and that your vids should be on the top star or 10 something...

so yeah, those are my 2 cents...

[-ssj2gohan-]

there is a big point to this which is that a LOT of ppl go totally on ORIGINALITY and not on EFFORT in the making of an AMV

[Kalium]

there is a big point to this which is that a LOT of ppl go totally on ORIGINALITY and not on EFFORT in the making of an AMV

'Effort' is even more difficult to judge than originality, and far more subjective. Just because something looks complicated or difficult doesn't make it so.

[-ssj2gohan-]

ya someone could have spent days ripping and making video look perfect just to throw some clips in with no timing making it look crappy but a lot of effort was put into making it STILL thats usually the case u can usually tell

[Bakadeshi]

Am I the only editor on this site who makes vids for the same reason most people watch them? To see their favorite characters with songs that they like?

I do sometimes, but its not the only reason I make them. SOmetimes its also for a techncial challenge, I just want to see if I can pull off X concept with X effects, and I'll just choose whatever song, anime combo that best fits that (IE my Eternal SKY, AR1 and AR2 vids) and sometimes its a song I hear that I like and just see it go realy well with a certain anime/character, even if its not my favorite anime, Or vice versa. (IE Another accidental love story, Taisetsu no omoi) Sometimes its just to express an idea, thought, emotion, or what i'm feeling atm aswell. (IE Swallow)

I'll admit though, that I don;t like to loose to videos that are much lower quality than mine at a con. if the video is good, then thats a diferent story. I also don't like to see other good videos thats not mine get snuffed out by crappy vids.

[FoxJones]

There's also this little thing that isn't directly mentioned. In these cases I can somewhat understand when not-so-good AMV gets better scores than kick-ass-ones.

Let's take an example with random anime (picks Nurse Angel Ririka from the hat). Person A makes an AMV using footage from Ririka. Person A has some talent, experience and skills, though he/she lacks commitment a bit, which shows up in the final AMV as "lack of effort". Anyway though it's not an awesome creation it's still well above average AMV. Point is that it manages to be the best Ririka-AMV done so far.. out of all 4 (I didn't do a search.. random numbers) in which 2 has subtitles in it and 1 just.. sucked. So when Ririka-fan (are there any?-) sees the AMV he/she goes "holy bloody ballfish! This one rocks!!!111". -> Great scores.
Then there's Person B with great talent and years of experience in AMV-making. He/she really puts his/her heart into making... a NGE AMV. Result is an awesome 3minutes long visual orgasm. This time though there are already 1046 (again.. haven't checked real numbers..) AMVs done with NGE (..but it's overdone IMO anyway) before.. some 30+ of them by the gods of AMVing who has superior skills, talent and solar programs to whom lesser creators sacrifice their bandwith and eyeballs so that they would be blessed and become better creators themselves. Back to the point, which is that after those übercreations Person B's kick-ass NGE AMV is shadowed by them and deemed "above average". -> Average scores.
I think this is one of reasons that was behind the original post.

..get this hysterical fangirl screaming reaction just because "OMG Sepiroth" came onscreen is a bit disheartening. Especially when you then see them sit silently through something truly great like Urban Ragnarok.

Bad example here. When I first saw Urban Ragnarok I was also sitting very still and silently throughout the whole AMV. It's just that my jaw was on my lap at the time...

[-ssj2gohan-]

the point is people's opinions vary and even with the same person you wouldn't rank a vid the same way as if u saw it years ago

[Rozard]

..get this hysterical fangirl screaming reaction just because "OMG Sepiroth" came onscreen is a bit disheartening. Especially when you then see them sit silently through something truly great like Urban Ragnarok.

Bad example here. When I first saw Urban Ragnarok I was also sitting very still and silently throughout the whole AMV. It's just that my jaw was on my lap at the time...

Well, what IcyCloud meant is that they weren't interested in the AMV. I know, I was there at JACON this year when it was screening, and there was hardly any reaction, people were talking to each other and not watching the video because it wasn't an audience pandering one.

[Scandia]

Well, that kinda happened to me regarding the above average videos of lesser known vs. popular anime.

I would be the first kind of AMV maker. I'm no expert, but I'm no brand newbie who throws in a bunch of random scenes to some music I taped right out of the radio.

Though my skill level HAS improved, I have gotten a range of ratings on AMVs depending on how many videos they are to those specific animes. My two highest rated AMVs are NOT the best. But one of them contains one of the EXTREMELY few AMVs done to that particular anime- which could be the best indeed. Another one has more videos, but still so few that seeing a video of it in a contest made the crowd get almost as happy as if someone were handing out free munchies.

Conversely, around the same time I made an AMV to an anime that is very popular right now and has a lot more videos. Though audio, video, and editing quality were pretty much the same, it still got lower ratings. Why? Cause there are many many more AMVs of it made by better editors.

The same parallel can be seen with my early AMVs. While it is true that the lower ratings of the Escaflowne one could be caused by the subtitles or the song being in a foreign language, the MKR one was done first and all. But it is still rated higher than the one that has four anime (and only Escaflowne has a lot of AMVs done to it out of the four)- even though this third one has no subtitles and some sync to the lyric/music phrases. Us MKR fans are very passionate about AMVs to this series- and thus we get thrilled upon finding them.

I make an AMV because I like the anime and the song and think they create a good concept together. I work on improving my skill level, but am more concerned about the overall effect and the story a video tells than whether there was pixellation at 2:34 or whatnot.