Let me in on a secret...How do you make a romance vid?

inthesto · Post by **inthesto** » Wed Jun 16, 2004 8:47 pm

After my second jumbo failure on making a romantic AMV, I want to know.

A lot of "romance" AMVs I see generally just have random shots of two characters snuggling against each other. I just -know- there's more to it than this; there has to be some other element that one needs to establish a romantic element.

Can anyone explain it to me? Or better yet, can anyone point me to GOOD romance videos where I could take pointers?

dogger · Post by **dogger** » Wed Jun 16, 2004 8:59 pm

i think the best love AMVs iv seen have had shots of the lovers strugleing to get to each other and at the end of the AMV they finaly kiss.
its like you teasing the viewer making them wate for that kiss, if theres kissing and snuggling all through the AMV then the love message your trying to send is not as powerful in my view. just remember when your making in AMV it should be tat your trying to tell a story or send a message.
well that my view hope it help ^_^

dogger.

Arigatomina · Post by **Arigatomina** » Wed Jun 16, 2004 9:21 pm

dogger wrote:...just remember when your making in AMV it should be tat your trying to tell a story or send a message.

Definitely. ^_^

Keep in mind that a romance video tells the story *of* the romance between two or more characters. It might be mostly flashbacks (those seemingly 'random' together scenes), but it's building toward something. If all the video contains are random scenes, then it isn't a 'romance vid,' it's a 'romantic tribute' to a certain couple - just showing favorite scenes, or pertinent shots from the anime to build an overall mood.

One problem with romance vids in general is with those seemingly 'random' scenes. If you haven't seen the anime, chances are you can look at one of the most significant shots of the couple (like the first time they confessed their feelings, or the first time they met) and you won't be able to distinguish it from other 'random' shots. Unlike many 'story' vids, romance vids tend to use less of a linear storyline. It isn't just 'meet, argue, leave each other, miss each other, get back together, argue a bit more, then kiss' - if you wanted to see that, most of the time you can just watch the anime. Many romance vids are stories told 'after-the-fact' - what makes them different from just watching the anime is that they fill in gaps, take different interpretations of which scenes are most important - they rearrange the order and use flashbacks or collage-type images to build the mood surrounding that main 'story' of the romance itself. They're more 'viewer-dependent' than your typical 'character profile'.

The 'romantic tributes' are easy - there is no order so anyone can watch and come to the same conclusion - "cute, but I don't know the pairing so I doubt I'd watch it often". For those, you'll need something extra to hold the viewers who don't know the pairing - effects tend to do this well, or picking a very romantic/popular song.

Actual story vids? I've done more romantic videos than any other genre (though most are mixes with action or drama or dance, etc) - what I've found is that fans of the pairings will get what you intended. And those who watch and enjoy romance vids regularly will be the quickest to follow the stories of characters they're unfamiliar with. To the average 'action/drama' fan, chances are it won't hold appeal unless it's effect-ridden or the person is also a fan of the characters and/or pairing. Fast action/romantic mixes tend to be the exception - most other romance vids are usually slow, and a lot of people don't like slow videos about strange characters they don't care about.

If you want to see popular vids, go to the top 10 and filter by romance - 'Glory of Love,' 'Rainbow,' 'Sappy Self-Indulgence' - I haven't watched that many of the top vids, but so far the ones I've seen were good. And they'll tell you what viewers like to see in 'romance' vids.

Beowulf · Post by **Beowulf** » Wed Jun 16, 2004 9:27 pm

The best romance vid evar is Maboroshi's Kare Kano video

burntoast · Post by **burntoast** » Wed Jun 16, 2004 9:35 pm

Beowulf wrote:The best romance vid evar is Maboroshi's Kare Kano video

Classic example of a romance vid right there.

Bakadeshi [AuN Studios] · Post by **Bakadeshi [AuN Studios]** » Wed Jun 16, 2004 10:40 pm

GLory of love... has always been my favorite ;p good example of scene selection for a romance vid. THis is so easy to find that its not worth the effort to post a link, just check the top 10% under romance, or the VCA winners ;p

this tells a story, and does so to the lyrics of the song, so you don't even have to have seen the series to "feel" the video.

SarahtheBoring · Post by **SarahtheBoring** » Wed Jun 16, 2004 10:42 pm

Thirded-ed: story story story and more story.

I'm not that good at romance vids myself, but the ones that hold my interest are always the ones telling a story. Random characters snogging is not all that interesting. Yes, even if they remind you omgsoooomuch of you and your girlfriend. It makes for a boring vid for the rest of us. (Reason #2 why I do not watch tribute vids.)

So it's the same as any other genre - if you only have that one element - JUST angst or JUST smoochyfaces or JUST random action - it won't be as good as it would be if you layered a lot of elements - angst, story, mood, timing, etc. - into one video.

dokool · Post by **dokool** » Wed Jun 16, 2004 11:53 pm

It wouldn't be a romance vid thread if someone didn't embarass dwchang and pimp Glory of Love, so I choose to do it.

I also fourth the motion for story. Viewers don't want to see the happy couple together, they want to see what the happy couple had to go through in order to get together.

-DOKool

SnhKnives · Post by **SnhKnives** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 12:33 am

hey, i make romance vids....

>_>

<_<

*runs*

Pie Row Maniac · Post by **Pie Row Maniac** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 1:30 am

In dramatic videos, the Cross Dissolve is your friend.

Know this, and edit verily.